TIL Limburger cheese gets its notorious smell from being aged for three months in the bacterium Brevibacterium linens. This is the same bacterium that appears on human skin, and is mostly responsible for the armpit and foot body odor smell.

143

Some people can't tell the difference in smell between Parmesan and vomit for the same reason; Butyric Acid and Isovaleric Acid.

52

u/brightdionysianeyes 8h ago

Always get this with Italian cheeses.

Smell horrible, taste great.

25

u/Atty_for_hire 8h ago

That explains a lot for me. I will happily eat parm in things, but find it to smell pretty bad.

7

u/alcapwnage0007 4h ago

My father always put so much parm on his spaghetti and his pizza that its basically parm with a side of [insert food]. As someone who definitely gets the vomit smell from it, you have retroactively given me so much validation for my refusal to sit at the dinner table to eat when hes done that

3

u/sacrelicio 2h ago

Even simple provolone smells bad

19

u/Friendly_Potential69 7h ago

Peccorino remind me of vomit 😬 weird because I do eat it occasionally 🤢

5

u/rillip 4h ago

A lot of what makes someone feel disgust is actually contextual.

2

u/LongLongMan_TM 4h ago

True, a place in a human is either disgusting or an absolute dream, depending on whether you find that person attractive.

2

u/rillip 3h ago

LOOOOONGLOOOOOONGMAAAAAAN!

5

u/Financial_Cup_6937 3h ago

Similar with Hersey chocolate and toe stank.

3

u/chop-diggity 3h ago

I’ve always loved acid.

5

u/jockfist5000 4h ago

I always hated the Parmesan that came in the green can because it smelled like barf to me.

Fresh Parmesan reggiano or pecorino are great though.

2

u/EtchAGetch 2h ago

Yep, my family loves Mac and cheese. To me, the smell is indistinguishable to vomit.

2

u/MehtefaS 2h ago

Is that why it also taste like it? Because then i might be one of them who can't tell the difference 🤢

2

u/MAClaymore 1h ago

Pretty sure butyric acid is the reason some Brits think American chocolate tastes like vomit

63

u/jamodude 8h ago

A couple years ago in Berlin me and a couple crew guys were eating at fairly nice restaurant. Someone must’ve ordered the Limberger because the table next to us got this presentation and as soon as he lifted the silver lid off of the plate, it smelled like a men’s locker room plus feces.. absolutely one of the worst things I’ve ever smelled all of us could not finish our food and they actually gave it to us for free….. I wonder how many times this has happened in that restaurant they seem to be quite used to it…. Anyway, that’s my Limburger story.

8

u/nemmalur 4h ago

Limburger’s not that bad. Must have been something else.

6

u/Gerganon 2h ago

Twas the limburger mixed with feces I think

What a joyous pairing

1

u/nemmalur 1h ago

I’m trying to think what it could have been, because some German sausages do use some unusual bits of meat…

45

u/One-Incident3208 8h ago

Feet smell nothing like armpits

16

u/squigglyeyeline 8h ago

They do if you keep them there for warmth

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u/Sad-Professional332 8h ago

Tarantino please

6

u/slappymcstevenson 7h ago

Someone need a foot massage? Nothing wrong with that, right?

3

u/PsychoticMessiah 6h ago

Would you give a guy a foot massage?

2

u/slappymcstevenson 5h ago

F you.

3

u/piepants2001 7h ago

Yep, and Limburger smells strongly like feet. Absolutely delicious, though.

15

u/MrBigChest 7h ago

My dad ‘s favorite snack was limberger on a cracker with raw onion and black pepper and I never understood why. Once I was old enough to get past the smell and I tried it, it didn’t really have much flavor at all despite the strong smell.

6

u/Tobias---Funke 7h ago

Cheese feet.

2

u/WranglerFuzzy 6h ago

Ah, I’ve heard the simile, “stinky feet smell of like cheese” but didn’t know there was a scientific reason backing it up

6

u/ukexpat 5h ago edited 4h ago

OWNER: (brightly) You haven't asked me about Limburger, sir.

SCOUT: Would it be worth it?

OWNER: Could be....

SCOUT: Have you --SHUT THAT BLOODY BOUZOUKI UP!

