The Danish Tilsit I picked up was a bit on the stinky side. Not so stinky I didn't want to eat it, but Miss BatGrl wouldn't even try a nibble. The cat seemed to like it though. Which I thought was odd, since it won't eat milder cheeses.

The story about how Tilsit came about is pretty cool. Danish emigrants stuck in Russia, missing their cheese. So they tried to make some in their damp moldy houses. No wonder it's a bit stinky. But I imagine the poor settlers, huddled around the table in the candlelight, expecting some of the yummy gouda of their homeland, only to slice the round open to be confronted by a blob of foot-smelling goo. Poor danes.

Unfortunately for them, but luckily for us, one cannot make Danish Gouda in a damp, moldy Prussian cellar......

Of course it wasn't *that* bad. Even as a non-cheese guy I've been exposed o worse. But most of the descriptions of Tilsit I've found mention that it's piquant but not really stinky. So maybe I got a wedge that was just a bit too ripe. One wonders how long a wheel of slightly stinky cheese might sit in the display at Whole Foods. Maybe I should be looking for dates on these things.

And it possible theat I got a "Farmhouse" Tilsit (which is much stinkier), rather than the regular, but I doubt that. Since it's sort of an artisanal cheese it would be labaled properly.

The cheese was semi-soft, slightly salty, rich, and buttery. Piquant and almost spicy. I tried it several ways, but the "cheese on toast" was the best. Yum - Hot, bubbling stinky cheese.

Tilsit Cheese entry at CheeseDatabase.com.