Congratulations Limburger Cheese, You Win

[Ben]

After 60 years of running away at the mere mention of Limburger cheese, it has now made me its bitch.

My dad has loved limburger all his life. The smell drove me out of the house since I was old enough to remember. He always gave me the, "How do you know if you don't try it?" routine, but I never fell for it. Until now.

My dad is visiting me this week, and when we stopped at the German store in Boise this morning, he insisted on buying some of their limburger*. I started complaining, but the store owner and top shelf chef, who I have come to know from my many visits, sided with my dad but also told me about the Limburger sandwich, apparently quite popular in Wisconsin. Rye bread slathered in German mustard, thick slices of sweet onion, Limburger cheese, and wash it down with a very dark beer or strong coffee.

I don't know why, but that sounded good. So I bought some fresh rye bread and schwarz beer from the guy, got back to the house, and made a Limburger sandwich. Damn it all to hell. It was really good. Now I seem to be hooked. It might have helped that I have a stuffy nose today, but I got past the smell and the cheese just had a really good flavor. Don't know if I could eat it straight, but with the bread and the onion, somehow that combo worked.

So apparently now I'm hooked. Dammit.


*Despite my previous hate of it, I've been buying the old man Limburger online for many years since he can't get good stuff locally. I've been getting him the Country Castle, apparently made in Wisconsin in the last US Limburger factory. Damned expensive to buy and ship, but I figured it's the least I can do for the old man in his last years. Now I guess I'm ordering some for me, too. 

The local German store has the St Mang, but according to my dad it's not as good as the American Limburger. I thought it was good in the sandwich, so I'm curious to see what the Country Castle tastes like.

[TechMan]

Good for you...I still cannot bring myself to try it.

I buy my dad blind robin every Christmas, it brings him great joy.  I remember him going to the Cleveland Westside Market to buy it to give to both of my grandfathers and they loved it as well.  I have tried it once and determined that I didn't like it.

[Brad Johnson]

Nasty locker room sock stank smell aside, it really is good. The trick is to pair it with other strong-tasting foods.

Word of warning... keep it tightly wrapped in multiple layers of plastic wrap or everything in the fridge will smell like it. Quickly. Butter is especially good at "collecting" the aroma and converting it to a similar flavor.

Brad

[K Frame]

I've not had Limburger in quite a few years... it's tough to find around here.

But man is it good with the right accompanyments... sausages, black bread, and a stone ground mustard...

[charby]

Dark rye, caramelized onions and limburger cheese toasted sammich is the cat's ass.

[230RN]

I get about the same reaction when I mention I like headcheese (ew!) and tongue (ew!) cold cuts.  (Though headcheese is not really a cheese.)

Haven't found either around here in a couple of years.

I kind of wonder what other ewies there are that are good but get a bad rap.

I never had brains (no wisecracks) but I wonder what that's like. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things in headcheese,but I never had it in isolaton.

My only attempt at escargo was a disappointment.  Maybe it was the prep, but it just tasted like nothing but Garlic with a capital G.

[Silver Bullet]

Though headcheese is not really a cheese.

In that case, I'd rather not know what that really is.   

[zxcvbob]

In that case, I'd rather not know what that really is.   

It's not really that nasty, it's a type of cooked sausage with a lot of gelatin in it.

[Brad Johnson]

In that case, I'd rather not know what that really is.   

Meat Jell-O.

Brad

[K Frame]

I've actually helped make headcheese, souse, and scrapple.

Going from pig in the pen to finished product...

Nothing like seeing 5 pigs heads boiling away in a cauldron over a wood fire...

[TechMan]

Goetta for the win.

[TechMan]

I get about the same reaction when I mention I like headcheese (ew!) and tongue (ew!) cold cuts.  (Though headcheese is not really a cheese.)

Haven't found either around here in a couple of years.

I kind of wonder what other ewies there are that are good but get a bad rap.

I never had brains (no wisecracks) but I wonder what that's like. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things in headcheese,but I never had it in isolaton.

My only attempt at escargo was a disappointment.  Maybe it was the prep, but it just tasted like nothing but Garlic with a capital G.

Heck if you want head cheese, come out to Cincinnati when Covid is over. 

[230RN]

Heck if you want head cheese, come out to Cincinnati when Covid is over.  

Oh, I'm sure I can order either tongue or headcheese from the King Soopers butcher.  Son2 says his KS meat department will even shuck clams and oysters on order.  I'd almost like to try that because "clamming" was a fun pastime when I lived on Long Island Sound.  Wade along, dig one up, shuck it, chew it to death, and skip the shells along the water like skipping rocks, a la Opie Taylor.

Got the worst sunburn of my life doing that --forgot that I was getting hit with direct light from the sun as well as sunlight reflecting off the water.  Double UV whammy.  I was invincible in those days, before I discovered I was vincible.

Terry, 230RN

[K Frame]

I could never tolerate the texture of tongue.

My Dad loved it, my Mom was not at all crazy about it, and it made me want to throw up.

[230RN]

I could never tolerate the texture of tongue.

My Dad loved it, my Mom was not at all crazy about it, and it made me want to throw up.

It got you licked, huh?

I'm not signing this one just on general principles.

[K Frame]

Yep. One of the few foods that I simply cannot tolerate.

[brimic]

I was at an Octoberfest festival 2 years ago, while inebriated, I ordered a bratwurst covered in Molten Raclette cheese. This did not make me popular with my friends.

It was delicious, but the stench was overwhelming.

[K Frame]

"It was delicious, but the stench was overwhelming."

I don't think you have any right to blame the cheese for the stench... 

I didn't realize it but raclette cheese has been around since at least the late 1200s... Wow...

For some reason I thought it was a relatively recent development from the 1800s.

[K Frame]

Time to revive the stank...

I found Limburger! Store I don't shop at often, but which has a great cheese counter, had it. It's pretty mild compared to what I've had in the past, but still very, very good. I'm having eggs with Limburger for breakfast.