Say Cheese! (Part 1, because I got a little off track) November 30, 2010

There are few things I have consistently loved throughout my life.  But one, one thing in particular, has been a true love since we first met.

I’m talking about cheese.

I have loved cheese without fail, through good times and bad, through food poisoning and health, always and forever, amen.

And I’ve gone through very intense cheese phases thoroughout my life.

It all started with American cheese. 

Yummy yellow stuff

The processed yellowish-orangey stuff technically isn’t cheese… at least in the legal sense.  It used to be cheese, but not anymore.  Confused?  Well, allow me to take you on a historical sidebar.

One of the main exports of the British colonists shortly after arriving in America was cheddar.  This cheddar was referred to by Europeans as “American Cheese.”  It was considered inferior to European cheeses, though if it was indeed inferior, I don’t think anyone cared because it sure tasted good – as indicated by export figures.  In the late 1800′s, American cheese exports totaled 355 million pounds per year.  (Couldn’t have been all that inferior!)  Fast-forward to the wartime era of 1942 and, perhaps the most bizarre, and therefore shortest, ban was imposed on the American public.  On May 4th, 1942, the government banned the sale and consumption of any other cheese EXCEPT American cheese!  The govt’s reasoning was some kind of weird, misguided attempt to bolster American pride; but it probably had a little something more to do with keeping American dollars within US borders.  Americans were not and are not exactly known for their love of restriction, especially when it comes to what they can eat so, obviously, this ban irritated not only Americans, but other exporting countries that were our close allies during the war (namely our best friend, Great Britain).  The ban was quickly and quietly reversed on August 1st, 1942.  

Who knew American cheese had such a history?   

But what we know now as American cheese is not that cheddar (or cheddar and colby blend) once exported by early colonists.  Technically and legally, American cheese is not cheese.  It’s “cheese analogue.”  I kid you not.  (Note:  Over the course of time, American cheese has also been called factory cheese, rat cheese, rattrap cheese, yellow cheese and store cheese.)  Manufacturers presently get away with labeling it “processed cheese” because it does have some whey and milk in it, but what we know now as that gloriously gooey stuff is also loaded with salt, food coloring, preservatives and a host of other things to make it prettier, longer.    

But perhaps my favorite of favorite weird facts about American cheese is the manner with which those individually wrapped slices are prepared.  The cheese is actually poured into each and every wrapper and then set to emulsify!!  That is just nuts!  (And is a process I must see before I die.)

So, I got way off track from how I intended this post to go.  But who could blame me?  What started as a quick internet image search for a photo of American cheese led me down a fairly fascinating path that was worthy of sharing.

Sorry all you lactose intolerant friends, but my next post will also be on the topic of cheese and I will finally get around to my original purpose of blogging this… which, PS,  was to tell you about two of my favorite cheeses which you must try before you die.  Hmmm… maybe “Try Before You Die” will have to become a regular thing on this blog…

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