I have a great uncle who's 92 years old. Oldest son of Polish immigrants, grew up dirt poor after his father passed when he was 9. I don't think their family was much worse off when the Depression hit. Anyway, he enlisted and served in WWII, first in Africa and then Europe. They spent a fair amount of time in Italy. Thats the setup for this story.
Last night when he came for supper I told him my new hobby was cheese making. This triggered a memory for him, he said when he was in Italy the farmers would age their cheese in the manure pile, then cut off the outer part and eat the cheese inside. He said the soldiers all liked that cheese.
Anyone ever heard of this? He seemed certain of it, and he's still pretty sharp so I have to think he is accurate. I wondered if the method wasn't to keep the cheese at a fairly constant warm temperature.