Here are a few of my favorite cheese facts:
In 2015, food scientists in Switzerland solved two seemingly independent mysteries that turned out to have the same answer.
Mystery #1: What causes the holes or “eyes” in many Swiss-style cheeses?
Mystery #2: Why were Swiss cheeses developing fewer “eyes” than they had in the past?
The answer to both questions had to do with hay. You see, mystery #1 was solved when researchers determined that bacteria in the maturing cheese produce gases, and it is when these gases collect around tiny imperfections in the cheese that the iconic “holes” form. Mystery #2 was solved when researchers realized that the transition from open-bucket milk collection to industrial, closed milking systems had resulted in significantly fewer hay particles getting in the milk. Fewer hay particles means fewer of those tiny imperfections or “eye starting points,” and ultimately fewer holes in Swiss cheeses. Less hay, less holes. Mystery solved!The flavorless ring of orange pigment circling a slice of American muenster cheese isn’t only there to look pretty. It’s meant to visually mimic another cheese—Munster géromé—which is a funky, sticky, wonderfully smelly cheese from France. Immigrants from the Alsace region of then-Germany/now-France came to United States and introduced this style of cheese, adapting the traditional recipe to suit Americans’ stink-averse palates.
Speaking of stinky cheeses… You know how some people say “stinky cheeses” smell like feet? Well, those people are right and they do. Many cheeses are “washed” in a salt solution that contains the bacteria brevibacterium linens. In cheese, B. linens works like the bacterial cultures in yogurt, chemically transforming boring young curds into decadent, intensely flavorful, undeniably stinky cheeses such as Taleggio, Gruyère, and the infamous Limburger. That said, brevibacterium linens is also one of the bacteria responsible for smelly feet. And it attracts mosquitos. So the next time someone says your favorite cheese smells like feet, I’m sorry to say—you might have to agree with them!
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Upon hearing these facts you may ask: “But, Yvaine. You’re an academic. An educator and researcher. You deal in words. Why do you know these silly, nerdy cheese facts?!”
Great question! I spent seven years as a professional cheesemonger. I had always enjoyed cheese, but once I started learning more about it—the history, the chemistry, the culture (pun intended) of cheese—I was truly in love 💕
But being a cheesemonger means working retail and I hit my Maximum Retail Threshold in early 2014. Just weeks away from becoming an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I abandoned my cheesy destiny and decided to go back to college instead. (All in all, a great choice, though I do lament missing the opportunity to get formally certified in cheese!)
A few years ago, I really had to face the facts. Though I love cheese, my body does not. Whether lactose-free or lactose-full; cow, goat, or sheep; raw milk or pasteurized; fresh or aged; my body rejects it all. Cheese and I had to split for good. My diet is now 100% dairy-free, which feels like a fantastic, cosmic irony.
Even so, I love cheese as much as ever, and revel in introducing friends to old favorites. I joke that it’s like a long-term relationship that ended amicably:
Me to every friend: “Have you met my good friend Cheese? Yeah, we dated for awhile. It was serious, but we weren’t right for each other. Cheese is still one of my favorite people, though. You two should hang out!”
Camera cuts to me piling friend’s arms high with wedges and wheels of Bonne Bouche, Blue D’Auvergne, Murcia Curado, Etxegarai, Blu ‘61, ekte gjetost, Piave……So what I’m really trying to say is ask me for cheese recommendations! It will make my day and hopefully you’ll end up with some new faves =]