# Lets learn about cheese **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240 "2002-10-28T13:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/21 "2002-10-28T16:28:17Z")
Gotta say Halloumi makes me want to throw up, I have no clue why. Feta is saltier and much tastier. Proper mozarella is a lovely cheese. Brie is a great soft cheese. I loathe Camembert but can still eat it. Philadelphia is great. Processed cheese is vile. Chevre (goat’s milk) is both lovely in it’s mild, fresh form - often in the shape of a swiss roll with charcoal dust on the outside, as well as matured. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/22 "2002-10-28T16:36:58Z")
You’re not eating the halloumi uncooked are you, **Istara**? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/23 "2002-10-28T17:30:02Z")
Man, I thought you actually wanted to _learn_ more about cheese from the title. I guess I’ll have to keep to myself one of the lovely things that is used to cure cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/24 "2002-10-28T19:59:11Z")
Nice extra sharp chedder Provolone Ricotta ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/25 "2002-10-28T20:44:49Z")
I think he’s hoping for more info than that, **Guin**. _Provolone_ Like a hardened version of mozzarella with a firm texture (how hard depends on how long they’ve aged it). There two kinds - mild (dolce) or sharp-tasting (picante), and they go with pretty much anything savoury and Italian, figs, tomatoes or olives. Slice some onto a pizza. Drink with light, fruity reds such as merlot or chianti. _Ricotta_ Light, soft cream cheese (or cottage cheese as we’d call it - is that an American expression?). Used in cooking, such as the base for cheesecake or the filling in vegetarian ravioli, cannelloni etc. BTW, don’t do as I did once and drink rosé wine with roquefort cheese. Separately they taste great; both in the mouth at the same time and the result tastes like vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/26 "2002-10-28T21:08:47Z")
I think you might want to start by learning how to spell _cheddar_ d&r There are good cheeses, and bad cheeses, and some that stink like the foot of a demon. Try small bits every week and find stuff you like. I’ll be over in the corner eating a soft yet crumbly Havarti. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/27 "2002-10-28T21:27:52Z")
Try some [Casu Marzu cheese](http://www.portlandmercury.com/2000-09-14/scientific.html) > [@](#): > > According to Yaroslav Trefimov of The Wall Street Journal, Casu Marzu, Sardinia’s favorite black market treat, begins with a local cheese called Pecorino, which is left out in the sun, so that nearby barn-flies can deposit their larvae into it, until it becomes overpopulated with a swarming mass of maggots. The enzymes “produced” by the maggots cause the cheese to ferment, which, in turn, decomposes the fats, creating a living culinary delight. > > Fans of the fetid fondue à la larvae say Casu Marzu’s attributes range from being an aphrodisiac, to containing psychotropic qualities that give a full body rush. It also makes a great centerpiece at wedding banquets and family feasts. > > Trefimov describes the viscous larval bomb as a rotten tasting, pungent goo that burns the tongue, and can also affect other parts of the body. Moreover, the lively maggots are far more entertaining than dull cherries suspended in Jell-O, as the creatures continuously leap from the cheese as you eat it. Part of the ritualistic ceremony involves covering the mess with the hand, to keep the little buggers from snapping into the eyeballs with “ballistic precision.” > > According to Trefimov, when the brown lump (the size of a human head) is presented, the maggots spring from the cheese, and “merrily jump up and down, cavorting all over the table.” ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/28 "2002-10-28T21:28:32Z")
Ricotta and Cottage Cheese are different cheeses over here, **everton**. They’re rather similar in softness (and sort of in texture), but they taste different and are used differently. Cottage Cheese is defined as “small curd” or “large curd”, with the curds held together with an almost sauce-like liquid. Many people don’t like it and it has a “diet food” connotation, but I enjoy it. And I’m terrible at providing cheese analysis, but if someone can do justice to Havarti, please do so! YUM! ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/29 "2002-10-28T21:48:35Z")
It seems we have a similar understanding of cottage cheese, then. Not the best analogy was it? Can anyone confirm/confound the rumour that the holes in Swiss cheeses such as Emmental are gradually disappearing? The holes are created by gas gradually expired by bacteria that grows in the cheese. [Here’s Cecil on the subject](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010323.html). Apparently they make it by adding a little bit of old cheese to the mix for the new cheese, transferring the bacteria to make the holes, and they’re dying out for an unknown reason. Straight Dope anyone? ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/30 "2002-10-29T01:02:03Z")
Briminator, I don’t know how your shop is is run, but I’ve been to a few that offer samples. Have you ever thought to ask for a taste? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/31 "2002-10-29T09:22:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\ ***jjimm** did you get that from Nigel Slater? \*\* Yes, but shhh! Don’t expose my plagiarism. Anyway, it’s different coz he uses Camembert. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/32 "2002-10-29T10:19:21Z")
I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/33 "2002-10-29T15:54:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > Man, I thought you actually wanted to _learn_ more about cheese from the title. I guess I’ll have to keep to myself one of the lovely things that is used to cure cheese. No takers? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/34 "2002-10-29T16:01:50Z")
D’you mean rennet? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/35 "2002-10-29T16:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. \*\* Thank God for that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/36 "2002-10-29T16:20:10Z")
Yeah; rennet - so what? Do you know what they use to clarify beer? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/37 "2002-10-29T16:54:19Z")
My kidneys seem to do a decent job of clarifying beer :), but you don’t often see it on the vegetarians’ banned list do you? I recall reading an article in which someone was talking to an Inuit man and expressing disgust at the idea of eating seal blubber. The guy’s response was along the lines of “well, what d’they make cheese out of?” and he had a point. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/38 "2002-10-29T18:55:45Z")
Re Halloumi: I’ve had it cooked (grilled?) and melted, and possibly cold/raw but I’m not sure, **mangetout** , and I just hate it hate it HATE it. What is it made from? Why do I find it so nasty? There’s something mildly sweetly sickly off-milkly cloying about it or something. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/39 "2002-10-29T19:12:23Z")
I’ve always wanted to try Limburger, but I’m sort of afraid to because all I know about it I learned from Pepe LePew cartoons. (seriously) ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/40 "2002-10-29T19:21:45Z")
I had heard Gjetost raved about, but upon trying it found it an odd combination of sickly sweet/caramelish and chalky/acrid. But apparently the Scandinavians love it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240.md?page=3)