October 26, 2025 • 11 mins
** Trigger warning - We talk about death, the occult, phobias and other adult themes in this episode.
It's spooky season and Cheesy and Fondue learn about ominous writings and trials by cheese. We talk death cheese, and curses that turn travelers into beasts. We find out some tall cheese tales, phobias and of course, we tell a very cheesy joke!
Find us at www.justcheesy.com and everywhere you enjoy social media! https://linktr.ee/JustCheesy
***Newsly is the sponsor of this episode! Go to https://newsly.me to download the free app and listen to articles, podcasts and digital radio! Get a FREE 1-Month Premium Subscription by using promo code CHEESY. Start listening today! ***
Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp!
Show Notes
https://culturecheesemag.com/cheese-iq/witchy-wheys-cast-spells-and-predict-the-future-with-cheese/
https://jag.journalagent.com/ejm/pdfs/EJM-89577-CASE_REPORT-SONMEZ.pdf
https://burialsandbeyond.com/2020/03/24/death-cheese-a-short-history/
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.XVIII.18.html?highlight=cheese#highlight
https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/five-frightful-facts-about-cheese
https://share.upmc.com/2016/11/treating-foot-odor/
https://www.dimockdairy.com/ecommerce/ghost-pepper-cheese.html
https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Dutch_folktale_2.html
https://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2016/02/welsh-rarebit-tales-by-harle-oren.html
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Just Cheesy the podcast,presented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue.
I'm Cheesy.
In this week's episode, we'regoing to talk all about ominous writings
and trials by cheese. We talkabout death, cheese, and curses that
turn travelers into beasts. Wefind out about some tall tales, phobias,
(00:32):
and of course, we tell a veryscary, I mean, cheesy joke. Stay
tuned for episode 206, spookyon just Cheesy the podcast.
Did you know that there aresome witchy ways that cheese has
been used throughout history?
Really?
That's right. According toculturecheesemag.com there's a book
(00:55):
called Dictionary of AncientMagic Words and Spells, and it actually
talks about some things youcan do with cheese.
Oh, no.
Want to compel someone into action?
Yeah.
Well, carve a phrase ofintention onto a piece of cheese
and place it on theirdoorstep. Have a burning question,
say, maybe carve a one wordanswer onto a fresh wheel of cheese.
Leave it in a sacred spaceuntil mold begins to form on the
(01:17):
rind. The first word to fillwith the mold is the correct answer.
They say here you want to knowwho's going to succeed in a given
task? Well, present an animalwith an assortment of cheeses, each
with a person's name carved onit, and the animal will eat the winner's
name first.
Whoa.
The article also goes on totalk about fortune telling with cheese.
(01:38):
Really?
We've talked about it beforeand it has a name. Chiromanc. Yep.
It's used in divination, sortof like tarot cards or tea leaves
or reading palms.
Yeah.
Some people can see mold andpredict marriage or death.
Really?
Others can read the cracks andthe bubbles for omens. On aftercheese.WordPress.com
(01:58):
there's an article calledCurse Cheese and Die.
Oh, no.
They talk about some medievalwritings and an old Italian legend.
The author cites certainwicked landladies enchanted their
cheese so that any travelerwho ate it would be transformed temporarily
into. Into a beast of burdenand forced into burdensome beastly
labor.
(02:18):
Oh, no.
The legend taps into the themeof betrayal, transformation and food
as a trap. And the articlegoes on to say, don't accept unwrapped
cheese from strangers.
Yeah.
In a Snopes article called theSpellbinding History of Cheese and
Witchcraft, they talk aboutpeople who could spoil milk and render
cheese inedible. And the cursewas targeting the livelihood of dairy
(02:40):
communities. I also cameacross a couple of spooky folk tales.
This tale Was collected inbook in 1918. According to the Worldoftails.com
there was a Dutch boy wholived where cows were plentiful.
And the story, of course, iscalled the Boy who Wanted More Cheese.
That's not scary.
Klaus loves cheese so muchthat he dreams of endless wheels
(03:02):
of cheese rolling before him.One night, he meets a strange little
man who offers him as muchcheese as he can eat, but warns him
to stop before dawn.
