World’s cheese
A SCOTS dairy is trying to create the world’s smelliest cheese.
Highland Fine Cheeses has produced a prototype version of a Scottish brie called The Minger – hoping it will turn out to be the stinkiest on the planet.
Though many cheeses claim to top the league table for pungency, the man behind The Minger hopes his meticulous preparation will help him take the title.
Ross Stone, owner and director of Highland Fine Cheeses, based in Tain, Ross-shire, believes the bacteria will help The Minger become the world’s smelliest. He said: ‘It would definitely make it one of the smelliest cheeses. It smells like really sweaty feet and is by far our smelliest cheese yet.’
The only problem is that science does not have the technology to measure the stinkiness of cheese.
Mr Stone said: ‘It all comes down to the consumer. We’re hoping to get enough foodies and cheese fans to try our cheese and agree it really is the smelliest they’ve ever had.’
The Minger is a ewe’s milk brie from sheep in the Black Isle and Caithness. Like most bries, it has a hard rind and a soft, gooey middle.
But unlike most, The Minger’s outer layer is a distinctive orange colour – which is where the strong odour comes from.
Mr Stone said: ‘Half the taste comes from the aroma. You don’t realise how important the smell is until you create a smelly cheese.
‘With The Minger, it was just a regular brie that we washed in a brevi-bacterium, also known as red smear, which is like an artificial mould that goes on the outside of a cheese. We then left it for a couple of months to see how it would ripen – and when we went to check on it, the stench was unbelievable.
‘I never knew it was going to be that smelly. It is amazing how we can make something so filthy.
‘But now we know how to create an incredibly smelly cheese that will challenge all the other well-known ones out there.’
Highland Fine Cheeses was established in 1967 – but it was only last year that it began to experiment with mouldy cheeses after spending almost five decades perfecting other varieties. Mr Stone said: ‘I don’t believe this will be a cheese sold in supermarkets. It will be aimed more toward independent businesses and food service places. It is more of an acquired taste and I don’t think that it will be for everyone.
‘Somewhere around 90 per cent of our cheeses are sold in Scotland, so that may well be the case for The Minger, too.’