The smelly cheese

[Millahtyme1983]

I don't really post much, usually I just reply to threads mostly because I haven't worked retail in a few years. But I was going through one of Rapscillions threads from his retail past and one of them reminded me of this.

I was working at the deli for Shaw's supermarkets and part of the deli department at that chain (and most chains that don't make it a separate department or sub-department) was the cheese section. I was on the floor putting out variouse cheeses and there was this woman going through the cheese cases picking up various cheeses and smelling them, I thought for freshness or something like that. I asked her if I could help her and she didn't say anything at first, so I went back to what I was doing and a few seconds later she comes up to me with a piece of provalone

Her: Is this the smelly cheese?
me: well sharper provalones can emit a somewhat strong odor, but nothing that I would think would qualify it as a smelly cheese.
Her: yea, but is it the smelly cheese?
me: well, do you have another way to describe it?
Her: it's the smelly cheese.
me: well there are a lot of strong smelling cheeses out there theres Gorgonzola, Swiss (the real stuff not that plastic looking crap we sold behind the counter), and the triplets as I call them Asiago, Romano and Parmesan just to name a few.
Her: well when I was growing up my father would make (some pasta dish) and he'd put some cheese in it and we called it the smelly cheese.
me: well since it's pasta my guess is it's one of the triplets most likely either parmesan or romano.
Her: are either of those the smelly cheese?
Me: unfortunatley I'm not sure since I didn't grow up in your household.
Her: okay, well...i'll see if they don't have it someplace else.

[CaroPhoenix]

When I think of "smelly cheese", I think of Swiss. To me, it smells like stinky feet. But swiss is easy to find. It's the one with the holes in it.

[Primer]

Limburger FTW!

[TOLady]

Harzkase - truly stomach-turningly revolting smell, but apparently an awesome taste. Smellier than limburger even.

Personally - I can't get close enough to it because of the smell and I LOVEs me my cheeses!

My step-dad won't let it near the regular fridge. He makes my mom keep it in the downstairs fridge she uses for forcing some of her plants.

I have noticed those particular plants never grow as well after

[tacohuman]

for smelly italian cheeses, i'd say gorgonzola (particularly the mountain variety) or taleggio, one of my personal favorites.

[fireheart]

I've had some blue cheese come through my line that smelt off...first time I saw it, I thought that it was either off. Check the label-nup, waaay before expiry date. I actually thought my coworker had let off one Nup, it was the cheese. Ewwwww!

[JoitheArtist]

If any of you ever visit Santa Barbara, California (preferably when it's NOT on fire--keep my friends there in your thoughts, please), visit The Cheese Shop. It's this little shop in a plaza, and they sell about a gazillion kinds of cheese. The staff are young, friendly, and energetic. Plus, you can say, "Hey, I like such and such cheeses, what would you recommend?" and they'll not only give you a great recommendation, but pull out a huge hunk of cheese and slice you off a bit to sample!

So far my favorite from there was the Humboldt Fog, but the Ewephoria was also quite nice.

[fireheart]

We've got a similar shop in Adelaide Joi. It's in the Adelaide Central Markets (must go back there sometime....). They nearly always have a lady there with various cheeses available for you to try. In fact, most of the specialty shops there (not the fresh fruit/vegies people) will usually provide free samples

[Millahtyme1983]

Yea there is a huge list of bad smelling cheeses that I could have gone down, most of them we only got every once and awhile due to slow sales (most people buying specialty cheeses will go to a cheese shop)

There's actually a very nice cheese and wine shop around the corner from me, I lived here 3 years and didn't even know about it until I was watching the local news. They do this thing every summer where they visit a different city or town in Massachusetts and profile the community and the local attractions, one of which was this shop which sells all sorts of cheeses (and wines) some of which are extremely hard to find.

[SilverOrb]

I've had some blue cheese come through my line that smelt off...first time I saw it, I thought that it was either off.

There is this Blue Cheese named Stilton.... Smells VERY strong... But my absolute fav. Heaven on a cracker.

Mmmm

[Imogene]

It's this little shop in a plaza, and they sell about a gazillion kinds of cheese.

"Do you have any cheese?"
"Yes!"

"Do you have any cheese, I ask again, and be warned, I'm going to shoot you if your answer is no?"
"No, not as such..."
*Bang!*

[SilverOrb]

I lovelovelove Stilton, as long as it has been 'cooked', like in a soup, or in a cheese sauce, or melted in a burger or something like that. Otherwise it's too... Stiltony... for my taste. Weird, eh?

Nothing weird about that. It is a super strong cheese... Not to everyone's taste. First time I saw it, I was looking at it like "WTF is this"?!

After all, you gotta remember... Yes Stilton is super strong, which I like, but it DOES have a unique flavor. You apparently like the flavor but not the strength.

It's like me and lemonade. I LOVE lemonade, but I have to have it NO MORE THAN 2/3 strength. Otherwise it is just gross to me.

[LibraryLady]

Maybe I'll ask someone at the grocery if they can tell me what cheese I like. It's pale, green-veined, not really smelly, spread well onto crackers, and tasted really nice. What more info could they possibly need??

Sounds a bit like sage derby to me.