# Is Limburger cheese supposed to taste like it ripened in a corpse's rectum? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423 "2008-07-06T02:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/21 "2008-07-07T18:11:20Z")
I don’t know how limburger compares, but my favorite cheese is so potent that you can really only taste a tiny sliver of it at once lest you be made sick by the taste. It’s called [Appenzeller](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appenzeller_(cheese)) and it’s made in Switzerland. I brought some of it home and my parents nearly retched when I took it out of the Tupperware that it was in. It sort of smells the same too. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/22 "2008-07-07T18:24:08Z")
I got some stinky cheese once that really made me understand why people use the phrase, “Who cut the cheese?” I think it was raclette but may be mistaken. When I opened it, the smell took me back in time to my very first visit to the primate house at the National Zoo. _Fromage Forte_, (Strong cheese) is pretty vicious. It’s fermented cheese that comes in a little crockery pot and it’s said that you can clear out a Paris Metro car by opening one inside. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/23 "2008-07-07T18:59:20Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Try the limburger sandwich at Baumgardner’s in Monroe, Wisconsin sometime. Monroe is the only place in the US where limburger is currently produced, or so I am told. [/QUOTE] Does the whole town reek, like with a paper mill? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/24 "2008-07-07T19:16:29Z")
Sounds like heaven compared to this [stuff.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/25 "2008-07-07T19:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=Tom Tildrum] Does the whole town reek, like with a paper mill? [/QUOTE] I grew up in Monroe WI, and later lived in Tacoma, where they do have pulp mills. Monroe wasn’t that bad. The town mainly smelled of the hops at the Huber brewery. Then, since it was a typical Wisconsin “twice as many taverns as churches” town, the second most pervasive odor was that alley-behind-the bar smell. The high cheese funkwas only prevelant inside the stores. There were a few cheese factories in town, whose waste runoff was frankly Satanic but not widespread. And the dairy farms start right at the edge of town, so cowshit was always in the mix, too. Although Green County is the ony place where Limberger is made in the US, it’s not a Swiss cheese. Green County is heavily Swiss, and their cheese is absolutley wonderful. (as locals, we knew where the authentic stuff was; the kind that stings when it hits your tounge: and it wasn’t at Baumgartners) ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/26 "2008-07-07T19:51:36Z")
A cheese to enjoy with a clothespin is Epoisses de Bourgogne, an unpasteurized wheel-shaped orgasm. But it smells so bad even the French [banned](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/4044703.stm) it from being carried on public transit. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/27 "2008-07-07T19:55:15Z")
My wife’s family runs one of the largest importer/distributors of gourmet cheese in the U.S. They distribute over 2000 different kinds of cheese. The company carriers two different types of Limburger but they only sell a few cases a week nationwide. I have never had it despite trying hundreds of different types of cheese. It isn’t very popular for a reason especially considering the really good cheeses available these days. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/28 "2008-07-07T20:06:23Z")
I’m told Limburger is meant to be eaten slightly warmed and when it is, the odor is not pungent and the flavor is much milder, like maybe a strong Swiss cheese. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/29 "2008-07-07T20:23:27Z")
Ah, but what about Venezuelan Beaver Cheese? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/30 "2008-07-07T21:17:56Z")
Norwegian [Gamalost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamalost) is pretty potent too. It’s awesome. I had a chunk once that was trainable; it would come when you called it, but I couldn’t ever housebreak it. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/31 "2008-07-08T12:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=sqweels] Ah, but what about Venezuelan Beaver Cheese? [/QUOTE] Sorry, we’re out. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/32 "2008-07-09T06:54:45Z")
Clearly, someone desperately needs a remedial course in classic 1950’s-era cartoons. Say, you know something that really tastes delicious? Alum. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/33 "2008-07-09T13:04:52Z")