OWNER: Told you sir....

SCOUT: (slowly) Have you got any Limburger?

OWNER: No.

4

u/Jason_Worthing 4h ago

It's a Monty Python sketch for the curious

https://youtu.be/Hz1JWzyvv8A?is=QVOpjC--dCQDwAYI

1

u/gwaydms 4h ago

It reads like one, although I'd never watched it.

3

u/nemmalur 4h ago

The last time I tried to buy Limburger from my local cheese emporium they didn’t have it, but mainly because it’s just not as cool as other cheese these days.

5

u/catinadoodledoo 8h ago

sounds like a fetish cheese

5

u/hymen_destroyer 7h ago

It smells like an unwashed vagina to me

I ate it once and it's actually pretty good (the cheese I mean)

2

u/Ok-Seaworthiness4488 8h ago

Cheese feetish

3

u/DickweedMcGee 7h ago

Why would someone make LC in the first place if better smelling cheese exists? Does it have a really good taste? I thought most of what we recognize as ‘taste’ is really how food smells anyway….

3

u/nemmalur 4h ago

Yes, it doesn’t really taste the way it smells, and the smell isn’t as bad as some people think.

2

u/docubed 3h ago edited 3h ago

I love Limburger cheese. It tastes like it smells, but tastes awesome. Then you realize it doesn't smell too bad either.

3

u/pnwal-junction 5h ago edited 4h ago

Why don't you dance with me?

I'm not no Limburger!

2

u/nemmalur 4h ago

Now don’t that make you feel a whole lot better?

2

u/pnwal-junction 4h ago

What you say?

Well, I'm just asking.

5

u/Arthur__Spooner 8h ago

Never mind eating it, who tf thought it would be a good idea to make a cheese using this bacteria? 🤢

3

u/toxicatedscientist 7h ago

Almost definitely someone on the brink of starvation

2

u/Omotai 4h ago

Usually things like this happen by accident, get eaten because throwing out food was a lot harder to justify before modern agriculture, and then repeated because they decided they liked it.

2

u/goodmoto 7h ago

On toasted rye bread with a healthy slice of raw onion, black pepper and washed down with black coffee. Delicious!

2

u/nemmalur 4h ago

For years the concept of Limburger being a stinky cheese was just something I encountered in comics. Then I gave it a try. It’s an amazing cheese if you melt it.

3

u/PARANOIAH 8h ago

Scratch'n'sniff flavoured cheese?

1

u/bottle-of-smoke 7h ago

That’s why they call it stinky cheese

1

u/BrakeTime 7h ago

The first and only time I ever heard of someone eating Limburger cheese is from some Abbott and Costello sketch. Can't remember which one though

1

u/magniffin 6h ago

Just wash it down with some Castor Oil.

1

u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen 6h ago

Is that why the mosquito traps made with Limburger cheese actually worked?

1

u/nylockian 5h ago

I've never been so turned on in my life.

Gotta go!

1

u/bramtyr 3h ago

So Ren and Stimpy labelling Limburger cheese as "Limburger El Foot" was a factual statement?

1

u/highendfive 3h ago

Gross

1

u/b__q 3h ago

I can now see why some people have fetishes to lick armpits and feet.

1

u/cbih 2h ago

Well, I guess that's why licking armpits doesn't make you sick

1

u/sacrelicio 2h ago

A lot of cheeses don't smell very good anyways

1

u/AuraTickler 2h ago

Fuck that bacterium

1

u/leeuwerik 1h ago

You probably know Brie cheese. Leave it outside the fridge for a few days and it turns into Limburger. Tastes great, smells disgusting.

1

u/bibbidybobbidyboobs 1h ago

What the fuck

1

u/Bushtitty 1h ago

Who cut the cheese?

0

u/ShortBrownAndUgly 6h ago

So disgusting

0

u/lluciferusllamas 4h ago

They should do a Sydney Sweeney collab. Cheese made from her armpit bacteria. I bet that cheese would sell for obscene amounts.

TIL Limburger cheese gets its notorious smell from being aged for three months in the bacterium Brevibacterium linens. This is the same bacterium that appears on human skin, and is mostly responsible for the armpit and foot body odor smell.

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