Limburger Cheese

I love cheese and so does my daughter. We have tried a variety of cheeses and for the most part we've loved the stuff we have tried.

I've always been curious about Limburger Cheese but up until now I haven't been brave enough to try it. I guess all the other experimental eats has helped build up my courage (and that of my daughter also).

I did make sure that my girl would be willing to try the Limburger Cheese before I purchased it for approx. $4.50. She agreed.

It was with some trepidation that I unwrapped the foil package and then the inner wax paper liner. It was smelly but not overwhelmingly so.

Like the good mother I am, I let my daughter have the first taste.

Dd takes a bite - "WEIRD! Smooth tasting...tastes - I don't know how to describe it...when I get close to it - it smells like a cow!"

I tried a small chunk and then another. It was very smooth and creamy and had almost a nutty flavor. I tried hard to like it - with no success. It smells bad - my daughter's description of it smelling like a cow, was correct - and why does the cow smell? Manure. It also has a kind of B.O. smell to it.

Even after washing my hands with some lemon kitchen soap (complete with scrubbing grit) - my fingers still smelled kind of nasty.

For some reason the smell of the cheese reminded me of a specific person - isn't that awful?! Of course it's no one that I have even seen in many years - so current friends and family have no need to fear it is them :) ....though I know my mom and sisters are going to be oh-so-curious. But of course it wouldn't be polite for me to mention any names, so they need not even ask :)

On the package it talked about how the consistency of the cheese would be different based on how many months it was past the printed date...I shiver to think of how it would taste and smell with the consistency reached the gooey spreadable stage.

The reason for the lousy picture...I didn't upload the photos and check how clear they were until the remaining cheese block had already been disposed of.

Even though we didn't like it - I'm glad to have finally had the chance (and courage!) to try it.

It reminded me of a book the kids and I read a few months ago - The Old Man Who Loved Cheese, by Garrison Keillor of all people.

Well no wonder I thought the cheese kind of had a B.O. smell to it - I just read this on Wikipedia..."Limburger is especially known for its pungent odor. The bacterium used to ferment Limburger cheese and other rind-washed cheeses is... this same bacterium (that) is found on human skin and is partially responsible for human body odor."