Woo Hoo! "Liederkranz" is Back!!

[BreezyCooking]

For many years I've been moaning about how much I missed that pungent delicious wonder - "Liederkranz" cheese - a close relative to "Limburger". Probably hasn't been on the market for at least 20 years.

So imagine my delight to find an e-mail this morning from Wisconsin Cheese Mart with the loud headline - "LIEDERKRANZ IS BACK!!". Apparently it's now being produced by Chalet Cheese of Monroe, Wisconsin.

Liederkranz

Needless to say, unless I find that it's been distributed locally, guess I'll be placing a cheese order!

 

[jabbur]

Glad you found it! My grandparents lived in the town where it was made originally (Van Wert, Ohio) and we had to drive by the plant on the way in to town from their farm. While I never loved the cheese myself, my mother and grandmother did. It was the only kind of cheese I remember my grandma eating! I remember when they closed the plant how devastated my mother and grandma were as well as the town. A great economic loss for them.

 

[BreezyCooking]

When Borden's was making it, it used to be sold in this tiny little wooden-bottomed box, & we ALWAYS had one in the fridge. My mom's (& my) favorite way to enjoy it was as part of a Liederkranz & raw onion sandwich.

Needless to say, this was NOT a sandwich that I ever took to school in my lunchbox - lol!

 

[GrillingFool]

Wow, I hope it makes it down here. I have a block of Limburger in my fridge that I am letting get to near the expiration date so I can try the "hard core" version of the stuff.... per the eating guide printed on the package, LOL!

These stinky cheeses are like hot peppers.... there's pleasure in the pain of eating them, LOL!

 

[BreezyCooking]

More info on Liederkranz history & it's reintroduction:
http://www.gourmetretailer.com/gour...ews/e3if745772b249372dd1a36c8c2f6279654?imw=Y

http://www.dcicheeseco.com/scripts/pageview.asp?idpage=76

 

[JohnL]

Interesting link there Breeze. I've never had nor seen Liederkranz before, having lived in Maryland all of my life. I'd love to try it though. Years back my grandmother and great aunts would come to the house and we would eat Limberger cheese on black bread with thinly sliced raw onion on top. It was just great. I truely miss those ladies.

 

[BreezyCooking]

It's been so very long since I've enjoyed Liederkranz that I couldn't give you an accurate blow-by-blow as to how it differs from Limburger, since both are pretty potent stuff. But there definitely is a difference.

Wegmans supermarket has the largest cheese department around here (even bigger than Whole Foods), so I plan on asking for it there first. If they can't get it for me, I do plan on placing an order with Wisconsin Cheese. Either way, when I get a hold of some I'll definitely post back with a critique - lol!

 

[justplainbill]

We bought a 6 ounce block recently at our local supermarket for $5.99. It was pretty much as good as the stuff we used to buy in the 1950's.

 

[Chef Dave]

For many years I've been moaning about how much I missed that pungent delicious wonder - "Liederkranz" cheese - a close relative to "Limburger". Probably hasn't been on the market for at least 20 years.

Ugh ... there's probably a reason for this ... Liederkranz is an organic WMD that we should weaponize and drop on our enemies ... (SNICKER)


Seriously though ... this cheese was produced by Borden until a fire damaged the natural cheese plant in 1981. Fisher purchased the damaged plant and began producing Liederkranz but stopped in 1985 after problems with bacterial contamination forced a recall. DCI Cheese has recently reintroduced this cheese in the mid-west.

 

[msmofet]

WOW!! I have been thinking about this for the last month!! Mom would buy this cheese and allow it to warm to room temp (like a Brie), then spread it on a slice of Wild's brand Pumpernickle bread (a super thin square slice of wonderful dark nut bread), then add several paper thin slices of raw onion!! I have been missing the bread AND the cheese because neither have been around for years!! I just found the Wild's bread at the Farm Market last week and NOW this news!! WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I bread was an omen! Thank you for this post!

 

[Claire]

I'm not surprised you found this cheese coming from Monroe! There is a restaurant there that specializes in limburger sandwiches! That's a little too strong, even for me, who will almost always opt for a stronger version of any cheese!