I like most cheese I haven’t always, but 7-8 years ago, I went from accepting mozzarella on pizza, burgers, lasagna and toast, to eating a range of varities fresh and cold on bread. At first I mostly ate the mild ones, but that has gradually changed as I grew accustomed to the taste.
There was once in my cheese rookie days, when I couldn’t decline without feeling rude.
My brother and I visited my uncle and his new girlfriend. We never met her and did our best to be polite. So after being offered some cheese, we said yes.
What I remember from that day, was that it was stinky and extremely strong tasting. Both my brother and I downed it with bread, but we had a hard time keeping a straight face. It was that strong.
My brother told me later how he could smell it on his fingers 2 days afterwards. Even after intense hand washing. I couldn’t but I wasn’t the one who had to touch it to cut a few slices.
I always thought the cheese was a special local version, but later I found out that it can be found in well-stocked stores. Its called “Stærk Jyde” (translates to “Strong Jutlander” – Jutland being a peninsula and part of Denmark). I bet many Danes recognize the name from the supermarkets.
A few days ago, I decided to try it again. I suspected that I’ve grown as a cheese eater and maybe it wasn’t as strong as I remembered. C and I opened it last weekend as part of our breakfast. It was stinky alright, but that goes for most older cheese. I took one bite of it on bread. It was around that time I decided that I weren’t just a wuss the first time. This cheese is exceptionally strong. It’s like ‘old’ and ‘death’ met up and made some really dirty and smelly love in your mouth. I had to spit it out in the trash bin. I still can’t grasp how I downed it the first time.
I don’t consider myself a chicken when it comes to strong cheese. I’ve eaten “Gamle Ole” (translated “Old Ole” – Ole being a common Christian name here), which is widely accepted as the strongest well-known cheese in Denmark and I liked that one. They are matured about the same amount of time (Strong Jutlander 30-35 weeks and Old Ole 40 weeks). But the “Strong Jutlander” is the worst/strongest cheese I’ve had so far. It’s a hands down winner.
So who the hell eats this stuff? Turns out at least my wife does. Amazingly enough, she says it reminds her of stinky tofu. I have to agree on that part, not that it makes any difference to me. The stinky tofu I had in China was even worse and not at all something I want to eat again.
Here’s a picture of innocent looking sucker on our breakfast table:
If you understand Danish, there’s a link to the cheese and producer here.
What scares me the most, is that the same dairy appear to make an even stronger cheese matured for 52 weeks! That’s almost double as long.
Have you tried this cheese and do you agree with me or? Drop a line in the comments.