Doable. Our little buddyKlaus, much like the rest of us,
ate the heck out of thatcheese. He got a wheel, and each
one was larger and heavierthan the first.
Yum.
And then he was surrounded,smothered, and then trapped by the
(03:24):
very cheese that he loved.
Oh, no.
Some versions of this story,he wakes up to find his hands covered
in curds. And in the darkertales, he never wakes up at all.
The tale is a moral one aboutgreed and gluttony.
Oh, my.
And it's not the only one,really. According to oddlyweirdfiction.com
there's a book called WelshRarebit Tales. The book was published
(03:45):
in 1902. Welsh rarebit is adish of hot cheese.
Yeah.
It often includes things likeale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce.
And it's served on toastedbread. Apparently. According to a
lot of articles that I read,it's basically drunk food. People
would drink a lot of beer, andthen they would sop it up with a
nice piece of toast with thisooey gooey cheese on top.
(04:07):
Yum.
And in my opinion, that givesthis book a little bit more credence
as to why they believe whatthey did. Yeah, they try to say that
there's some sort of qualityconnected to Welsh rarebit, that
it's supposed to induce somecrazy dreams and even hallucinations
after eating it. The bookincludes a tale that's like Frankenstein.
There's some science fiction.There's some unfortunate racism mixed
(04:29):
in.
Oh, no.
Welsh rarebit hit some otherbooks as well.
Okay.
Lewis Carroll's Alice inWonderland from 1865 hints at too
much Welsh rarebit. Before odddreams, the 1909 dream of the rarebit
fiend depicted peopletormented by bizarre nightmares after
a midnight cheese toast.Snacks. Even Victorian doctors warned
patients that cheese beforebed disturbs the humors. In this
(04:52):
case, I'd like to blame thebooze. People got drunk. They ate
cheese on toast. Yeah, I thinkthat might give you some nightmares.
Yep. Well, Shrebit isobviously not a sponsor, but if it
was, the ad would go right here.
(05:56):
According toburialsandbeyond.com in Welsh funerals
of the 18th century, beforetaking a body to the church, they
say it was customary to give apoor person of the parish some money,
bread, drink and a cheese witha coin stuck in it. And they also
say in the Encyclopedia ofSuperstitions, Folklore and Occult
Sciences, a Scottishsuperstition is recorded that covers
(06:19):
birth from both ends of life.They say here, when a child was born,
a cheese was made whichremained untouched for the duration
of their life. And the firstcut of that cheese is at that person's
funeral. They say to go alongwith this, a wealthy man will bring
a large amount of wine and aglass of which is placed in the coffin.
(06:39):
The wine inside is thenreferred to as dead wine.
Sounds like a waste.
They also talk about a storyfrom Gastro obscura. The interviewer
talked to Jean Jacques ofGrimace, Switzerland. There's a basement
there that has a century worthof cheese. This basement actually
holds the town's cheese. Theysaid it was the cheese of the dead.
(07:00):
Everyone in the whole villagehad a wheel of cheese so that they
had something to serve attheir funeral. We've had folklore
about cheese and myths ofcheese and death. Cheese. Yeah. But
this next one is actually horrific.
Oh, no.
And I'm not talking about casumarzu, the maggot cheese from Sardinia.
It's so scary.
(07:20):
It is pretty scary stuff. ButI'm talking about trial by cheese.
What?
You know, I've heard the idiomtrial by fire and never really thought
a lot about it. Yeah.Essentially, this is something called
an ordeal.
What's that?
An ordeal was actually used tosettle disputes and pass judgments.
A trial by ordeal. Andaccording to WeAreThemighty.com,
(07:41):
an ordeal required the accuserand the accused in a dispute to perform
an action to test the gods,asking them to come down on the side
of the righteous. I want to bethe first one here to say it, but
trial by fire is awful. So theaccused has to hold a burning red
hot piece of iron in their hand.
What?
They walk a full nine pacesbefore letting go. Man, you better
(08:04):
walk fast.
Run.
The hand would be wrapped andbandaged and in three days would
be examined by a priest. Ifthe hands were healing properly,
then they were innocent. Butif the wound became infected, then
God was not on their side andthey were guilty.
