Pungent and funky
Strong, farmyard and meaty: Epoisses, Limburger, Munster and the washed rinds.
Pungent cheeses are the strong-smelling ones: farmyard, meat broth, cabbage, old cellars and, some say, socks. Most are washed-rind cheeses whose orange, sticky rinds carry bacteria that make sulphur and other volatile compounds. Époisses, Limburger, Munster, Maroilles, Livarot, Herve and Taleggio are the classics. A popular story says Époisses is banned on French public transport, though that is a joke repeated so often it is taken as fact.
Where the smell comes from
The bacteria of washed rinds, especially Brevibacterium linens, break down amino acids such as methionine into sulphur compounds, including methanethiol, which smells of cabbage and onion. Other compounds bring meaty, fruity and ammonia notes. Related bacteria live on human skin, which is why the smell is often compared with feet. Inside, the paste is usually mild, sweet and meaty, and many people who flinch at the smell enjoy the taste.
Strong cheeses of the world
Belgium's best-known strong cheese is Herve, from the plateau east of Liège. In Germany and Wisconsin, Limburger is eaten on rye bread with raw onion. Harz cheese of Germany and Olomoucké tvarůžky of the Czech Republic are small, strong sour-milk cheeses with a smell to match. Norway's gamalost, old cheese, is a hard, brown, sharp sour-milk cheese with a long history, and Corsica and Sardinia have strong sheep's milk cheeses of their own.
Living with pungent cheese
Keep strong cheeses in paper inside a sealed box, away from butter and milk, which pick up smells easily. Serve them at room temperature with plain bread, boiled potatoes, beer, or a fragrant white wine such as Gewürztraminer with Munster. In Alsace, Munster is often eaten with a sprinkle of cumin seeds. For anyone new to strong cheese, start with the paste and a little of the rind, and work outward from there.
Worth knowing
- Époisses: Burgundy cheese washed in marc
- Limburger: Eaten with onion on rye bread
- Munster: Alsace cheese served with cumin
- Maroilles: Strong square cheese of northern France
- Livarot: Normandy cheese bound with sedge
- Herve: Belgium's best-known strong cheese
- Olomoucké tvarůžky: Czech ripened sour-milk cheese
- Gamalost: Norway's sharp old cheese
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Pungent and funky on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇪🇬 EgyptMishمش (meš)
A fermented Egyptian salty cheese aged in buttermilk brine until sharp and pungent.Mixed · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreGorgonzola
A creamy Italian blue cheese from Lombardy with two distinct styles.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇺🇸 United StatesCup cheese
A pungent, spreadable Pennsylvania Dutch cheese sold in cupsCow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇬🇪 GeorgiaDambalkhachoდამბალხაჭო
A pungent, semi-soft Georgian cheese aged in clay pots with sour buttermilk curdsCow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇩🇪 GermanyHandkäse
A small, sour cow's-milk cheese from Hesse, traditionally marinated in vinegar and oil.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇺🇸 United StatesLiederkranz
A pungent American smear-ripened cow's milk cheese created in 1891 as a Limburger variant.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreCasu MarzuCasu martzu
A Sardinian fermented sheep cheese containing live fly larvae.Sheep · Savoury and brothy
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreMunsterMunster-géromé
A washed-rind cow's-milk cheese from the Vosges mountains of eastern France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 FranceLivarot
A soft Normandy cow's-milk cheese with a pungent orange rind wrapped in reed bands.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 FranceÉpoisses
A pungent washed-rind cow's-milk cheese from Burgundy, rinsed in local brandy.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 FrancePont-l'Évêque
A soft, square cow's-milk cheese from Normandy with a washed rind and pungent aroma.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 FranceLangres
A washed-rind cow's milk cheese from the Langres plateau in France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Savoury and brothy
🇨🇿 Czech RepublicOlomouc curd cheeseOlomoucké tvarůžky
A pungent, low-fat ripened soft cheese from the Czech Republic made from quark.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreVacherin Mont d'Or
A soft, seasonal cow's milk cheese wrapped in spruce bark from the Jura mountains.Cow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSchabziger
A hard, green whey cheese from Switzerland flavored with blue fenugreek.Cow · Hard · Herbal and grassy
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreWeisslackerWeißlacker
A pungent German cow's-milk cheese aged seven months with a whitewashed rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreRumiجبنة رومى
A hard, salty Egyptian cow or buffalo milk cheese with a pungent aroma.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇹🇷 TurkeyTulumtulum peyniri
A traditional Turkish goat's milk cheese ripened inside a goatskin casing.Goat · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇵🇹 PortugalCheese of PicoQueijo do Pico
A soft, salty cow's-milk cheese from the Azores island of Pico, aged for three weeks.Cow · Salty
🇬🇷 GreeceFormaelaΦορμαέλα
A hard, pungent sheep or goat milk cheese from Arachova, Greece.Sheep · Hard · Pungent and funky
🇺🇸 United StatesMuenster
A semi-soft American cow's-milk cheese with a smooth texture and an orange rind dyed with annatto.Cow · Semi-soft · Nutty
🇵🇱 PolandRokpol
A pungent, salty Polish blue cheese made from cow's milk.Cow · Blue · Pungent and funky
🇨🇦 CanadaOka
A semi-soft washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Quebec with a copper-orange rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreMaredsous
A semi-hard cow's milk washed-rind cheese with an orange crust and pungent aroma.Cow · Semi-hard · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 FranceTrou du Cru
A pungent washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Burgundy, aged with local brandy.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇦🇹 AustriaMondseer
A semi-hard Austrian cow's milk cheese with a washed rind and mild sharp taste.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇨🇦 CanadaDragon's Breath Blue
A soft, wax-coated blue cheese from Nova Scotia with a pungent aroma and briny liquid.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇳🇵 NepalTibetan cheese
A family of dairy products from Tibet, ranging from fresh curds to extra-hard aged blocks.Mixed · Fresh · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇷 GreeceXynotyro
A hard, sour whey cheese from Greece made with sheep or goat milk.Mixed · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceCazelle de Saint AffriqueCazelle de Sant Afric
A soft, pungent sheep's milk cheese from the Aveyron department of France.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Nutty
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandDer Scharfe Maxx
A pungent Swiss hard cheese made from thermized cow's milk in Thurgau.Cow · Hard · Pungent and funky
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Handkäse: User:Elya + User:Fotandi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Époisses: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pont-l'Évêque: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Olomouc curd cheese: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vacherin Mont d'Or: Zubro, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Oka: User Y6y6y6 on en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Rumi: summer photo hobby, CC BY 2.0, source
- Der Scharfe Maxx: Balise42, CC BY 4.0, source
- Casu Marzu: Shardan, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Schabziger: Flyout, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mish: Reem Al-Kashif, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dambalkhacho: ბექა ბაიაშვილი (Beqabai), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rokpol: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Livarot: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Langres: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Munster: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gorgonzola: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Trou du Cru: Tristan Ferne, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tulum: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cheese of Pico: Adriao, CC BY 3.0, source
- Weisslacker: Langinger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Muenster: No machine-readable author provided. Brion VIBBER assumed (based on co, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tibetan cheese: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source