Playing Music Makes Cheese Taste Different

The secret to a more flavorful cheese might be found in a playlist, not just a recipe. In a fascinating 2019 experiment in Switzerland, cheesemaker Beat Wampfler and researchers from the Bern University of the Arts explored how sound affects the aging process. They placed nine identical 22-pound wheels of Emmental cheese in separate wooden crates, exposing each to a different sonic environment for over six months. The cheese "listened" to a 24-hour loop of music ranging from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" to the hip-hop of A Tribe Called Quest. Control cheeses were aged with low or high-frequency tones, or in complete silence.

When the aging was complete, a panel of culinary experts conducted a blind taste test, and the results were clear. The cheese aged with hip-hop was judged to be significantly different, with a "funkier," fruitier aroma and a stronger, sweeter taste than all other samples. The scientific principle at play is likely sonochemistry, the study of how sound waves affect chemical reactions. The theory is that the physical vibrations of the music directly influenced the metabolic activity of the bacterial cultures within the cheese. The specific frequencies and rhythms in the hip-hop track may have stimulated the microbes to work differently, altering the fermentation process to create a more complex and robust flavor profile.