Oh, no.
There are others of these.Trial by combat. Just as it sounds.
Trial by water. Trial by coldwater. Oh, no. And of course, there's
(08:28):
trial by cheese. Come on,people, let's just eat our cheese
already. This Is ridiculous.
Yeah.
Okay, get ready for this one.
Oh, no.
The accused has to stuff theirmouth full of dry cheese, then take
an oath of innocence. And ifthe man or woman accidentally spit
some of the cheese out orchoked on it, they would be found
(08:51):
guilty.
Holy cow.
No wonder there's a thingcalled tourophobia.
Oh, yeah.
There's an actual rare, knownspecific phobia of cheese. According
to a case report in 2022, theyactually describe a 20 year old woman
with an intense fear ofcheese. They cover multiple aspects.
Oh, no.
She's afraid of the followingtouching, smelling, seeing, or eating
(09:13):
cheese. And this actuallytriggered some physical reactions.
It triggered nausea,palpitations, shortness of breath,
dizziness, and even the urgentneed to vomit. This phobia significantly
impacted her daily. Shecouldn't walk down a cheese aisle,
and she couldn't do thingslike join breakfast where cheese
was served. Treatment includeda combination of cbt, cognitive behavioral
(09:36):
therapy and medication. Andprobably not listening to a podcast
about cheese.
Yeah.
According to pcrm.org, thisone, in my opinion, is the scariest
of everything we've talked about.
Oh, no.
Did you know that cheese getsits smell from the same bacteria
found in unwashed feet andbody odor?
That's so gross.
Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Theprocess of fermentation adds different
(10:00):
types of bacteria to milk toproduce flavors and smells. So Muenster,
Limburger, and other cheesesadd something called Brevibacteria
linens. This is the same exactbacteria species that lives on your
feet.
Ew.
The other one is calledStaphylococcus epidermidis. The bacteria
that's responsible for humanbody odor. There's more.
(10:23):
There is.
Yeah. The article goes on tosay, on top of that, the cheese making
process produces butyric acid.You want to know what that is?
Is it gross?
Yeah. It's the same compoundproduced by your stomach acid during
digestion, which gives humanvomit its distinct smell. Ew.
I'm so ready for a joke fondue.
Yeah. After that. So am I.Yeah. Here we go.
(10:44):
Okay.
Why did cheddar havenightmares in the fridge?
Oh, I don't know.
Because there was Muenster inthere with it. Get it? Because there
was Muenster in there.
That was so good.
I thought this one was reallygouda and a little bit cheesy. Thanks
for listening to episode 206,Spooky. Thank you. We've really been
(11:08):
enjoying posting some jokes onshorts and TikTok.
Yeah.
Make sure to give us a likeand subscribe
and stay cheesy everybody.
Everybody.
Just Cheesy the podcast,presented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue.
I'm Cheesy.
In this week's episode, we'regoing to talk all about ominous writings
and trials by cheese. We talkabout death, cheese, and curses that
turn travelers into beasts. Wefind out about some tall tales, phobias,
(00:32):
and of course, we tell a veryscary, I mean, cheesy joke. Stay
tuned for episode 206, spookyon just Cheesy the podcast.
Did you know that there aresome witchy ways that cheese has
been used throughout history?
Really?
That's right. According toculturecheesemag.com there's a book
(00:55):
called Dictionary of AncientMagic Words and Spells, and it actually
talks about some things youcan do with cheese.
Oh, no.
Want to compel someone into action?
Yeah.
Well, carve a phrase ofintention onto a piece of cheese
and place it on theirdoorstep. Have a burning question,
say, maybe carve a one wordanswer onto a fresh wheel of cheese.
Leave it in a sacred spaceuntil mold begins to form on the
(01:17):
rind. The first word to fillwith the mold is the correct answer.
They say here you want to knowwho's going to succeed in a given
task? Well, present an animalwith an assortment of cheeses, each
with a person's name carved onit, and the animal will eat the winner's
name first.
Whoa.
The article also goes on totalk about fortune telling with cheese.
(01:38):
Really?
We've talked about it beforeand it has a name. Chiromanc. Yep.
