section_path: Cultural attitudes/Odorous cheeses
section_name: Odorous cheeses
paragraph_text: Odorous cheeses
  
  Even in cultures with long cheese traditions, consumers may perceive some cheeses that are especially pungent-smelling, or mold -bearing varieties such as Limburger or Roquefort, as unpalatable. Such cheeses are an acquired taste because they are processed using molds or microbiological cultures, allowing odor and flavor molecules to resemble those in rotten foods. One author stated: "An aversion to the odor of decay has the obvious biological value of steering us away from possible food poisoning, so it is no wonder that an animal food that gives off whiffs of shoes and soil and the stable takes some getting used to".