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I bought (at least what I thought was) some Bulgarian/Turkish-style brined soft cheese today, and when I got home I noticed the container seemed over-pressurised (it's sold in a kind of tall tin can/metal cylinder, and both ends bulged noticeably).

Upon opening I, hardy surpricing, got the soda bottle effect (and a bunch of brine over my shirt). The whole thing smells kinda strange (I can't think of a better word than "chemical") and the brine behaved almost as if carbonated (it "fizzed" when I took out a bit of cheese), but there's nothing visibly strange about the cheese itself.

I tasted a tiny piece (taken from the inside of a block and after quickly rinsing it), and it has a very strange, rather acrid taste. I've bought similar soft cheeses from the same producer before (a couple of different kinds), and they've always been fine.

As I'd feel silly for throwing out 1kg of cheese due to being uneducated I'd like to know whether the cheese is simply off or if it's of some variety unknown to me. If the latter case, what is one supposed to do with it? In the, arguably, more likely case that it's simply contaminated/gone bad, I'd be curious to know why it's behaving the way it does.

Some additional info:

  • Just noticed it has expiry date today. That being said, I can't remember having any problems with similar cheeses even few days after the expiry date, and then after having been opened several days earlier.

  • The ingredients list is as follows: "Pasteurized milk, salt, starter culture, vegetable rennet"

  • There's a large label in some language Google Translate identifies as Turkish, but more or less fails to translate:

    Bildiǧiniz lezzet, özlediǧiniz peynir!

    Onbir ayin sultani

    RAMAZAN'A [iFTAR'LIK VE SAHUR'LUK] öZEL PAYNiR

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  • Hi Tilo and welcome to the site. While your question has a lot of details, which is a good thing, I don't think the question itself has enough stress. Am I correct assuming you want to know if "there is something wrong with your cheese or if it's a special variety? And if the latter, do you need to do something with it?"
    – Mien
    Jul 2, 2013 at 19:10
  • @Mien, good point, I hope I've made it more clear.
    – Tilo Wiklund
    Jul 2, 2013 at 19:24
  • Re: the translation. I don't speak Turkish, but I've identified a few words and sentences: "Eleventh month raisins", "Special for Ramadan", "Cheese Special Flavor".
    – Dr. belisarius
    Jul 3, 2013 at 15:02
  • @belisarius I'd managed to get the Ramadan one as well, but missed the others, thanks! Special flavour indeed...
    – Tilo Wiklund
    Jul 3, 2013 at 21:59

1 Answer 1

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This cheese sounds completely off. I urge you to discard it.

There are no cheeses I know of that should generate pressure like that, nor have an acrid odor.

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  • Figured as much, though I wanted to hear someone else say it before I threw out 1kg of cheese (I'll accept this answer unless someone else comes up with some additional explanation soon).
    – Tilo Wiklund
    Jul 2, 2013 at 18:39
  • Sorry, I would hate wasting that much too...
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Jul 2, 2013 at 20:17
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    Return it. It should never have been sold.
    – James McLeod
    Jul 2, 2013 at 22:05

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