Liederkranz Lament

I read the article about Liederkranz cheese in the May/June issue (“The Business of America”) with dismay, tinged with nostalgia.

I thought I was the only one who missed Liederkranz. I remember when I was a young man, my family would spread newspapers on the dining-room table and we would peel boiled shrimp from a big pot in the middle of the table. Radishes and beer went with the meal, but the essential accompaniments were loaves of crusty bread and Liederkranz.

I’ve tried to substitute other kinds of ripe cheese for Liederkranz, but nothing else works.

I believe, with Proust, that nothing is as evocative as smells, and nothing smells like Liederkranz. It is sad to think that it is lost forever. Could we bring a class action against General Foods?