Limburger
{{Short description|West European cheese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox cheese
| name = Limburger
| image = File:Cheese limburger edit.jpg
| othernames =
| country = The Low Countries and Germany
| region =
| town =
| source = Cow
| texture = Semi-soft
| fat =
| protein =
| dimensions =
| weight =
| aging = 2–3 months
| certification =
}}
{{Infobox Cheese
| name = Herve
| image = 220px
| othernames = Fromage de Herve
| country = Belgium
| region = Pays de Herve
| town = Herve
| source = Cow
| texture = Soft
| fat = 45%
| protein =
| dimensions =
| weight = 50, 100, 200, or 400 g
| certification = PDO{{cite web|title=Fromage de Herve|publisher=DOOR|url=http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/registeredName.html?denominationId=319|access-date=30 March 2014|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305000903/http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/registeredName.html?denominationId=319|url-status=live}}
}}
Limburger (in southern Dutch contexts Rommedoe, and in Belgium Herve cheese) is a cheese that originated in the Herve area of the historical Duchy of Limburg, which had its capital in Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, now in the French-speaking Belgian province of Liège. The cheese is especially known for its strong smell caused by the bacterium Brevibacterium linens.{{cite book|last1=Crump|first1=Marty|title=Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers: & Other Unusual Relationships|date=2009|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226121871|page=[https://archive.org/details/sexyorchidsmakel0000crum/page/160 160]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sexyorchidsmakel0000crum/page/160}}
Herve has been produced since the 15th century.
History and geographic origins
The Herve name has become the modern European protected name for the cheese, while the Limburger name is used for the same style when made in other regions. Herve cheese, or "Fromage de Herve", is still produced in the territory of the old Duchy of Limburg, in Belgium, where it has been produced since the 15th century.Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 Application for Registration: Art. 17 National file No 93/2 [http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/documentDisplay.html?chkDocument=1435_1_en] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404150610/http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/documentDisplay.html?chkDocument=1435_1_en|date=4 April 2016}} Herve is located near Liège, and the borders separating Belgium from the Netherlands and Germany. The "Land of Herve" is a hilly area between the Vesdre and Meuse rivers. The duchy existed until the French Revolution as a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and the cheese style became popular in other areas, known by the name of its country of origin.
In the US, it was first produced by the F.X. Baumert cheese factory in Antwerp, New York, in 1854. New York Produce Review and American Creamery, 1904. Volume 18, p. 147 It was also produced in 1867 by Rudolph Benkerts in his cellar from pasteurized goat's milk.{{cite web |url=http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/LimburgerCheese.htm |title=Limburger Cheese, History of Limburger Cheese, Limburger Cheese Sandwich Recipem How To Make A Limburger Sandwich |publisher=Whatscookingamerica.net |access-date=14 November 2013 |archive-date=22 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022103515/http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/LimburgerCheese.htm |url-status=live }} A few years later, 25 factories produced this cheese. It is also manufactured in Canada, where it is a German-Canadian cultural marker, by the Oak Grove Cheese Company in New Hamburg, Ontario. Today, the only limburger producer in the United States is Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin.
Production
Herve is a Belgian rind washed soft cheese made from raw cow's milk. The aging process takes place in ripening cellars of the Herve countryside, sometimes cut into its chalky rock.
It is sometimes flavored with herbs. Herve has a pale yellow interior with a glossy reddish-brown coating created by the bacteria that grow during its 3-month aging. It is usually shaped into a brick when sold. The taste and flavor of the cheese deepens during the period of ripening. When young, the interior is sweet, and with age it becomes spicy.
Description
In its first month, the cheese is firmer and more crumbly, similar to the texture of feta cheese. After about six weeks, the cheese becomes softer along the edges but is still firm on the inside and can be described as salty and chalky. After two months it is mostly creamy and much smoother. Once it reaches three months, the cheese produces its notorious smell because of the bacterium used to ferment Limburger cheese and many other smear-ripened cheeses.Fox, Patrick. Cheese: Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology. p. 200. This is Brevibacterium linens, the same one found on human skin that is partially responsible for body odor (particularly foot odor).
Uses
File:Wisconsin Limburger Cheese.JPG
It was often regarded as one of the most popular cheeses in Belgium.
One way to serve Limburger is the Limburger sandwich. After three months, when the cheese has ripened, it becomes spreadable. The cheese is often spread thick (more than 0.5 cm or 0.2 inch) on firm-textured 100% rye bread, with a large, thick slice of onion, and is typically served with strong black coffee or lager beer. Alternatively, chunks or slices of the cheese up to 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) thick can be cut off the block and placed in the sandwich.
This sandwich remains very popular among the descendants of Swiss and German immigrants in the Midwestern United States, in places including Wisconsin and Ohio. In the early 20th century, Limburger sandwiches became a popular lunch for working people due to their affordability and nutritious qualities. They were frequently accompanied by a glass of beer.
