[masraum]

Originally Posted by mthomas58

Picked up some Epoisses at Whole Foods today. Anxious to give it a try. Pretty stinky - I could smell it in the car all the way home.

I'm curious to read what you think. Mine didn't seem that stinky to me, but the cheese was excellent. I let it sit out to get to room temp for about 4 hours before I ate it.

As far as stinky cheeses go. I tried a Limburger once. I don't know what the quality was because it came from a regular grocery store. I didn't/couldn't eat it. I tried a small bite or two and then tossed it.

The Epoisses wasn't remotely in the same olfactory territory.

I read about these recently, and find it pretty hard to fathom the first one.

Stinking Bishop

This cheese is washed in fermented pear juice, and its rind is so intensely flavored that it must be removed before eating the paste (interior).

Serra da Estrela

A sheep's milk cheese from eastern Portugal, Serra da Estrella is renneted with thistle, giving it complex herbal flavors. When the Portuguese speak of the smell of this cheese, they use the phrase, "whiff of the tail," which gives you a pretty good idea of the stinky factor.

Munster d'Alsace

Like the Époisses, this is a cow's milk cheese washed in wine. It is aged in high-humidity caves in Alsace, which is located in northeastern France near the German border. When refrigerated it has a toasted grain taste, but when you leave it out at room temperature (as it's meant to be eaten), the aroma blooms to a smell that could be described as post-workout underarm stinky