Pimento Cheese; apparently it's a Southern thing? - Page 2

I grew up eating them and assumed everyone else did too until I left Texas.

You get a block of cheddar and grate it, that's not processed cheese, dumbass.

+1 I learned when the interwebz landed on me

Cheese takes on a natural orange color as it finely ages in the Cracker Barrel for two days.

I don't know how a 'block' of cheese does not qualify as 'processed', but then again I'm not a fine cheese foodie like yourself.

Processed cheese is stuff like American cheese, Cheez Whiz, Velveeta, etc.

Okay, thanks for your definition.



Clearly, this is distinct from the above.

Yes, and clearly that's a block of cheddar cheese.

Processed cheese may be defined as a modified form of natural cheese prepared with the aid of heat, by comminuting and blending one or more lots of cheese, except certain types such as cream, cottage cheese, etc. with water, salt, colour, emulsifier into a homogeneous plastic mass, which is usually packed while hot. http://www.dairyforall.com/cheese-processed.php

While the el-cheapo pimento cheese bought in Southern supermarkets is based on processed American cheese, I've never met anyone who uses processed cheese to make their pimento cheese at home. Cheap cheese = crappy pimento cheese. Most Southern cooks now use cheddar, usually sharp/extra sharp. Processed cheeese was basically developed to be stable when it melted. It's the reason it's so hard to make a stable cheese sauce with cheddar cheese - the cheddar wants to seperate. Even when I make mac & cheese, I add a decent amount of Velvetta as an emulsifier/stabilizer.

Interesting that you would say that, because I grew up in far Northeast Texas, and we always had pimento cheese stuffed celery for one of our Thanksgiving sides. My mother's recipe was sharp cheddar (NOT processed cheese), mayonnaise, pimentos, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and a little sugar.

I think you guys are missing the point that 'sharp cheddar' of the variety I posted sucks ass. And it tastes almost nothing like cheddar, which I wouldn't put in freaking mayonnaise and spread on a sponge to begin with. I'm poncy like that.

Why, you're just not making a good point. You're arguing just to argue and you're losing. The cheese you posted is Land O'Lakes Processed American Cheese. It's cheapo cheese with a name people recognize. The other cheese is Land O'Lakes Cheddar Cheese. While Land O'Lakes Cheddar Cheese wouldn't make it onto the cheese cart of The French Laundry, it isn't processed. It's actually made like a traditional American cheddar, but in massive amounts. I'm aware that Cheddar is English in nature, but American made cheddar has quite a following. If I were conducting a wine tasting, I might look for a farmhouse English Cheddar. If I were making pimento cheese, I would use an American cheddar and it would taste a helluva lot better than pimento cheese made with processed cheese.

We all get that Land O'Lakes Sharp Cheddar isn't the best cheddar in the world. We all also get that it's still better than processed American cheese. Maybe you're missing the point?

I realize it's not 'process' according to FDA definitions, but it's garbage made in a factory and extruded into rectangular bricks before being factory-sealed. It also tastes pretty much the same as the American deli brick, but at least is has some kind of semblance of cheese texture as weak as that is.

This isn't snobbery or pretentiousness. That cheese is about as objectively close to garbage as flavor can be.

Along with sweet tea, one of the things I miss about the South. Especially melted on a burger straight off the grill.

Not really a cheese I'd go out of my way to get either, but:

LAND O LAKES® Cheddar Cheese is the winner of the 2007 ChefsBest™ Award for Best Taste. The ChefsBest™ Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands. American Culinary ChefsBest™ is the independent judging organization dedicated to recognizing and honoring the best tasting product in America. All of the independent professional chef judges are certified Master Tasters.

So you'd put $15/lb 5 year old cheddar in pimento cheese?