malodorous memories

epoisses de bourgogne - cheuvront wine & cheese

there are some tastes and smells that haunt me. driving 18 hours straight every summer from virginia to grandma's in chicago we invariably passed through that gem of a 'burg that is gary, indiana. whatever they're making there you smell the haunting gas/garbage odor in the car with the windows rolled up. it's definitely not louisiana, paris, france, new york or rome...

i worked for outward bound for two summers driving teenages who had not showered over the course of a 16 day backpacking trip in a two door mini-pickup truck - with my head out the window - and i still could not escape the smell of rotting fruit that poured off these poor pubescents.

i now have another malodorous memory to contend with.

Époisses is a pungent unpasteurized cows-milk cheese. it's washed in brandy with a distinctive soft red-orange colour.

it's so smelly it is actually banned from being carried on the paris metro.

i don't know how to describe the smell without using the word 'funk' in one form or another. i believe the sample we got was actually past its prime, as it was quite runny, and the silence around the table was only broken by occasional um, ewww's. it felt like my entire mouth was coated with butter made from armpit funk. (see?) it completely enveloped my mouth, nostrils and even ears, and, 21 hours later, it can still make me and my fellow diners shudder.

cheuvront serves tasting menus of three different wines, paired with three small samples of cheeses. this epoisses was served on a zinfandel tasting menu which was not quite hearty enough to wash the taste out away no matter how many refills.