Not all cheeses may smell strongly. However, we can easily say that cheeses with heavy odors are immediately noticeable. Well, have you ever wondered why some cheeses smell bad despite their delicious taste?
Why do some cheeses smell bad?
The smell of cheese has an interesting origin and actually adds to its taste. Sharper cheeses, such as Époisses, Stinking Bishop, or Limburger, are referred to as “rind-washed” cheeses. The rind of these cheeses is washed with saline or sometimes with alcohols such as wine, beer or brandy during the ripening process.
As washing continues, moisture builds up and allows various microbes to grow in the shell. The most important of these are the bacteria known as Brevibacterium linens. It is also known that some cheese producers spread B. linens directly on the rind during the washing phase, while others initially spread B. linens in the milk.
This bacteria is important for cheese in two ways. First, it often gives the bark its characteristic colour. Second, as it grows, it produces sulfur compounds that are responsible for the strong odor. B. Linens are also found on human skin and are the main cause of foot odor. This is why these cheeses often evoke such a strong comparison. Interestingly, the odor produced by these B. Linens when found on human feet is also extremely attractive to mosquitoes.
Why this bad smell causes cheese to be loved may be a little more complicated. When you eat smelly cheese, the flavor compounds are released into your mouth and travel to the back of your nose as you go. They are then picked up by the same olfactory receptors that tell you cheese is disgusting just when you smell it, but when they enter through this back door, the brain simultaneously associates them with the creamy taste it detects on the tongue. Here, in an interesting interaction, the brain perceives the delicious taste of cheese. This process is called “retronasal olfactory” or “retronasal olfactory”.
Traditionally, the type of substance used to wash these cheeses depends on geography, which is also responsible for their texture. Produced on the plains by breeders such as French monks, rind-washed cheeses tend to be softer in texture than their characteristically harder mountain-born counterparts.
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