Smelly Cheese Looks Like a Brain

Despite its appearance, this cheese is not a prop from the movie "Young Frankenstein." I should add that its appearance is what convinced me to plunk down about $20 for this one pound piece of cheese that I had never heard of. In case you were wondering, its called Cap Gris Nez Cheese. Cap Gris Nez means "gray nosed cape" in French, and I guess, since the cheese also looks a bit like a pet rock, that this is a reasonable name. It is a raw milk cow's cheese aged more than 60 days (Of course. God forbid we allow those French to kill us with Listeria) .

When the cheese is unwrapped, the first thing that you notice is that it stinks. I mean old feet stinks. The cheese has a thin washed yellow rind, and is cream colored on the inside. It is quite firm. I liked it. It has a strong flavor that would pair well with a "big" red wine. It sits well on crackers, too. The lovely wife believed that not only did it smell like feet, but it tasted like feet. So much for total agreement on all issues. Its other problem is that it only really looks good as a whole, very expensive, one pound piece of cheese. Cut up, it loses its "brain appeal." And having a cut up piece of stinky cheese in your refrigerator is also not a great way to promote marital harmony. Having said that I really thought it was good, and would buy a smaller piece (if available) as one of the later cheeses to eat on a cheese plate.