How Can Stinky French Cheeses Be So Delicious?

[Moonbear]

How can something that smells like stinky feet taste so good?

I just discovered that one of the local grocery stores has a very nice cheese selection (meaning a large selection of cheeses from many countries). I love cheese, so when encountered by a big display case full of cheese, I just have to try something new. I picked out a Stilton blue cheese (I love blue cheese, so that was my "safe" cheese) and something from the French section called Morbier. It has just a thin blue vein running through the center and is soft, so I thought I'd give it a try. The first thing I noticed upon cutting open the plastic it was sealed in was the...well...stench! It smells like stinky feet! So, I thought, okay, this might not be good, I better pour a big glass of wine to go with it! I wasn't brave enough to make it my first bite, so put a little blue cheese on a cracker. Very nice. Okay, took a sip (or two or three) of wine, took a deep breath, cut a slice of the morbier cheese and stuck it on a cracker. Looked at it for a few moments...it still smelled like feet. With wine glass in one hand and cracker in the other, I finally popped the cracker with cheese into my mouth...and...much to my surprise...it was good! Yummy. I ate what I had and went back for more. It tastes nothing like it smells! It's actually very mild and creamy, but not like mild, creamy American type cheeses that have no discernible flavor...it had a distinctive, and very tasty, flavor that in no way resembled feet!

So, now that I've begun my adventure into the world of stinky French cheeses, what are other good kinds I should be on the look-out for?

 

[Evo]

I don't like camembert. When I was in Paris, my aunt tried to make me a ham & cheese sandwich. Jambon/fromage/baguette. Except the fromage was camembert and the baguette was rock hard and crumbled when I would bite into it. It was nasty, but I was too polite to not eat it.

I should have asked for a Croque Monsieur, it's like a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. YUMMY!

edit: Moonbear, I just found this online...Croque Monsieur - Grilled chicken sandwich with morbier
cheese.

 

[z-component]

Give Camembert a try. I'm sure it goes great with arildno's pickles.

 

[z-component]

Evo! You beat me. Don't listen to her! :(

 

[jimmie]

I finally popped the cracker with cheese into my mouth...and...much to my surprise...it was good!

Does the fact that you think it tasted "good" make it right?

The senses, such as taste, are subjective, and as such, are able to sway an individuals objective thinking so as to "indulge", thus, preventing that individual from seeing the big picture.

Speaking from personal experience, I know that when I ate that chocolate bar, it tasted "yummy".

Yet, I also know that the ingredients of that chocolate bar caused my body to have an adverse reaction. Accelerated heart beat. Possible tooth decay. And possibly a forthcoming pimple. And despite knowing all that PRIOR to eating it, "i" still ate it.

Self 1 point: Other-than-self 0 points.

Furthermore, the nutrional value of the chocolate bar equals 0.

I ate what I had and went back for more.

After eating the first chocolate bar, "i" immediately "wanted" another one.

And to top it all off, my body used energy to digest the chocolate bar only to receive an adverse reaction, zero nutrition, loss of energy, possible forthcoming cosmetic problems, the memory that it tasted yummy, the desire to want another one, and the entire preventable process distracted my attention from where it should have been in the "first-place": no particular place at all.

I won't even get into the whole mass-production thing.

Can you say "total waste"?

what are other good kinds I should be on the look-out for?

I recommend you be on the look-out for only the true good kinds of food: fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains. And wash it all down with only distilled water.

P.S. Moonbear,

I am aware that my reply was not the type of reply you wanted, but I believe it was needed.

 

[Smurf]

I tend to avoid the stinky cheese myself. Find it ruins my appetite for desert. You might try Camembert - it's a very bitter taste, I personally prefer sour.

 

[z-component]

I think you have offended someone, Moonbear...

http://x10.putfile.com/10/28020235945.jpg

Remember The Stinky Cheese Man?

 

[Smurf]

I recommend you be on the look-out for only the true good kinds of food: fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains. And wash it all down with only distilled water.

