If you like your cheese stinky and full of flavour then washed rind cheeses is the category for you. Invented by the Trappist monks to enhance their rather meagre diet on fast days, they can range in flavour from mild to robust. This family of cheeses is varied and interesting and the perfect addition to your cheese platter.

During processing, the curd, which may or may not be cut depending on how soft the final cheese should be, is scooped into moulds and left to drain. The high moisture of the curd and the humidity of the maturing rooms attracts a bitter-tasting, grey, hairy mould called “cat fur”. To discourage this, the newly formed cheese is rubbed with or dunked in baths of salty water, wine or a similar alcoholic liquid. This produces a rather robust cheese and encourages the development of an orange sticky bacteria called brevi linnus which helps to break down the curd from the outside, gradually becoming an integral part of the interior, rather than just a skin.

The interior may resemble Brie as in Reblechon, Pont le Veque, Taleggio, Totalpina, Epoisses or be more supple and elastic as in Port Salut, Saint Paulin, Tilsit, Comte, Le Caviste (formerly known as Morbier) or be firmer as in Raclette or Gruyere. While the taste may range from mild and creamy, rather spicy to outrageously overpowering, the aroma often resembles old socks.

At one stage in French history washed rind cheeses were actually banned from French Public transport because of their rather strong, pungent meaty or yeasty smell. Washed rind cheeses are versatile cheeses. They make an interesting addition to a cheese platter, can be melted through your favourite pasta or steak sauce, added to an au gratin or melted over vegetables. They team well with dry white wines or robust reds. If you really want to experience a unique way to eat washed rind cheese buy a raclette machine or a fondue set and invite your friends around for a great evening.