It is not because an ingredient or a dish is polarizing that it is not worth your time. As a child, I did not like mushrooms – their somewhat slippery texture can be off -putting – but learning to love them over the years has opened new opportunities to enjoy a fleshy, full to crack and versatile ingredient. What would I do without butter mushrooms and crispy fried mushrooms in my life now?
Among the world of misunderstood ingredients, perhaps none is also renamed stinging cheeses. Taleggio, Limburger, épises, Raclette and Gruyère are all varieties of this spicy category of dairy products. Although their funky and earthy aromas can make them difficult to try them at first, their perfume reveals incredibly complex, delicious and often softer flavors below.
In a recent episode of The Podcast Pizza Quest with Baker, author and expert of the Peter Reinhart bread, the host sat with the passionate of food Mark Todd, often known as “The Cheese Dude”, to know everything about the fascinating production process and the history of stinking cheeses. As the nickname of Todd indicates, he consulted the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, the US Dairy Export Council and the California Milk Advisory Board on what he likes most: cheese. So, who better explains the nuanced background behind these funky cheeses – and potentially convince you to try one?
Putch cheeses are actually called washed rille cheeses
I regret informing you that these kinds of dairy products are not officially entitled “Stinky Chees”. The appropriate term for these aromatic specialties is “washed shore cheeses”, which points to the unique process that makes them.
Todd begins by noting that the production of these cheeses is so complex: “Food science which takes place inside washed shore cheeses is probably only second after Maillard’s reaction with regard to the complexity of chemistry which continues on the surface of this cheese.” But to give a very brief overview, as these cheeses ripen, their crust is regularly washed with a brine. Some can sometimes be rinsed with other liquids such as wine or beer, but a solution of salt water is the most common.
Although this brine can prevent mold growth, it encourages the culture of certain bacteria, the most common of which is Brevibacterium linen. Todd notes that it is “Brevibacteria This causes this orange crust ” – a characteristic of many washed rid cheeses, which you can often recognize by their orange exterior – as well as their distinct odor and their funky flavor.
Washed shore cheeses have a long history
Diving into the history of Lavée Rille cheeses, which dates back to the 7th century, gives even more information on how they are manufactured. Todd explains the history of the first stinking cheeses, saying: “There is a debate on the fact that it was an accident or an intention, but essentially a Benedictine monk in the Alsace -Lorraine region, making his diligence to try to keep the mold out of cheese, would take his little washing – which was either alcohol, like beer (diluted) or the two, or two, Cheeses for beer or wine. Or both, and rub the cheesses for beer or wine. Or both, and rub the cheesses for beer or wine.
“He noticed that mold was returning to one, so he would rub it and rubbed it and rubbed it. Three or four days later, the back of the mold. So he would rub it again. And God, this one … would not leave, and he has still shaped and he has shaped again.
“And almost the fifth time he has modeled, he had kept the cheese so humid with his cleaning that he completely encouraged different bacteria to develop outside the cheese due to the wet environment. This had not happened before. And this young monk went to see his boss and said … ‘Hey, boss. Come here … “And the boss said,” Dude, you did it. You taste it. And the next (thing) you know, everything is history after that.
If the monk did not Washed the mold of this cheese, it would have become something more similar to a brie, which is covered with white mold as it matures, but is found with a much softer flavor than its washed rinse cousins. Although there are a wide variety of washed rille cheeses – they are not all soft and small wheels like a spolate, which is surprisingly like a brie, and some are quite difficult like Gruyère – this comparison does a good job of demonstrating the quantity of funk and aroma that bacteria can contribute.
Yes, you can eat the crust
Do not let the word “bacteria” scare you, the bark of these stinking cheeses is quite good to eat. While tasting a variety of Taleggio with “The Cheese Dude”, the host of Pizza Quest Peter Reinhart exclaims that although the interior of the cheese is soft and tasty, the bark “is on another level completely.” Todd says that it is because “super complex food chemistry takes place, that Rind is where it happens”. For a firm cheese like Gruyère, it can be more difficult to eat crust because it is difficult, but you can still if you wish.
Consider this as a friendly reminder that you can really eat the bark of most cheeses – simply avoid those which are coated with wax or fabric. Of course, if you still don’t want to eat the bark on a stinking cheese, you can also cut it – but Todd and Reinhart say it would be a waste, especially if you want to taste the full flavor potential of a washed rinse cheese.
