[Pont L'eveque Cheese
Luther Lazaro
oh how nice to discover some pont l'eveque...one of my favs....a friend just visited us here in western NC (where it continues to rain & rain) and brought 2 bags of assorted stinky cheeses & a bag of butter! couldn't have asked for a better gift.
I remember thinking, back in the early 1970s when I lived in Normandy, that Pont-l'Evque was about the strongest cheese I could conceive of. Now I find it pretty mild (Walt likes P-E but not Camembert or Brie -- too strong). So I think it's the cheese that's changed over the years, not my sensibilities. It's true that if you let any of these cheeses really ripen, they get smelly (and often more tasty).
My French aunt never refrigerated any of her cheeses and said a Camembert wasn't good until it started crawling away (i.e. filled with maggots). There's a French song about going to war, the troops are various cheeses and the Pont-l'Evque leads the way--clearly because it smells so strong any resistance will be dispersed!
The family used to bring Herve from Belgium when visiting us in France.
By the time they reached Paris the boys were accused of having removed their shoes and when they finally arrived - car windows open all the way - the smell had pervaded everything inside.
Wonderful cheese though....