Stinking Bishop
Demand for the cheese increased suddenly in 2005 with the release of Aardman Productions' animated movie "Wallace and Gromit and the Were-Rabbit", in which Gromit uses the smell of Stinking Bishop cheese to revive Wallace at a village event, by holding it under his nose.
Charles Martell began making Stinking Bishop cheese from the milk of his herd of Gloucestershire cattle, to increase awareness of the breed, which had previously been near to extinction. The remarkable smell of the cheese is in the rind, which is washed in perry (the name for cider made from pears) made from the Stinking Bishop variety of pear.
The pear was named after an infamous Ledbury farmer, Frederick Bishop, nicknamed Stinking Bishop, who was born in the mid-19th century and known for his drunken temper. One story is that he blasted a kettle that was on his stove at home, as it annoyed him. He is reputedly buried in the churchyard of the Parish Church of Colwall, a village between Ledbury and Malvern.
Stinking Bishop cheese, despite its alarming name and smell, is mild-flavoured and quite delicious. The smell arises from bacterial action on the perry, soaked into the rind.