Mmmmmm pungent cheeses are the best.
The stinkier the better!
This past season at my Festival, I decided to perform a sociological experiment one weekend.
I wanted to test my theory that patrons will eat ANYTHING a costumed performer hands them.
I went to Spec’s (a huge liquor store in downtown Houston) and Central Market (an upscale grocery store) and found the stankiest cheese available in H-town. I had Roquefort, Limburger, Ardrahan, and a vile concoction called Epoisses that is banned from public transport in France. (That last one was so bad, I gagged when I opened it. It smelled like leprous, cancer-ridden feet.)
Then I arranged my smelly treasures in a big bowl, took it to fireworks (the final event of the day), and announced that I, Queen Juana, had the stinkiest cheese in all Espana, and I was sure none of them were man enough to try it.
I was mobbed by probably 15 people insisting that my cheese couldn’t be THAT stinky.
With the exception of one guy, who said he liked the Epoisses because it had the courage of its convictions, all my guinea pigs agreed that indeed, my cheese did stink unbearably.
The result of my experiment was a 100% success rate. My cheese bowl was cleaned out before fireworks got good and started.
(I should note that the Ardrahan was delicious - very mushroomy - if one could get past the smell. It was difficult.)