It's used in divination, sortof like tarot cards or tea leaves
or reading palms.
Yeah.
Some people can see mold andpredict marriage or death.
Really?
Others can read the cracks andthe bubbles for omens. On aftercheese.WordPress.com
(01:58):
there's an article calledCurse Cheese and Die.
Oh, no.
They talk about some medievalwritings and an old Italian legend.
The author cites certainwicked landladies enchanted their
cheese so that any travelerwho ate it would be transformed temporarily
into. Into a beast of burdenand forced into burdensome beastly
labor.
(02:18):
Oh, no.
The legend taps into the themeof betrayal, transformation and food
as a trap. And the articlegoes on to say, don't accept unwrapped
cheese from strangers.
Yeah.
In a Snopes article called theSpellbinding History of Cheese and
Witchcraft, they talk aboutpeople who could spoil milk and render
cheese inedible. And the cursewas targeting the livelihood of dairy
(02:40):
communities. I also cameacross a couple of spooky folk tales.
This tale Was collected inbook in 1918. According to the Worldoftails.com
there was a Dutch boy wholived where cows were plentiful.
And the story, of course, iscalled the Boy who Wanted More Cheese.
That's not scary.
Klaus loves cheese so muchthat he dreams of endless wheels
(03:02):
of cheese rolling before him.One night, he meets a strange little
man who offers him as muchcheese as he can eat, but warns him
to stop before dawn.
Doable. Our little buddyKlaus, much like the rest of us,
ate the heck out of thatcheese. He got a wheel, and each
one was larger and heavierthan the first.
Yum.
And then he was surrounded,smothered, and then trapped by the
(03:24):
very cheese that he loved.
Oh, no.
Some versions of this story,he wakes up to find his hands covered
in curds. And in the darkertales, he never wakes up at all.
The tale is a moral one aboutgreed and gluttony.
Oh, my.
And it's not the only one,really. According to oddlyweirdfiction.com
there's a book called WelshRarebit Tales. The book was published
(03:45):
in 1902. Welsh rarebit is adish of hot cheese.
Yeah.
It often includes things likeale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce.
And it's served on toastedbread. Apparently. According to a
lot of articles that I read,it's basically drunk food. People
would drink a lot of beer, andthen they would sop it up with a
nice piece of toast with thisooey gooey cheese on top.
(04:07):
Yum.
And in my opinion, that givesthis book a little bit more credence
as to why they believe whatthey did. Yeah, they try to say that
there's some sort of qualityconnected to Welsh rarebit, that
it's supposed to induce somecrazy dreams and even hallucinations
after eating it. The bookincludes a tale that's like Frankenstein.
There's some science fiction.There's some unfortunate racism mixed
(04:29):
in.
Oh, no.
Welsh rarebit hit some otherbooks as well.
Okay.
Lewis Carroll's Alice inWonderland from 1865 hints at too
much Welsh rarebit. Before odddreams, the 1909 dream of the rarebit
fiend depicted peopletormented by bizarre nightmares after
a midnight cheese toast.Snacks. Even Victorian doctors warned
patients that cheese beforebed disturbs the humors. In this
(04:52):
case, I'd like to blame thebooze. People got drunk. They ate
cheese on toast. Yeah, I thinkthat might give you some nightmares.
Yep. Well, Shrebit isobviously not a sponsor, but if it
was, the ad would go right here.
(05:56):
According toburialsandbeyond.com in Welsh funerals
of the 18th century, beforetaking a body to the church, they
say it was customary to give apoor person of the parish some money,
bread, drink and a cheese witha coin stuck in it. And they also
say in the Encyclopedia ofSuperstitions, Folklore and Occult
Sciences, a Scottishsuperstition is recorded that covers
(06:19):
birth from both ends of life.They say here, when a child was born,
a cheese was made whichremained untouched for the duration
of their life. And the firstcut of that cheese is at that person's
funeral. They say to go alongwith this, a wealthy man will bring
a large amount of wine and aglass of which is placed in the coffin.
(06:39):
The wine inside is thenreferred to as dead wine.
Sounds like a waste.
