Gamle Ole – Beauty and the Beast

August 1, 2011 by mydanishkitchen

Gamle Ole aka Stinky Cheese

Let me introduce you to my little friend, my childhood friend, Gamle Ole aka Stinky Cheese. This is a Danish cheese which is aged 40+ weeks and it taste AMAZING and I absolutely LOVE it. It’s a very sharp cheese and as the name indicates it’s very aromatic. When I bring it out my son makes sure windows and doors are flung wide open…I guess that means it needs air to breath…no?

Gamle Ole Danish Cheese

My parents mailed me this cheese for my birthday. It was what I had wished for and I was so happy when it arrived in the mail. I posted about it on Facebook and my cousin Anita told me a story about how her In-laws kept their Gamle Ole outside in the mailbox so not to stink up the refrigerator, besides the mailman always delivered the mail directly to their door. One day there was a substitute mailman and you can imagine his surprise to find the cheese sitting in the mailbox. 🙂

I don’t keep my Gamle Ole outside in the mailbox as I am sure the Virginia heat would melt it away, but instead its securely wrapped in two layers and stored in a Tupperware container so it wont contaminate the entire fridge. I only eat Gamle Ole on weekends because I am sure my coworkes would not appreciate the aroma of, what my son calls “smelly feet”. But despite all the talk of how badly it smells, the taste is incredible. Denmark has long had a reputation of producing award winning cheeses and Gamle Ole is no exception. It won the Best Scandinavian Cheese award in 2010. It remains a controversial cheese meaning in short that you either love or hate it…as for me, I simply just LOVE it.

Beauty and the Beast

Source: My Danish Kitchen

18 Responses

on June 27, 2015 at 13:24 Freedom Run

Was just surfing by, looking for some cheese web-sites and loved your story 🙂
I don’t know if they ship across the Atlantic, but there is an on-line cheese store here with “Gamle Ole”: http://www.net-ost.dk/arla-ost-danbo-45.html

Btw. Gamle Ole has a father you know? “Gamle Oles Far” is an even stronger stinky cheese 🙂 take a look here: https://osuma.dk/butik/produkt/20869

Im Danish myself and lives in Denmark too, but thought I should write in English.
- on June 29, 2015 at 04:25 mydanishkitchen
  
  Thank you so much for the links, I’ll definitely have to check into that.
on May 14, 2015 at 15:54 ‘Pasta with Whole Garlic, Goat’s Cheese and Thyme’ – p.117 | All Of 'Real Fast Food'

[…] across the dinner table from one another, she got me interested in tangy Danish Gamle Ole cut into long ribbons, creamy, crumbly Chèvre and that beautiful mouldy mess, Roquefort, the […]
on January 16, 2012 at 03:38 Inky

Jeg har en bror og hans voksne børn og børnebørn i USA og når vi besøger hinanden skal de altid have “stinky cheese”. Det kan vist nok ikke skaffes i USA? Hvis du kan lide Gamle Ole, så skal du prøve “Egoisten” ! Den synes jeg er mindst lige så god hvis ikke bedre! (kan skaffes bla. i Super Best)
- on January 16, 2012 at 04:51 mydanishkitchen
  
  Jeg har hørt om Egoisten men har ikke smagt den. Vi har desværre ikke en Super Best her, men tak for tippet 🙂
on August 10, 2011 at 18:43 torviewtoronto

delicious looking cheese beautiful presentation
- on August 11, 2011 at 06:12 mydanishkitchen
  
  Thank you 🙂
on August 9, 2011 at 09:42 Claudie

Your entire post made me smile 🙂
There are so many foods from back home (both France and Bulgaria) that I love and that are so tough for me to find in the US. A few times during the year, I get them — either from family, or by bringing them after a trip, but it’s never the same as having them constantly in your grocery store.
- on August 9, 2011 at 15:27 mydanishkitchen
  
  Oh yes I agree, there are so many foods that I miss. But then again, there are so many foods here you can’t get there. 🙂
on August 9, 2011 at 07:38 Emily @ Life on Food

Haha, I love the mailbox story. When I lived in Paris during the winter they frequently put stinky cheese in the flower boxes outside the windows. I love stinky cheese but it is hard to not have it spread in the fridge.
on August 7, 2011 at 05:18 Anonymous

Jeg kan lugte den gennem skærmen, og er lige ved at omkomme;)
- on August 7, 2011 at 05:28 mydanishkitchen
  
  Ha ha ja den er sej 🙂
on August 3, 2011 at 17:54 Sidsel

Can I come over for some of that? Lucky you, and a Happy Belated Birthday. I think it would go very well with the rye bread I’m baking in a couple of days. And you’re right, you either love it or hate it. Personally, I’m in the love it stage.
on August 1, 2011 at 11:22 Back over here

Oh my goodness. Seeing that is bringing back olfactory memories. On our first grocery shopping adventure when we moved from the US to Denmark we bought some of this cheese. We had no idea what we had purchased. Upon opening it when we got home it was dubbed “Danish sewer cheese”. One of us managed to get it to his mouth but that was it. Into the garbage and out to the can outside in short order. That is some very potent cheese.
on August 1, 2011 at 10:52 Tes

It looks so lovely… and I am one of those who has a thing for stinky food 🙂
on August 1, 2011 at 08:53 Dave Smith

Oh wow .. just seeing it brought back vivid memories and smells. On a crisp roll slathered with Lurpak, and a layer of this cheese.. maybe some Gammel Fabrik Strawberry and Rhubarb jam.

Kinda makes this bagel I am eating pale in comparison.
on August 1, 2011 at 07:08 polwig

I love stinkly cheeses, is there anywhere in the US you can buy it? I will have to keep my eyes peeled.
- on August 1, 2011 at 17:59 mydanishkitchen
  
  I know sometimes Nordic House has Gamle Ole but it is extremely expensive because they want to mail it 2nd day air. I just looked and they don’t have it right now, but sometimes they do. Btw, don’t confuse Gamle Ole with Gamle Mads, not the same.