Because right now you’d be having a marmite moment. You’d either love the smell of this cheese or find it totally repulsive. For the record my wife and daughter say this cheese makes them want to wretch but me? I adore Stinking Bishop.
Stinking Bishop is said to be derived from a cheese once made by Cistercian monks in the village of Dymock in the Cotswolds. Monks have always been associated with the production of 'washed rind' cheeses. These are cheeses, which are washed in a variety of liquids. They are generally full-flavoured with “lively, spirited aromas”. Stinking Bishop is no exception and uses Perry as its wash. It has a sticky yellow-orange rind and smells of old socks. The paste is soft and creamy, the flavour is delicious and, although full and distinctive, it is not quite as pungent as the odour may imply. The cheese is similar to the famous French Epoisses, which smell so “lively” that they have been banned from the public transport system in Paris.
The story I like best is that the cheese was named after a local bishop who had made himself unpopular with the locals, however the truth is that it is named after the variety of pear used to make the washing solution. Stinking Bishop pears are one of over 100 varieties, which are grown on the Gloucestershire-Herefordshire border. During the cheese-making process the curds are washed in Perry before being ladled into moulds.
Anyway it’s delicious and since I make it my business to always try the local delicacy then our holiday to the Cotswolds meant a big chunk sharing the 7-hour car journey home with us. (Oh how Fran and Katie laughed). I’ve just eaten it over the last week whilst listening to the groans of wife and daughter every time I took it out of the fridge, then the Tupperware box, then the foil, then the waxed paper it was wrapped in.
Still it still hasn’t completely left our lives, I wonder how long it will be before mother and daughter realise that I’ve hidden the wrapping in the glove box of my wife’s car…