OT: What is parmesan cheese suppose to smell like!!??

[Lorikr65]

Okay, I swear I'm not crazy!! I shredded some Parm cheese to make red sauce with and I put it on a plate and put plastic wrap on it. When I opened it it smelled like vomit!! I know sometimes cheese doesn't smell that great, but is it suppose to spell like that??

Thanks - Lori

 

[msdznyduck]

feet.....

 

[hollyb]

LOL I was going to say feet also. But vomit sounds right too. YUMMY!!!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

I agree, freshly grated parmesan cheese is rather stinky. Doesn't smell anything like the processed crumb like stuff you get in the green container.

 

[dvcChrisVWL]

HAHA! I thought the same thing and asked why a few years ago. It turns out that Parm and Vomit (and a few other things) have a common ingredient responsible for the foul odor: butyric acid.

Snip form the wikipedia entry:
Butyric acid, (from Greek βουτυρος = butter) IUPAC name n-Butanoic acid, or normal butyric acid, is a carboxylic acid with structural formula CH3CH2CH2-COOH. It is notably found in rancid butter, parmesan cheese, and vomit, and has an unpleasant odor and acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste (similar to ether). Butyric acid can be detected by mammals with good scent detection abilities (e.g., dogs) at 10 ppb, while humans can detect it in concentrations above 10 ppm.

 

[HERSEY]

It sounds fine. Aged cheese has a pungent odor.

 

[Goofyluver]

Would you normally eat vomit? I'd leave it alone. My parm never smells like vomit!

 

[Lorikr65]

You guys are too funny!!! No, I wouldn't normally eat vomit, but I wouldn't normally eat smelly feet either! I know it usually smells like feet, but this vomit smell is new to me.

I do use food saver bags for my cheese, so maybe I chuck this batch (it was only grated and covered loosely in the frig) and grate some more from the block and see how that smells!! I can't believe we pay $5.99/lb for something that smell like feet and vomit!!

 

[kaw1218]

You guys are too funny!!! No, I wouldn't normally eat vomit, but I wouldn't normally eat smelly feet either! I know it usually smells like feet, but this vomit smell is new to me.

I do use food saver bags for my cheese, so maybe I chuck this batch (it was only grated and covered loosely in the frig) and grate some more from the block and see how that smells!! I can't believe we pay $5.99/lb for something that smell like feet and vomit!!

now there's a tag waiting to happen..

 

[sorul82?]

So to summarize, it smells like stinky feet vomit! ewwww!!

 

[hollyb]

Ever smell blue cheese or munster? bleck!

 

[soccermom5]

my kids call it puke cheese

 

[Caboosey]

I love parm cheese, and can't eat pasta without it - but in large quantities, it's horrible! At the summer camp where I work, the kitchen staff would put a bowl onto each table for nights we're having pasta, and it totally smells like vomit when you enter the dining hall - so gross!

 

[Lady V]

it is "stinky feet"

 

[Suz D]

When I was a kid, I didn't even know that it was Parm. cheese. We just called it "stinky cheese". LOL!

 

[bfila]

I'm in the stinky feet camp, but my husband claims vomit. I love it, he doesn't!

 

[Deesknee]

When I was a kid, I didn't even know that it was Parm. cheese. We just called it "stinky cheese". LOL!

We used to call Parm cheese stinky cheese also. Once when DH and I were out for an adult dinner (so seldom) DH asked the waitress for stinky cheese!! I couldn't stop laughing.

 

[luvindis]

Our official name for my 30 something years of life is "The stinky feet cheese" Don't let the smell ruin a perfectly good meal. Just enjoy

 

[Belle5]

I was watching a show about Parmesan cheese on the food channel. They took the viewers on a field trip to Italy to see where the wheels of Parmesan are made. I think they said each wheel sells for $700!!! Strange, how when marketing their $700 wheel--they never mentioned vomit or feet!!!!!

 

[msdznyduck]

Ever smell blue cheese or munster? bleck!

Or Limburger (sp?)..... that stuff will stink up your whole fridge...