Stinky Cheese

On a recent trip to Whole Foods, Mr Minx and I picked up some extremely stinky cheese - French Muenster. We both like the square mild American version of Muenster with its orange colored edges and tiny holes and thought that the French version would be similar. It was wedge shaped, with an obvious linen-textured top and bottom rind; the cheese appeared to be semi-soft and oozed out the sides. And it had a mild smell through the plastic wrap. We chose a small wedge to try.

Once home, I unwrapped the cheese and was immediately hit by an odor like the inside of a hamper in the Ravens' lockeroom - dirty feet, jockstraps, maybe even some death. God, it was stinky. Mr Minx couldn't even eat it - he gagged a little at the first taste. I thought it tasted ok if one didn't inhale too deeply while it was in front of the face, but man...it didn't taste that good!

After dinner, I rewrapped the cheese and put it in a plastic baggie. Somehow, that wasn't enough to contain the stench, as in a few minutes the whole refrigerator reeked. Two more bags later, the cheese, now triple-bagged and wrapped in plastic, seems to be behaving itself. There's still a sizable piece left, all mine I assume. What should I do with it? We've had stinky cheese in the past and Mr Minx used it on a pizza with lamb, which worked out very well as the stink was neutralized by the heat. But will that work on French Muenster, or will the stink take over the house?

Stay tuned....