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Bad Cheese


Behemoth

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So this new "Gourmet" store just opened in town. They had a Portugese goat cheese which sounded rather nice -- described as "pungent" and "barnyardy". In other words, just my kind of cheese. When I sniffed it in the package I couldn't detect any ammonia smell, so I took it home.

Well, when I came home and unwrapped it, it was dried out, yellow, deeply cracked, with little tufts of blue mold growing out the top. It doesn't smell of much at all -- no barnyard, but not much ammonia either. I am fairly certain this is just bad cheese, although it is dated for July. And, well, the store has only been open for a few weeks, I mean how badly could they be storing their stuff?

Anyway, I am taking it back tomorrow but wanted to check in with y'all as backup, and on the off chance this is some new and exotic version of goat cheese which happens to grow its own penicillin.

I can post a picture, if that helps.

Thanks!

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Gyaah! Take it back! Ayieee! :shock:

It looks terrible. I'll be interested to hear what the suppliers say about it. It looks to me like it fails the "yecho" test, even if some expert does crop up to say it's the latest and greatest.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Even if they've only been open for a few weeks they could have had that cheese somewhere for more than a month. It looks dried out and crappy, but sometimes cheeses are nasty looking and delicious. I say cut the thing in half (they'll take it back in half if they would take it back whole, especially if they're new) and take a look at the inside. It may release more aroma, good or bad. See if they have more examples of the same cheese somewhere for comparison.

You want them to do well, of course, but not at your expense.

If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?

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We have a store in Seattle called, The Spanish Table. They exclusively sell Spanish and Portugese products. They no longer carry Cabrales cheese. This is a Spanish Blue. They say the reason they no longer carry it is that by the time it gets through shipping, customs, etc. the cheese has no shelf life left regardless of the date on the package.

It's quite possible that this new shop is experiencing the same thing, but they're not aware of it.

Drink!

I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward. --John Mortimera

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We have a store in Seattle called, The Spanish Table. They exclusively sell Spanish and Portugese products. They no longer carry Cabrales cheese. This is a Spanish Blue. They say the reason they no longer carry it is that by the time it gets through shipping, customs, etc. the cheese has no shelf life left regardless of the date on the package.

It's quite possible that this new shop is experiencing the same thing, but they're not aware of it.

I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be a blue cheese :smile: But it could just have a bad shelf life.

Oh well, we'll see what they do when I bring it back.

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What is the name for this cheese? If it is Serra, it is probably very good, if perhaps a little old. Just cut open the top and it should be all gooey and wonderful inside. If it is Azeitao or something else, it may be dried out. The mold is simply something that happens, and does not necessarily indicate that it is bad.

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I'm not picky when it comes to mold on cheese - but THAT doesn't look right to me. The mold looks like accidental mold, not cultivated mold. If I had allowed it to turn into that in my own fridge, fine. I'd just cut off the bad bits and eat the rest. But I wouldn't buy it that way. Return return return.

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It wasn't gooey inside, it was just bad. I took it back. The guy behind the counter said (and I quote) "Gwaah!!" and gave me my money back.

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It wasn't gooey inside, it was just bad. I took it back. The guy behind the counter said (and I quote) "Gwaah!!" and gave me my money back.

:laugh:

Good to hear that there were nor problems returning it, there's nothing worse than having an argument with a shopkeeper over food that is clearly bad but that they refuse to acknowledge as such

Cutting the lemon/the knife/leaves a little cathedral:/alcoves unguessed by the eye/that open acidulous glass/to the light; topazes/riding the droplets,/altars,/aromatic facades. - Ode to a Lemon, Pablo Neruda

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"Gwaah!!"

Must be one of those technical cheese terms, eh? :wink:

Glad he took it back!

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

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