Driving along the D35 highway one may easily overlook the little town of Loštice. Home to the usual Czech sights of a small chateau, old synagogue and a few baroque churches, it seems as commonplace as possible. But there is more than meets the eye. This town is home to one of the most distinctive dairy products in the Czech Republic: the smelly cheese of Olomouc (Olomoucké tvarůžky).
Initially found all over the Hana region in Eastern Czechia, this cheese was once a way for farmers to process any milk surplus and store it for tougher times. Before the Industrial Revolution, almost each household that owned a cow would send their curds to a cheesemakers, who would in turn sell the final product. And that is how the delicacy got its name, with the largest and most important market being located in the regional capital of Olomouc.
But why is Loštice considered its home? That comes down to one industrious person called Josef Wessels, who industrialized the process of cheesemaking, developing ingenious tools for the large-scale produce of the delicacy. While several other competing “Olomouc cheese factories” popped up, it was the one in Loštice that survived to this day. It is here, at the site of the first cheese factory that the modern museum dedicated to this exceptionally stinky cheese stands.
If you’re looking to try the divisive delicacy in question, there are plenty of spots near the museum serving it. There is an Olomouc cheese pastry shop located round the corner, which creates some of the traditional Czech desserts in a new, more pungent form. For savory iterations, there are a number of restaurants where you may try a deep-fried tvarůžek with potatoes, schnitzel filled with tvarůžek and ham, or a cheese-filled potato pancake. All of them are delicious, provided you can get past the funk-forward aroma.
