While not a foodie per se, I still like trying out new cuisines, new foods. That is when more or less recently, I finally got the nerve to try Limburger Cheese, at the local supermarket. And I think I like it.
It tastes like it has been laying in the Sun, too long. But over all, I at least think it tastes more good than bad. (Please fill in your own experiences with it here.)
And then there is eel: Sushi, to be precise. I know it is rare to eat it (eel) in America. But when they make it into Sushi, they serve it with this special brown sauce. And again, I think it tastes delicious. (The only draw back is that it has these small spindly, spiny fibers in it, that probably get stuck in your colon. But still, it is well worth it, for the taste, I at least think.) Again, share your own experiences.
Well, have I peaked any of your curiosities about these cuisines? And do you think you’ll be trying it soon too? Remember, even if you don’t like it, until you try it, you’ll never know what you’re missing.
Eel is great, as long as they don’t overdo it with the sweet sauce - I also prefer “sea eel” (“anago”) to “freshwater eel” (“unagi”), if you go to a sushi bar that offers them both try them side by side…and if you really get a taste for it and there’s a Japanese grocery nearby look for it cooked and frozen like this.
Saltwater eel does taste different from freshwater, but not because it’s saltier. The animal’s skin separates its insides from the outside environment (there was a thing about this on America’s Test Kitchen, not about eels but about saltwater fish).
Anyway, I’ve had freshwater eel (unagi) served in Japanese style many times. It’s not served raw, it’s grilled and slathered (as you noted) with a lovely brown sauce, called “tare” (tah-reh). In addition to sushi, most often it’s served as a donburi, with the grilled eel and sauce over a bed of rice in a dish.
For myself, I find unagi rather too rich and oily to consume a whole donburi. One or two sushi would be just about right, followed by some pickled ginger to cut the richness.
Eel is super common in US Japanese restaurants. Pretty much every one I’ve been to has it. Almost all of the time, it is unagi (cooked freshwater eel). Anago is quite a bit rarer. I think even uni is more common. The sauce is usually just called “unagi sauce.” Yes it is delicious, and you should not avoid it just because it is a long fish.
I’ve not yet tried Limburger (lots of varieties of cheese are available here, but never seen Limburger offered for sale), but my experience has generally been that stinky cheeses (‘outdoor cheese’ as my kids tend to call it) can be very good, once you get over the initial shock of the aroma.
I see it as Unagi Don on the menus around here, but yeah, that’s my favorite way to have eel. When it’s served with the radioactive-looking pickles to give you a break from the sweet and rich eel and rice, it’s perfect.
We recently had a French Brie that was different from all prior Brie experiences (I’ve found that all Brie tastes alike). It was very soft, to the point of being runny. My gf thought initially that it was spoiled, yet it was kinda great tasting at the same time. It stunk up our refrigerator a bit!
It was purchased at a French market in the Caribbean, so I doubt I’ll ever find it again.
Limburger is good partly because it is an experience.
Eating a bland cheese, say Colby or part-skim Mozzarella, is not memorable. Nothing about the texture, aroma, or flavor stands out. Limburger, however, is a Blitzkrieg on all of those senses.
I’ve never eaten limburger, but just smelling it is an experience you’ll not soon forget. When I was a teenager working in a grocery store, I was walking by the nice cheese area, and was struck with “holy hell, what is that smell?” Finding the source wasn’t difficult. It was a cellophane wrapped package of limburger.
To be honest, I’m not sure I could get past that smell.
You probably had raw milk brie, which is the kind of brie you get as standard in France. It is a lot smellier, but tastier, than brie made with pasteurized milk.
About the OP, I thought this thread was going to be about an eel with limburger recipe. I was intrigued. I’ve had both, but not together.
The first time I had eel, I was in Belgium, and it was cooked. “Anguille au vert” is one of their traditional recipes. (Eels in green sauce) Many recipes are available online. It’s good served warm or cold.
There are also sheeps’ milk Bries available in the US. Trader Joe’s among other similar stores carries them. Most are pretty strongly flavored / smelling and some are runny in the middle.
As a change of pace from the usual rather boring Brie it’s nice. The texture of the runniest of them is a bit runnier than I prefer.
I like to unseal an ordinary Brie, then leave it in the fridge for a month or more. It stiffens and develops some nice additional flavors.
I’ve never understand a dislike of eel… but then I also like sardines and anchovies. They all seem a little similar to me in terms of being a little greasy, salty, bony, etc.
I’m not sure if I have tried limburger itself, but I’m not generally fond of funky cheeses. Brie and bleu cheese are both good enough in their way, but they’re already at the edge of what I enjoy.
In the past, I’ve enjoyed smoked eel prepared by Benihana, a teppanyaki-style restaurant. I thought it was delicious, but couldn’t tell you which type of eel it was. I don’t know if they even serve smoked eel any more, but I see they serve something called eel roll.
Limburger cheese, OTOH, smells bad. I have no idea what it tastes like, I can’t get past the smell.
I am not an expert, but I eat a lot of maki, and I thought maki was sushi. Lots of maki has raw fish in it. Not the unagi maki, but plenty of others. No? Please feel free to fight my ignorance.
Also, my own nitpick- why nitpick something that hadn’t been mentioned?
Anyway, I really came over to say eel is great, eel sauce is better, limburger is awful. I’m from Wisconsin, I avoided it until a month ago, and I’ll be sure to avoid it for the 2nd half of my life as well.
