Limburger (in southern Dutch contexts Rommedoe, and in Belgium Herve cheese) is a

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

that originated in the Herve area of the historical

Duchy of Limburg The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire. Much of the area of the duchy is today located within Liège Province of Belgium, with a small portion in the municipality of Voeren, an Enclave and exclave, excla ...

, which had its capital in Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, now in the French-speaking Belgian province of Liège. The cheese is especially known for its strong smell caused by the bacterium '' Brevibacterium linens''. Herve has been produced since the 15th century.

History and geographic origins

The Herve name has become the modern European protected name for the cheese, while the Limburger name is used for the same style when made in other regions. Herve cheese, or "Fromage de Herve", is still produced in the territory of the old Duchy of Limburg, in Belgium, where it has been produced since the 15th century. Herve is located near

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, and the borders separating

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The " Land of Herve" is a hilly area between the

Vesdre The Vesdre (), Weser () or Vesder () is a river in Liège Province, eastern Belgium. River A few kilometres of the upper reaches also flow through the German municipality Roetgen and form part of the Belgian–German border. The Vesdre's total l ...

and

Meuse river The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upp ...

s. The duchy existed until the French Revolution as a part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, and the cheese style became popular in other areas, known by the name of its country of origin. In the US, it was first produced by the F.X. Baumert cheese factory in Antwerp, New York, in 1854. It was also produced in 1867 by Rudolph Benkerts in his cellar from pasteurized goat's milk. A few years later, 25 factories produced this cheese. It is also manufactured in Canada, where it is a German-Canadian cultural marker, by the Oak Grove Cheese Company in New Hamburg, Ontario. Today, the only limburger producer in the United States is Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin.

Production

Herve is a Belgian rind washed soft cheese made from raw

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

. The aging process takes place in ripening cellars of the Herve countryside, sometimes cut into its chalky rock. It is sometimes flavored with herbs. Herve has a pale yellow interior with a glossy reddish-brown coating created by the bacteria that grow during its 3-month aging. It is usually shaped into a brick when sold. The taste and flavor of the cheese deepens during the period of ripening. When young, the interior is sweet, and with age it becomes spicy.

Description

In its first month, the cheese is firmer and more crumbly, similar to the texture of

feta cheese Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in b ...

. After about six weeks, the cheese becomes softer along the edges but is still firm on the inside and can be described as salty and chalky. After two months it is mostly creamy and much smoother. Once it reaches three months, the cheese produces its notorious smell because of the

bacterium Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...

used to ferment Limburger

and many other smear-ripened cheeses. This is '' Brevibacterium linens'', the same one found on human skin that is partially responsible for

body odor Body odor or body odour (BO) is present in all animals and its intensity can be influenced by many factors (behavioral patterns, survival strategies). Body odor has a strong genetic basis, but can also be strongly influenced by various factors, ...

(particularly foot odor).

Uses

It was often regarded as one of the most popular cheeses in Belgium. One way to serve Limburger is the Limburger sandwich. After three months, when the cheese has ripened, it becomes spreadable. The cheese is often spread thick (more than 0.5 cm or 0.2 inch) on firm-textured 100%

rye bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat f ...

, with a large, thick slice of

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

, and is typically served with strong black coffee or lager beer. Alternatively, chunks or slices of the cheese up to 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) thick can be cut off the block and placed in the sandwich. This sandwich remains very popular among the descendants of Swiss and German immigrants in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, in places including

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. In the early 20th century, Limburger sandwiches became a popular lunch for working people due to their affordability and nutritious qualities. They were frequently accompanied by a glass of beer. In Wisconsin, the Limburger sandwich can be found on menus at certain restaurants, accompanied by brown mustard. There are several variations, such as the addition of bologna,Fuller, Eva Greene (1909)
''The Up-to-date Sandwich Book: 400 Ways to Make a Sandwich''
. A. C. McClurg & Company. p. 107. lettuce, tomato, roasted walnuts, and the use of white or French bread.Madison, Deborah (2010
''Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone''
. Random House Digital, Inc. p. (unlisted). Sometimes the rind of the cheese is rinsed or removed to weaken its odor.Allen, T. (2003)
''Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors: A Cook's Tour of Butcher Shops, Bakeries, Cheese Factories, and Other Specialty Markets''
. Big Earth Publishing. pp. 19-20.

In popular culture

Limburger and its characteristic odor are a frequent butt of jokes. Reactions to, and misinterpretations of, the smell of Limburger cheese were gags used in numerous ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'', '' Little Rascals'', and ''

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

'' comedy shorts as well as in the 1942 Abbott and Costello film '' Who Done It?'' The arch-enemy of the ''

Biker Mice from Mars ''Biker Mice from Mars'' is an American animated series created by Rick Ungar. The series premiered in syndication the week of September 19, 1993. It consists of three seasons of 65 episodes, with the final episode airing in syndication the we ...

'' has the name Lawrence Limburger, complete with terrible body odor. The smell of the cheese is referenced in

the B-52's The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, k ...

1979 single " Dance This Mess Around", with the lyric "why don't you dance with me? I'm not no Limburger" suggesting that the singer feels she does not have bad enough body odor to warrant not getting a dance partner. In the Disney Channel Original Movie '' Don't Look Under the Bed'', Larry is making "Boogey Goo" which is said to smell terrible. He lists Limburger cheese as one of the ingredients. A study showing that the malaria

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

(''

Anopheles gambiae The ''Anopheles gambiae'' complex consists of at least seven morphologically indistinguishable species of mosquitoes in the genus ''Anopheles''. The complex was recognised in the 1960s and includes the most important vectors of malaria in sub- ...

'') is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger and to the smell of human feet earned the

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize () is a satirical prize awarded annually since 1991 to promote public engagement with scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a ...

in 2006 in the area of biology. The results of the study were published in the medical journal ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

'' on 9 November 1996. As a direct result of these findings, traps baited with this cheese have been placed in strategic locations in some parts of Africa to combat the epidemic of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. Limburger is one of the cheeses mentioned in the Cheese Shop sketch, that appears in the “Salad Days” episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, where Mr Wensleydale (

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

) the proprietor of the cheese shop suggests Limburger to

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

’s character.

Nutrition facts

100 g of Limburger contains: * 17 g of

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...

and 27 g of total fat * 327

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...

s, of which 240 calories are from fat * 90 mg of

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

* 800 mg of

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

* 20 g of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

References

;Notes

External links

*
TED-talk about "Cheese, dogs and a pill to kill mosquitoes and end malaria" at TEDxMaastricht, April 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheese, Limburger Dutch cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Smear-ripened cheeses German cheeses Belgian cheeses Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union Culture of Wallonia Liège Province Herve