Seven Extremely Bizarre Things People Do with Cheese

Here are seven things to do with cheese besides serving it on a plate...

1. Sculpt

What do you do with a huge block of cheese? Sculpt it!

That's what Troy Landwehr of Wisconsin did in mid 2007. The cheese carver and winemaker used his carving tools to sculpt a 700-pound giant block of Land O' Lakes cheddar into a replica monument of Mount Rushmore, custom-built for the manufacturer of Cheez-It snack crackers. What happened next? After Troy and his creation went on a road tour across USA, the cheddar block end up in Oklahoma and was cut into cubes for public consumption.

2. Auction

Why not auction it?

10 years ago, Diana Duyser who was about to bite her grilled cheese sandwich realized that there was a familiar face, resembling the image of Virgin Mary on the said cheese sandwich. She put it in a plastic box and kept it for 10 years. The amazing thing is that it never grew mold and looks fresh as ever. The item was eventually sold through an auction on eBay, reportedly for $28,000 by Golden Palace, an online casino.

3. Smoke

Can you really smoke it?

In 1966, Stuart M. Stebbings patented the world's first cheese-filter cigarette, under the US Patent Number 3,234,948. What a brilliant idea to enjoy grilled cheese flavoured ciggies.

4. Perfume

Wear them as perfume!

This was featured in my earlier article. As part of a campaign to encourage the public to eat more Blue Stilton cheese, The Stilton Cheese Makers Association (SCMA) of UK, through ID Aromatics perfumers of Manchester developed the Eau de Stilton cheese perfume. Don't worry because this perfume is definitely wearable.

5. Play Games

Have you heard of cheese-rolling game?

It only happened at a place in Gloucestershire, UK. Here, for the past 100 years, the Cooper Hill Cheese-Rolling Festival is held each year on 2nd May Bank Holiday. It is actually a hazardous game whereby a cheese (usually a 7-pound wheeled of cheese) is rolled down the steep hill and people are expected to chase after it. The first one who can reach the bottom of the hill is the winner. I supposed only a professional stunt man can do this as the game has resulted in many injuries thus far.

6. Musical Instrument

Can you really make music using cheese?

Actually you can. Walter Willems, a Dutch artist created his artistic drum set using cheese. This piece of art form was featured in the Mocca Contemporary Art Exhibition. It was reported that the cheese used to make the perfect sound of drum beats must be a rather aged cheese. Hmm, talking about cheesy music.

7. Bathe

You can bathe in it?

Perhaps you can visit the Gerschni Alp in the town of Engelberg of Switzerland. The bath at the cheesemaker's farm in Gerschni Alp actually utilizes a bi-product of cheese curdle called whey. It is reported that it looks like oily melted cheese and it smells of sweet hot milk, which is perfect for smoothening skin. The perfect cheese bathing temperature is 37 degrees Celsius, and oh yeah you can eat them too. You can enjoy both the bath and the magnificent view at the mountain top at the "outdoor bath tub", with starting price of about 40 francs.