I know that good cheese is supposed to be eaten at room temperature. I have noticed, though, that some hard cheeses – such as comte or Neal’s Yard Montgomery cheddar – if left out for a while, start “sweating.” And if I eat it, it makes my mouth itch, kind of like eggplant.
What’s going on here? Is the cheese emitting some kind of acid? If so, shouldn’t it make my mouth itch even when it’s not “sweaty,” like eggplant?
Sounds to me like you may be having an allergic reaction. A mild one at that.
Really really strong cheddar makes the roof of my mouth itch too. I view it as a positive thing, an affirmation of how mature the cheese is - I don’t think it’s necessarily an allergy. Googling “cheese mouth itch” reveals a few sites with people sharing my view.
I’m not familiar with either of the cheeses named, but I’ve experienced discomfort with eating some other strong or sharp cheeses - notably some varieties of Pecorino - where the first bite made my mouth sting and my whole scalp itch and tingle - I don’t think it was an allergic reaction, as it was instantaneous - more like the sort of spine-tingle you might get from eating a strong pickled onion - just some kind of involuntary muscle tensing or something.
Worcester sauce sometimes does the same to me.
Histamine and tyramine in cheese
No doubt someone has measured the concentration of these amines in cheese sweat, but I’m not finding it this morning.
Not familiar with Cheddar!? It’s the single most popular cheese in the world!
Time to hand over your name…