Stinky Fridge Culprit Finally Found

So our fridge has stunk since we got back from Europe. I did a cursorily throw-out before we left, and in my opinion, did a decent job.

When we got back, it stunk a little at the time. I did some digging and found a rotten pear that had been pushed to the back of the fridge and amazingly wedged itself between the back of the fridge and the shelf. I thought "problem solved"--that was Monday night.

Tuesday the fridge still stunk. I threw out ANYTHING dairy or remotely old looking, but none of it smelled.

Wednesday, I walked into the apartment and could smell it the minute I came in--pungent!! What the? We began to wonder if something had fallen behind the fridge (like a piece of fruit that had been on the top). We smelled everything: the sink, the garbages etc. Nothing. It was a puzzler. We thought it could maybe be residual smell from earlier? It seemed too strong for that...

Thursday Ed cleaned (as in scrubbed the entire fridge) before I got home from work. He found the culprit--a hunk of French cheese we had bought on Sunday for our dinner club this weekend and didn't expire until 12/10. It stunk something nasty, though. I wondered if it is one of those "stinky cheeses," but Ed's opinion was that it was rotten.

Moral of the story: both old and new food can stink up your fridge.