For the record, I love Kim Chee, and have never found a cheese I didn’t like.
I am unlikely to find any of the scary cheeses in this country.
Visited S.Korea last year, and Kim Chee is everywhere in endless varieties. Never found one I could love, although I found a few I could tolerate.
I vowed to taste everything put before me, since I'll probably never return, but there was one I swore off - in Korean open-air markets they sell a delicacy hot and fresh, stir-fried on the spot. I was going to sample it, then the smell hit me - pure dirt. Turns out it was stir-fried grubworms.
Bourdain says you should always eat what is offered, with gusto (fake it if you have to) in order to not offend the locals. Guess I failed that time...
There’s a store in my state that makes great cheese.
http://granville.stores.yahoo.net/
If you are in that area and hit it right- they have extra-extra-extra sharp cheese they only sell very infrequently at the store.
My parents and I went there one day and they had the cheese there and we all took samples and walked outside - I couldn’t get over the smell - a rancid, gym sock-wet towel bucket smell. My father, a lover of extra sharp cheese-as myself, braved past the smell and took a bite and became overwhelmed by its presence in his mouth....we drove off and he made us stop at an apple orchid to use their water spigot on the side of their barn- he just couldn’t take it anymore ;>).
I’ve been making Kim Chi for a few months now. I try to eat some everyday. I love opening a fresh jar and letting it erupt as the fermentation gases escape.