Just one more voice raised in defense of (not necessarily in order) Limburger cheese, Baumgartner’s Tavern, Monroe, Wisconsin and Green County. Baumgartner”s is a treasure (order a Budweiser and you might be asked to leave), so is their Limburger sandwich on dark bread with sliced onion and brown mustard. My great-grandfather was a cheese maker and merchant in Green County. At his home in Monroe for every meal on every day there was a plate of sliced Green County cheese on his table. A kid learns to understand and appreciate cheese and its traditions when he grows up like that. Some folks just don’t know what good tavern food is ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/34 "2008-07-09T13:44:21Z")
Ughhhhhhhhh! I just read the Wikipedia article on **Casu Marzu** linked to above. We’ve discussed this disgusting stuff many times on this Board, but somehow, this yidbit never came up before: > [@](#): > > Risk of enteric myiasis: intestinal larval infection. Piophila casei larvae can pass through the stomach alive (human stomach acids do not usually kill them) and take up residency for some period of time in the intestines, where they can cause serious lesions as they attempt to bore through the intestinal walls. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.[2] > **[Casu martzu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu)** > > Casu martzu (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Sardinian: \[ˈkazu ˈmaɾtsu\]; lit. 'rotten cheese') is a Sardinian sheep milk cheese that contains live fly maggots. > The larvae of the cheese fly (Piophila casei) are deliberately introduced to pecorino cheese, where their digestive action produces an advanced level of fermentation, incl... It’s bad enough that you’re eating liquefied rotten cheese with the maggots still in it, but I’d never heard before that the maggots can the infest _you_. This has to be the most vile food in existence. Oh, yeah – this bit is golden, too: > [@](#): > > A risk of the decomposition advancing to a toxic state. (Folk wisdom in Sardinia holds that the presence of still-living larvae is an assurance that this has not yet happened.) Person #1: Aren’t you worried that it might be TOO decomposed? Person #2: Nahhhh! The worms are still alive! See? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/35 "2008-07-09T23:00:50Z")
Corpse’s Rectum: Bringing You Smelly Crap Since 1923. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/36 "2008-12-06T07:13:42Z")
Sorry to bring back a corpse thread, but I finally got a chance to order in some Limburger and just had a bit with some crackers. Not bad, even the smell isn’t as bad as I expected. That said, I’m not all that thrilled with it cold on crackers, so I’ll wait 'till it warms up a bit for another sample, but I’m thinking I’m going to have to bake up a loaf of dark rye in the morning and try it with onions and mustard. By the way, I thought these folks had some pretty decent prices on different cheeses that you just can’t find out here in the sticks. I got a hella box of cheese delivered for $70. [http://store.wfucheese.com/allcheeses.html](http://store.wfucheese.com/allcheeses.html) Beer go with tonight is Sheaf Stout. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/37 "2008-12-06T15:39:29Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Clearly, someone desperately needs a remedial course in classic 1950’s-era cartoons. > > Say, you know something that really tastes delicious? Alum. Take me to your [Liederkranz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liederkranz_cheese)? I only knew of it and limberger thanks to cartoons I watched as a kid. The article says it’s extinct, who’d of thunk that a cheese could go extinct? ---
**Author:** ![Wapmah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Wapmah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wapmah)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/38 "2012-10-03T15:30:33Z")
In fact it used to be the most poulare cheese in the US. My favorite way to eat it is to make a grilled cheese sandwich grilled in garlic butter. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/39 "2012-10-03T15:33:34Z")
What is it with all these Limburger threads lately? This is like the third one (and I know this is a zombie) in as many months. I have a difficult time believing it was ever the most popular cheese in the US–I’d need to see a cite on that. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423/40 "2012-10-03T15:34:33Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Oh, just wanted to add… > > **Is Limburger cheese supposed to taste like it ripened in a corpse’s rectum?** > > Zombie Cheese! What he said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limburger-cheese-supposed-to-taste-like-it-ripened-in-a-corpses-rectum/455423.md?page=3)