Of Cheese and Food Snobbery

Published on Friday, February 23, 2007, by Christy Harrison / Edit Post

How delicious must a stinky cheese be for the putrid smell to be “worth it”? For ladygoat of the blog Foodgoat, more delicious than Morbier. She finds that the fromage’s foul scent becomes worse after handling and is decidedly unlovely on the palate to boot. “If, one day, you should actually see this cheese from afar, RUN,” she writes.

Half of the commenters disagree with her assessment, and one insinuates that her summary dismissal of the pungent dairy product calls her true chowhound status into question:

woah! did a supposed food lover honestly just tell people to ‘run’ away from Morbier? Maybe you should try it again, this time without a french-bashing agenda or whiny nostrils. The morbier I know is a gloriously creamy and stringent cheese, with a direct acidic flavor that is ridiculously good. Before you call a cheese foul, why don’t you try it more than once?

I’ve heard the same argument tossed about occasionally among foodophiles; if someone is less than psyched about all the bones in the rabbit at a Sichuan resto or unmoved by a Sicilian spleen sandwich, they’re accused of being insufficiently adventuresome/curious/chowhoundy. There’s definitely a certain machismo and foodier-than-thou attitude among some gastronomes, and it can take many forms—from wine snobbery to offal one-upmanship. This push to be more curious was probably helpful to me when I was first getting really into food, but it can also be off-putting. And when one’s tastes are already pretty eclectic, it can be even more infuriating to hear those tastes questioned.

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  • Stinky cheese is not for all. I have found it to be an acquired taste, much like that of any strong flavored food or drink (scotch). My first Morbier was from a supermarket in my home town. It was quite nasty, but how long had it been there? The folks at this store were not the exotic cheese type and likely took it of the truck (from the cheapest wholesaler) cut and wrapped it and forgot about...+READ

    Stinky cheese is not for all. I have found it to be an acquired taste, much like that of any strong flavored food or drink (scotch). My first Morbier was from a supermarket in my home town. It was quite nasty, but how long had it been there? The folks at this store were not the exotic cheese type and likely took it of the truck (from the cheapest wholesaler) cut and wrapped it and forgot about it. This is no way to treat a cheese as I have come to learn. Upon tasting a well cared for and ripe Morbier I have found it quite delicious, a rich milk flavor with a hint of the barn yard that you come to enjoy over time. Having worked with this stuff for a long time I have come to enjoy it, but I still come across some cheeses that yell "Run for the hills!" If you don't care for Morbier than steer clear of the Stinking Bishop!-COLLAPSE

  • I must admit that I first tried Morbier a few years ago and thought I was going to have my previous meal on my plate after I smelled and tasted the cheese. I tried it again, the same wedge, thinking it may have been my tastes that were off, but nope, it was the cheese. It was terrible. And that is saying a lot for me, because I have never met a cheese (except for Morbier) that I did not love. I...+READ

    I must admit that I first tried Morbier a few years ago and thought I was going to have my previous meal on my plate after I smelled and tasted the cheese. I tried it again, the same wedge, thinking it may have been my tastes that were off, but nope, it was the cheese. It was terrible. And that is saying a lot for me, because I have never met a cheese (except for Morbier) that I did not love. I swore it off my list forever and gave bad reports of it to my foodie friends. Now, however, after reading everyone else's comments, I wonder if I just had an overripe cheese... Maybe I will venture to try it one more time... :)-COLLAPSE

  • Overripe, ammoniated cheeses are truly unpleasant, but a good ripe smelly washed rind cheese rings all the right bells in my mouth. Not a matter of oneupmanship at all, to me it just tastes good.

  • Whatever happened to individual opinions? Is everyone supposed to like the same thing? Jeez what a shallow world we live in. And boring, I daresay.

  • Might depend on the condition of the cheese. If it's overripe, won't be pleasant.

  • When the weather improves, try it again, outside. I've found that this is a cheese best served al fresco. Preferably with a slight breeze. :)

  • I'm guessing the quoted person had in mind "astringent" and/or "pungent" -- but despite the prevailing wisdom these days, to communicate effectively it really does help to use the right word (and spell it correctly).

  • As per Ruth's comment -- Can someone explain what the quoted person meant to say instead of stringent?

  • I can understand dissapointment with Morbier, although it should be tasted from more that one source. I have stopped carrying the cheese all together because of the poor condition it is often in when we order it. In bad shape the flavor can be quite bitter and more barnyardy than cheesy. Even worse, the orange bacteria on the rind will travel onto interior surface of a cut piece rather quickly...+READ

    I can understand dissapointment with Morbier, although it should be tasted from more that one source. I have stopped carrying the cheese all together because of the poor condition it is often in when we order it. In bad shape the flavor can be quite bitter and more barnyardy than cheesy. Even worse, the orange bacteria on the rind will travel onto interior surface of a cut piece rather quickly making the flavor much stronger than it should be. I find this to be a problem mostly in supermarkets where large amounts of the cheese are cut ahead of time and then do not sell quickly. Even worse is the Costco morbier which is pre cut and cryovaced in France giving plenty of time for the rind to begin growing over the cut surface.-COLLAPSE

  • What I find deliciously ironic is that fact that this guy in his foodie-snob rant misused the word "stringent."

    In the deathless words of Inigo Montoya, "I do not think that word means what you think it means."