By ‘cheese monsters’ I do not mean those dreadful folk who dig out the paste of surface-ripened cheeses leaving only a floppy rind for others to enjoy, nor do I mean those who cook a fine cheese with a smorgasborg of other flavours until all you can taste is faint glimmer of what was once a grand show of milk immortality (if this sounds like you, don’t take it personally – but please, never again!). No. I mean cheese mites! The lovely little creatures that inhabit many an aging room, slowly feasting on old, hard wheels of cheese like the kings and queens of the insect world. Bugs on cheese? Yes, oh yes.

In 2013 the United States FDA put a ridiculous limit on the amount of cheese mites allowed per square inch on the famous French cheese Mimolette – 6. Only 6 microscopic mites and the cheese will be let in. This may as well have been a ban on the cheese, Mimolette often has thousands of mites per square inch. Sounds gross, I know, it’s making my skin crawl a little bit thinking about it. But you must remember, these mites are miniscule – they look like dust to the naked human eye. The mites also stay inside of the rind, which isn’t eaten. Not to mention that dust mites are on just about everything we touch. The FDA defended their decision by throwing around some seriously rude phrases and stating that the cheese is unfit for human consumption. Um, hello!? These cheese has been around for over 400 years without a problem! But leave it to the FDA to ruin all our food fun. I just hope that Canada doesn’t follow suit. Enough ranting though, on to the cheese mites!

Cheese mites are present in virtually all aging rooms at one point or another. They burrow into the rinds of aged cheeses, leaving a slightly sweet, floral flavour behind. The rind becomes pocked with craters and holes from the mites burrowing their way inside. Most cheesemakers groan at the thought of cheese mites; more of a nuisance than anything, as the mites can eat too much and get into the paste. However, some – like Mimolette – depend on these colonies to give their cheese a distinct flavour.

Mimolette is made in the French town of Lalle. Designed after Edam to be a French version, it is coloured with Annatto to differentiate the two. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that the mites came in on their own originally, and were kept around for their flavour enhancing abilities.

 

Milbenkäse (literally, ‘mite cheese’) is a cheese produced exclusively in Würchwitz, Germany. This town is serious about this cheese – they even have a cheese mite statue with a small opening to leave samples of the cheese for whomever is inclined. The cheese is made from Quark – a fresh, soft, white cheese – that is mixed with caraway, shaped by hand, and aged in a wooden box with rye flour. The flour protects the paste of the cheese from being devoured by the mites.

 

Hope this doesn’t turn you off of Mimolette – it truly is a gem, bugs and all. Meanwhile I will be keeping a sharp eye out for any dust in the cheese room that seems suspicious. Very intriguing!

Bon appetit. ;)