Jimmie I'm with you on the health thing. I always make sure I eat right, but you musn't get caught up trying to find the optimal consumption product, variety is the spice of life! And there's nothing paticularly unhealthy with French Cheeses

 

[arildno]

VERY IMPORTANT:
A camembert should never, ever be eaten before it oozes out of its package on its own. Let the camembert come to you, not the other way around.

 

[Smurf]

I should have asked for a Croque Monsieur, it's like a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. YUMMY!

I make a delicious Croque Madame myself...

However, since I've become a vegetarian my French cooking has become somewhat rare.

 

[Evo]

VERY IMPORTANT:
A camembert should never, ever be eaten before it oozes out of its package on its own. Let the camembert come to you, not the other way around.

True, my aunt showed me at the market. I saw all of these women opening the little boxes the camembert was in, checking them, she told me it had to be oozing in the middle, not firm. I still say it is

 

[jimmie]

And there's nothing paticularly unhealthy with French Cheeses

It's not needed, and its mass-produced.

If you want it, you make it.

Just don't rely on a product that is not needed to be mass-produced. Not wise.

 

[Evo]

I make a delicious Croque Madame myself...

However, since I've become a vegetarian my French cooking has become somewhat rare.

Ooooh, I'll have a croque madam, I love eggs.

You can cook it, I'll eat it.

 

[Smurf]

It's not needed, and its mass-produced.

If you want it, you make it.

Just don't rely on a product that is not needed to be mass-produced. Not wise.

I agree with you in principle Jimmie, but come on, you could be doing a lot worse than cheese.

 

[Smurf]

Ooooh, I'll have a croque madam, I love eggs.

You can cook it, I'll eat it.

No, I'll make myself one too. I'll eat meat, I just have to approve of where it comes from.

 

[arildno]

Here's a nice cheese list for you, moonbear. I'm sure there are quite a few stinkies on it.
http://www.food-info.net/uk/dairy/cheese-list.htm
In fact, it includes the Norwegian stinker, "pultost".

Now, I have never tried pultost, but one thing to remember is to never, ever write that name as "pult ost".

 

[jimmie]

I agree with you in principle

Principle is everything.

Either that thing is needed, or it is not needed.

Either it should be mass-produced, or it should not be mass-produced.

you could be doing a lot worse

That is not possible. The worst has already being done.

A product not needed has been mass-produced, and is now being used by an individual, thus "supposedly" justifying the existence of that product.

The fact that the product is cheese, as opposed to a chocolate bar, or a can of pop, or a beer, or a 1 ton bomb or a 5 ton bomb, does not matter.

Principles define who we are, and what we are not.

I am aware of the possible argument "But it's JUST cheese".
If that one not-needed product is allowed to be mass-produced, then why not THAT product, or THAT product, or THAT product.

It's about objectively upholding only one principle, despite the inevitable subjective pleas.

It's not about cheese.

However, the current thread IS about cheese, and I am aware that I am raining on the parade.

Therefore, I hereby remove my "self" from the thread.

 

[Smurf]

But it's JUST cheese!

 

[Moonbear]

I am aware that my reply was not the type of reply you wanted, but I believe it was needed.

Bah! That's boring. I eat plenty of fruits and veggies, but fat and protein are necessary too (it's a cold, rainy day, I need to keep my energy up), and the ocassional indulgence doesn't hurt either. And how dare you malign chocolate! (BTW, you're not making a very effective point trying to deter me from cheese by comparing it to chocolate...I'm a certified chocoholic.

 

[JamesU]

HAHA! for once, I can correct someone on their typing! it's BLEU cheese!

 

[Evo]

Except in the US, it's commonly referred to as blue cheese.

 

[Smurf]

Crashed... and burned!

 

[JamesU]

but that's incorrect

 

[Smurf]

Pfft, so? The americans do everything wrong. It's become expected and accepted.

 

[JamesU]

you're an american too!

 

[Evo]

What could be more American than Kraft Blue Cheese Dressing?

 

[Smurf]

Kraft Blue Cheese Dressing?

I actually said "eeeeeew" and made a face when I read that line.

 

[JamesU]

they also spelled 'craft' wrong

 

[Smurf]

you're an american too!

No.. I'm really not.

 

[Smurf]

they also spelled 'craft' wrong

Exactly!