Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Before you leave Wisconsin...

Hours before we left Milwaukee, we got to cross off one more item from our list of 'things to do before we leave Wisconsin'. It's unfortunate that we couldn't complete that list, but at least we got this one taken care of.

We were enjoying yet another fabulous evening of games at Tyce/Faith's house when Tyce mentioned getting a chunk of Limburger Cheese for Christmas. As there's only one farm in Wisconsin (the whole USA, for that matter) that makes Limburger, I just had to try it before leaving the state. If you've got 5 minutes to spare, it's very entertaining to read about Limburger on Wikipedia. One amazing fact of Limburger is that the bacterium used to create the cheese is Brevibacterium linens, the same bacterium responsible for body odor.

Who wouldn't want to dig into that stuff?

So we all tried it. My life is forever changed..and we got it on video, too!

First of all, the smell. Imagine that Willy Wonka tried to make cheese out of week-old gym socks. Open up a brick of Limburger and your first words might be "Holy geez, Bill, that smells just like gym socks!" (Although it wouldn't hurt to show more respect to Mr. Willy Wonka)

If you can muscle your way past the gag reflex of the smell, the first bite isn't too bad. That is, the first .7 seconds. Then the aftertaste gets you. And it really does taste like you're licking someone's dirty feet...not that I've done that. How people make sandwiches out of the stuff is beyond me. I will never, ever again consume the nastiness.

But I'm so glad I did it. Do I get my official Cheesehead diploma now?

4 comments:

  1. My mom has been eating that for years. As a child, I remember her eating that and the rancid smell of it. I refused to try and have never eaten it. You are now officially a true Wisconsinite even though you no longer live here.
    Nick

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  2. wow, thanks for not making us experience THAT!! Loved the video. You guys are hilarious

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  3. My dad ate Limburger. My mom made him keep it in the garage!

    Patty

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  4. Hey guys,
    I was just catching up on your blog and thinking how much we miss you guys! Don't you think you could have stopped off for a couple days in New York on your drive out to Portland -- come on, that's not too much out of the way, right? Anyways, my little sister just moved to Portland from BYU Hawaii to be with her band, so if you see a short girl with dyed black hair who looks kind of like me but cuter standing on a street corner playing a cello with about 10 other band members with instruments varying from accordions to guitars to kazoos with amplifiers (yes, those apparently do exist), tell her hi for me. :) I’m glad you guys seem to be doing well out there and that you past your test, Peter, (although I think you definitely deserve a pay increase for it). Do you like your ward there? I went to Portland once to visit my sister (different sister – she and her husband were there for law school but moved to San Diego), I thought it was very pretty and green. I hope you guys like it. Hey, when we eventually end up back out in California, I guess we’ll be closer – maybe sometime we can make the drive and visit – who doesn’t love a 17 hour drive with 5 kids? (I suppose that is better than the 1 day and 18 hour drive it would be from here, though). Oh, Michael loved your comment about the crock pot. Well, talk to you later.

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