Mmmmmmm cheese. Who doesn’t love it? Melted, sliced, aged, dry, creamy, moldy – however it comes, the folks over at the The Joy of Cheese know it well. Martin Johnson, the man behind Joy of Cheese loves cheese so much that he throws cheese-centered events in New York City, many of which are ticketed by Brown Paper Tickets.

Martin has declared the month of May the month of “funky” cheeses and so he’s throwing a couple different events that highlight them. What qualifies as a “funky” cheese? Well it has nothing to do with James Brown, afro picks or Bootsy Collins’ bass lines. For Martin, funky cheese is washed rind cheeses; the dense, aromatic cheeses that began in European monasteries in the middle ages and are distinguishable for their “funky” aroma.

The first event happens tomorrow, May 17 at The Clerkenwell and focuses on “Classic Funk” with a sampling and tasting of eight of the finest cornerstone washed rind cheeses from Europe. Martin will present and discuss the cheeses and answer any questions that attendees may have. Tickets available here.

The next event takes place Wednesday, May 18 at Culturefix. This focuses on “American Funk” or the new American cheese-maker’s version of European washed rind cheese. This is a relatively new movement in the states but is already producing cheeses that are comparable to their European predecessors. There will be a sampling and discussion of the best aromatic American cheeses. Tickets available here.

Want to learn more about washed rind cheeses? Here’s an interesting video about Canadian washed rind cheeses from Le Gourmet TV out of Toronto.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmUqr00-szI]