In Wisconsin, the Limburger sandwich can be found on menus at certain restaurants, accompanied by brown mustard.{{cite web|url=http://www.cheesetique.com/news/CheesetiqueApr06Newsletter.htm |title=Welcome to the Cheesetique April Newsletter|date=April 2006 |access-date=12 November 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708141502/http://www.cheesetique.com/news/CheesetiqueApr06Newsletter.htm |archive-date= 8 July 2011 }} There are several variations, such as the addition of bologna,Fuller, Eva Greene (1909). [https://books.google.com/books?id=qTIEAAAAYAAJ&dq=limburger+sandwich&pg=PA107 The Up-to-date Sandwich Book: 400 Ways to Make a Sandwich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716225350/https://books.google.com/books?id=qTIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA107&dq=limburger+sandwich&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7ZabUf3TAqTAigLz1YCICw&ved=0CFcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=limburger%20sandwich&f=false |date=16 July 2020 }}. A. C. McClurg & Company. p. 107. lettuce, tomato, roasted walnuts, and the use of white or French bread.Madison, Deborah (2010).[https://books.google.com/books?id=laV_E6mH9IAC&dq=limburger+sandwich&pg=PT313 Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803160450/https://books.google.com/books?id=laV_E6mH9IAC&pg=PT313&dq=limburger+sandwich&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7ZabUf3TAqTAigLz1YCICw&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBA |date=3 August 2020 }}. Random House Digital, Inc. p. (unlisted). {{ISBN|0307885763}} Sometimes the rind of the cheese is rinsed or removed to weaken its odor.Allen, T. (2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=PXZ-E1uAr4EC&q=limburger&pg=PR17 Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors: A Cook's Tour of Butcher Shops, Bakeries, Cheese Factories, and Other Specialty Markets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806092456/https://books.google.com/books?id=PXZ-E1uAr4EC&pg=PR17&dq=limburger+sandwich&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7ZabUf3TAqTAigLz1YCICw&ved=0CG0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=limburger&f=false |date=6 August 2020 }}. Big Earth Publishing. pp. 19-20. {{ISBN|1931599203}}
In popular culture
Limburger and its characteristic odor are a frequent butt of jokes. Reactions to, and misinterpretations of, the smell of Limburger cheese were gags used in numerous Looney Tunes, Little Rascals, and Three Stooges comedy shorts as well as in the 1942 Abbott and Costello film Who Done It?[https://www.tcm.com/video/1189310/who-done-it-1942-movie-clip-one-limburger-cheese-sandwich Who Done It?] The arch-enemy of the Biker Mice from Mars has the name Lawrence Limburger, complete with terrible body odor.
The smell of the cheese is referenced in the B-52's 1979 single "Dance This Mess Around", with the lyric "why don't you dance with me? I'm not no Limburger" suggesting that the singer feels she does not have bad enough body odor to warrant not getting a dance partner.
In the Disney Channel Original Movie Don't Look Under the Bed, Larry is making "Boogey Goo" which is said to smell terrible. He lists Limburger cheese as one of the ingredients.
A study showing that the malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger and to the smell of human feet earned the Ig Nobel Prize in 2006 in the area of biology.{{cite web |url=http://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2006 |title=Ig Nobel Prize list of past winners |publisher=Improbable.com |access-date=12 November 2020 |archive-date=30 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830181439/http://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2006 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |author=Knols BG |title=On human odour, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger |journal=Lancet |volume=348 |issue=9037 |page=1322 |date=November 1996 |pmid=8909415 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65812-6 |s2cid=12571262 }} The results of the study were published in the medical journal The Lancet on 9 November 1996. As a direct result of these findings, traps baited with this cheese have been placed in strategic locations in some parts of Africa to combat the epidemic of malaria.{{cite journal |journal=Parasitology Today |volume=12 |issue=4 |date=April 1996 |pages=159–161 |title=Limburger cheese as an attractant for the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s. |first1=Brad |last1=Knols |first2=Ruurd |last2=De Jong |doi=10.1016/0169-4758(96)10002-8 |pmid=15275226 }}
Limburger is one of the cheeses mentioned in the Cheese Shop sketch, that appears in the “Salad Days” episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, where Mr Wensleydale (Michael Palin) the proprietor of the cheese shop suggests Limburger to John Cleese’s character.
Nutrition facts
- 17 g of saturated fat and 27 g of total fat
- 327 calories, of which 240 calories are from fat
- 90 mg of cholesterol
- 800 mg of sodium
- 20 g of protein
See also
{{portal|Food|Belgium|Germany| Netherlands}}
References
;Notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commonscat-inline|Limburger cheese}}
- [http://www.ted.com/talks/bart_knols_cheese_dogs_and_pills_to_end_malaria TED-talk about "Cheese, dogs and a pill to kill mosquitoes and end malaria" at TEDxMaastricht, April 2012]
{{Belgian cheeses}}
{{German cheeses}}
{{Dutch cheeses}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheese, Limburger}}
Category:Smear-ripened cheeses
Category:Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union