Saint Marcellin

http://www.artisanalcheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PC-10635

Before I talk about this amazing cheese, let me say something about "Stinky" cheeses and how they are often marketed and discussed online.

If you are the kind of person who regularly window-shops for and orders cheese online, you'll have no doubt seen the Stink Apologists on the gourmet food websites using vague, flowery language to try and convince you that the cheese doesn't really smell bad. If you see phrases in cheese descriptions like "mushroomy", "smells of the farm" (that sounds nice, right?), "unforgettable aroma", etc. , it's very likely that the cheese you are thinking of buying actually smells like a pile of rotting garbage. And the writer trying to fool you into thinking that the cheese smells of farm-fresh grass, rather than farm-fresh manure, will tend to reassure you that the actual flavor of the cheese is quite mild and innocuous, compared to the "unique" smell.

Now, a stinking cheese is not always a bad thing, of course. And there really ARE cheeses that smell nasty yet taste great. I just don't see why, if the stink of a cheese is one of its defining features, anyone would want to lie and say it smells "intriguing" when the truth is, it just stinks. I've definitely been fooled ordering cheese online before; sometimes I really do want a stinky cheese, but I need to know upfront just HOW badly the cheese is going to smell. Buyer beware.

Anyway. Saint Marcellin is an incredibly gooey French cheese. It is so gooey that (in its young form) it comes in a cute little clay pot, because it is basically liquid. You get some crusty bread and use a spoon to basically pour the cheese onto the bread. Then you eat it and go, "Holy shit, this cheese is delicious". But it stinks, and that's why I included the above ramblings. It doesn't stink terribly; on a stink meter of 1-10 I would probably rate it a 4 or 5; but you should still know that it will smell funky when you open it up. Cheese is inherently kind of a gross thing, so this is natural. The great thing about Saint Marcellin, though, is that unlike some stinky cheeses I've tried, it REALLY tastes good. It is mild, very creamy, nutty, sophisticated, multi-layered and delightful. You'll forget you ever smelled it.

Recommendations? See crusty bread above. Sure, there are probably tons of great uses for this cheese in terms of food pairings. But in my opinion, it's so good that it deserves to be eaten alone.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars