November 25, 2024, 6:16 am | Read time: 6 minutes

Are you one of those people who like to try out local or regional specialties when traveling abroad? This kind of experimentation can sometimes pay off and sometimes lead to a rather unpleasant experience. The online food platform “Taste Atlas” has now evaluated user experiences in the second category with regard to cheese from Europe and listed the most unpopular types of cheese in a ranking.

Europe’s least popular cheeses according to ‘Taste Atlas’

“Taste Atlas” is an online food portal specializing in local specialties and authentic cuisine in numerous places around the world. Users can find information on a wide variety of dishes, including their historical background, for example, and can also submit their own reviews of dishes they have tried or read those of others. In other words, a large pool of data. For its current ranking of the most unpopular cheeses in Europe, “Taste Atlas” claims to have taken into account around 27,000 reviews from more than 30,000 that were judged to be authentic and relevant.

1st place: Gamalost (Norway)

First place goes to the traditional Norwegian cheese Gamalost. This is made from skimmed cow’s milk and, therefore, has a very low fat content of just 0.5 to 1 percent. This means that the taste falls by the wayside – at least that is what the modest ratings of Gamalost suggest. In addition, “an acid is added to the skimmed milk that makes it sour,” which apparently does not appeal to the masses. Users give the composition an average rating of 1.6 out of five possible points.

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2nd place: Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage (France)

In second place, things get more greasy. Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage is a French blue cheese with a creamy, buttery texture according to “Taste Atlas”, which it probably owes to its 28% fat content and a characteristic orange rind. There is also talk of “sweet, soft, and subtle flavors”. However, these do not go down too well with users of the portal. Overall, Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, which has been produced since the 14th century, scores around 2.3 out of five stars.

German cheese in 3rd place: Hessischer Handkäse

In third place is a cheese from Germany: Hessischer Handkäse – better known in its homeland as “Handkäs'” (and “with music”). It derives its name from the traditional hand-making process. The term “music” refers to an essential serving suggestion: generously topped with onions. You can find out more about what Hesse knows from the online presence of the city of Frankfurt am Main: The word is supposed to allude to the sounds “made when the onion marinade is digested”. Incidentally, according to tradition, this includes the equally typical Hessian apple wine.

Returning to the star of the show, you can certainly savor this cheese on its own if you prefer. The cheese boasts a fat content of less than 1 percent and, as noted by “Travel Atlas,” an impressive protein content of 25 percent. It is also described as delicious and its aroma as pungent. However, to appreciate this sentiment, you might need to be a fan of caraway seeds; traditionally, they’re sprinkled over Hessian Handkäse.

Also interesting: A declaration of love to Germany’s most disgusting cheese (via BILD)

‘Controversial’ Carsu Marzu in 4th place

In fourth place, things are not only truly unappetizing, but also dangerous! “The sale and consumption of this cheese is prohibited due to health risks,” writes “Travel Atlas”. Sardinian casu marzu is a “controversial” sheep’s milk cheese with a soft, mature texture. Its name reveals a much more remarkable characteristic. It translates roughly as “rotten cheese” and refers to the “live insect larvae (maggots) found in this cheese”. This is how it is explained in “Travel Atlas”.

Casu marzu matures in a special process until the so-called “cheese fly”(Piophila casei) uses it to lay its eggs. The maggots that hatch from these eggs process the cheese further. This gives it a soft, creamy consistency and an intensely pungent aroma. You wouldn’t think it, but the cheese is traditionally consumed together with the maggots living in it, thus including serious health risks. This is because the animals are not reliably destroyed by stomach acid. They can therefore continue to live in the consumer’s digestive tract and cause myiasis, a parasitic colonization and, in the worst case, a life-threatening infection. The ban on sales is true, but it is still possible to taste the cheese in a few places in Sardinia. This is proven not least by its prominent position in the ranking of the most unpopular types of cheese.

Another German one among Europe’s least popular cheeses

Romadur is a soft cheese popular in Bavaria. It is made from raw cow’s milk with a common ripening period of between eight and ten days, during which it is regularly washed in salt water. According to “Travel Atlas”, this gives it its characteristic reddish-brown rind. “It is recommended to combine it with crusty bread, strong beer, or a glass of full-bodied red wine,” it continues. Sounds quite appealing, doesn’t it? It’s probably not without reason that it is ranked as one of the least popular cheeses in Europe.

Below you’ll find an overview of the 20 most unpopular European cheeses. Some of the origins are cities and regions; in other cases, the cheese is found throughout the country.

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These are the 20 least popular cheeses in Europe