They also talk about a storyfrom Gastro obscura. The interviewer
talked to Jean Jacques ofGrimace, Switzerland. There's a basement
there that has a century worthof cheese. This basement actually
holds the town's cheese. Theysaid it was the cheese of the dead.
(07:00):
Everyone in the whole villagehad a wheel of cheese so that they
had something to serve attheir funeral. We've had folklore
about cheese and myths ofcheese and death. Cheese. Yeah. But
this next one is actually horrific.
Oh, no.
And I'm not talking about casumarzu, the maggot cheese from Sardinia.
It's so scary.
(07:20):
It is pretty scary stuff. ButI'm talking about trial by cheese.
What?
You know, I've heard the idiomtrial by fire and never really thought
a lot about it. Yeah.Essentially, this is something called
an ordeal.
What's that?
An ordeal was actually used tosettle disputes and pass judgments.
A trial by ordeal. Andaccording to WeAreThemighty.com,
(07:41):
an ordeal required the accuserand the accused in a dispute to perform
an action to test the gods,asking them to come down on the side
of the righteous. I want to bethe first one here to say it, but
trial by fire is awful. So theaccused has to hold a burning red
hot piece of iron in their hand.
What?
They walk a full nine pacesbefore letting go. Man, you better
(08:04):
walk fast.
Run.
The hand would be wrapped andbandaged and in three days would
be examined by a priest. Ifthe hands were healing properly,
then they were innocent. Butif the wound became infected, then
God was not on their side andthey were guilty.
Oh, no.
There are others of these.Trial by combat. Just as it sounds.
Trial by water. Trial by coldwater. Oh, no. And of course, there's
(08:28):
trial by cheese. Come on,people, let's just eat our cheese
already. This Is ridiculous.
Yeah.
Okay, get ready for this one.
Oh, no.
The accused has to stuff theirmouth full of dry cheese, then take
an oath of innocence. And ifthe man or woman accidentally spit
some of the cheese out orchoked on it, they would be found
(08:51):
guilty.
Holy cow.
No wonder there's a thingcalled tourophobia.
Oh, yeah.
There's an actual rare, knownspecific phobia of cheese. According
to a case report in 2022, theyactually describe a 20 year old woman
with an intense fear ofcheese. They cover multiple aspects.
Oh, no.
She's afraid of the followingtouching, smelling, seeing, or eating
(09:13):
cheese. And this actuallytriggered some physical reactions.
It triggered nausea,palpitations, shortness of breath,
dizziness, and even the urgentneed to vomit. This phobia significantly
impacted her daily. Shecouldn't walk down a cheese aisle,
and she couldn't do thingslike join breakfast where cheese
was served. Treatment includeda combination of cbt, cognitive behavioral
(09:36):
therapy and medication. Andprobably not listening to a podcast
about cheese.
Yeah.
According to pcrm.org, thisone, in my opinion, is the scariest
of everything we've talked about.
Oh, no.
Did you know that cheese getsits smell from the same bacteria
found in unwashed feet andbody odor?
That's so gross.
Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Theprocess of fermentation adds different
(10:00):
types of bacteria to milk toproduce flavors and smells. So Muenster,
Limburger, and other cheesesadd something called Brevibacteria
linens. This is the same exactbacteria species that lives on your
feet.
Ew.
The other one is calledStaphylococcus epidermidis. The bacteria
that's responsible for humanbody odor. There's more.
(10:23):
There is.
Yeah. The article goes on tosay, on top of that, the cheese making
process produces butyric acid.You want to know what that is?
Is it gross?
Yeah. It's the same compoundproduced by your stomach acid during
digestion, which gives humanvomit its distinct smell. Ew.
I'm so ready for a joke fondue.
Yeah. After that. So am I.Yeah. Here we go.
(10:44):
Okay.
Why did cheddar havenightmares in the fridge?
Oh, I don't know.
Because there was Muenster inthere with it. Get it? Because there
was Muenster in there.
That was so good.
I thought this one was reallygouda and a little bit cheesy. Thanks
for listening to episode 206,Spooky. Thank you. We've really been
(11:08):
enjoying posting some jokes onshorts and TikTok.
Yeah.
Make sure to give us a likeand subscribe
and stay cheesy everybody.
Everybody.
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