In the Irish supermarket we regularly get Cracker Barrel (I think that’s American, isn’t it), I once saw Monterey Jack (in Superquinn), and of course there’s some sort of mung melted onto BK and McD’s burgers.
IMO American supermarket cheese (as opposed to the superb stuff you can get at specialist farms such as Sugarbush in Vermont) is so mild and flavourless compared to Irish cheddar (which itself is generally milder than UK cheddars) that there wouldn’t be much call for it.
Well, Jinx[, down in Mexico they have what we consider American cheese – they simply call it yellow cheese (queso amarillo). But they also call some other cheeses that, too.
Aaaah Cracker Barrel. Yeah, we have that.
So is your home town going to get a second stop light any time soon? There are many excellent cheeses made in the USA and, of course, any number of imports. None of the excellent US-made cheeses are called “American Cheese”, but only the vastly ignorant would mean that there are no other cheeses here.
Heh. This reminds me of my all-time (albeit probably apocryphal) marking on a food wrapper:
Barry
Some Canadian observations:
The cheddar here is almost always orange - it’s also available as ‘marble’: a mix of white and orange, usually fed to children … delish! White cheddar is commonly sold as ‘Farmer’s Cheese’.
Monterey Jack is ‘real’ cheese, sometimes enhanced with various bibs and bobs: pepper, jalapenos, etc. There is a processed variety available, usually when fast food (sorry - good food fast) places concoct some sort of Southwestern-style burger
I always thought American Cheese was processed cheddar - Kraft Slices, Cheez Wiz, Velveeta, etc. The really foul stuff.
I think in France they call it Fromage du Victoire.
Things cheesy seem to be wheying on your mind recently, **Jinx **…
I think maybe The Gaspode is referring to the supermarket selection - which in my experience is rubbish compared to, say, an Irish supermarket (which itself is rubbish compared to, say, an Italian or a French one). I have already acknowledged that there are excellent cheeses made in the US, but in all my time in the US, I never never saw any of them available for common consumtion by the masses: they’re specialist items.
More or less. American cheese, being processed, has a more uniform text that melts better than cheddar. Cheddar tends to separate out into its natural components (fat, whey, etc.) when melted, making a messy cheeseburger.
To reiterate to non-Americans: when we are talking about “American cheese”, we are talking about a particular make — a processed, Cheddar-like cheese — not “all cheeses from America”.
American cheese by itself should not be judged by its bastard children, American cheese food (Velveeta) or American cheese product (Kraft Singles). Any good cheese that is diluted by adding nonfat dry milk or whey solids and water to the point where 51% or less of the product is actual cheese is going to taste, well, you know.
*jjimm, I will agree with you that supermarkets in the Isles and Continent have a good selection. However . . . I’m not sure when you last browsed the aisles of a U.S. store. Cheese, in particular, has been the subject of a vast explosion of interest (mmm, cheese explosion), and has (to address your point) trickled down so that it is available not just to the gourmet types, but (in surprising variety) to the huddling peasant “masses.”
Anecdote: A few months ago while in Midland, Tex. (ex-home of GWB in his oil-biz days, so I doubt anyone here will confuse it with an urbane cosmopolis), my hostess surprised me with a plate containing the lovely Cashel Blue, a Hudson Valley cheddar, and a good Texas goat cheese from
She had bought all of these not at any specialty shop (Midland is short on these, and is still waiting on its first sushi joint), but at the local HEB grocery, where the masses shop.
Here’s an exemplary selection of cheeses on offer from another Texas supermarket chain (admittedly, the “higher-end” chain affiliated with HEB):
http://www.centralmarket.com/cm/cmFiCheesePage.jsp
So I think that good cheeses of both American and foreign origin are readily available in U.S. markets and restaurants, even in the boonies.
I’ll stipulate that this hasn’t always been so widespread, and that up until maybe five years ago (IIRC) there were fewer options overall. However . . . it’s not true that America never had anything but processed cheeez. New York has been making cheddar, on both a mass level and in “artisanal” varieties, not dramatically worse than that I’ve had in England/Ireland, for decades (centuries?), and the extraneous orange (natural) coloring is not as ubiquitous as you’d think – I’d estimate at least 25% of cheddar I’ve seen in U.S. supermarkets (even years ago) has been white/natural. Wisconsin also has had some flavorful cheeses among its options, for years.
While I can’t speak to the rest of the nation, I can’t recall the last time I went to any sizable supermarket in the US (mostly on the East Coast, with some Midwest and West coast urban experience) that had any less than two dozen types of cheese. I’m not talking about upscale specialty stores (which tend to have far more), but the largest chains in their respective regions - i.e. the stores most commonly shopped by middle class or blue collar families (vs. the convenience shops where many younger people shop)
I suspect the problem is that US supermarkets heavuly segregate and target various cheese types, as part of the prevailing marketing model. For example, bif companies like Kraft pay big bucks to have their processed cheese food placed by the milk to wordlessly create a product association as a natural healthy product. You’ll often find butter, cream cheese, and cheeses packaged in tubs (e.g. ricotta) there as well, but a second section, either in a different cooler or a distance away, usually contains the at least half dozen standard ‘real cheeses’ : mozzarella, ricotta, swiss (most of the world’s ‘imported swiss’ cheese is made in Finland, most unspecified swiss cheese is domestic), cheddar, monterrey jack, colby, feta, provolone, and a few others which vary by store and region. ‘Soft cheeses’ like brie and camembert, and their processed equivalents like laughing cow, bonnebel, etc. are often placed separately from the harder cheeses. The Delicatessen selection (which might have slipped you mind) almost always sells at least a dozen cheeses, and generally more. Nonrefrigerated cheeses (parmesan, romano, etc) and cheese products (Cheese Whiz, Velveeta cheese blend, various snack packs and novelty cheese products, etc.) are often found on the shelves, particularly near the pasta section and snack food sections, respectively. In recent years, almost all large supermarkets in the Northeast US (and most urban centers) also have a separate ‘gourmet cheese’ case or display, a treasure trove that many shoppers automatically tune out
That’s just scratching the surface. I’m, sure that if I thought about it, I could think of several other places cheese is stashed in a typical US store migh stash cheese. Often cheeses are placed according to packaging type or manager whim -e.g. some managers consider feta ‘exotic’ and place it with the gourmet chesses, others place it alongside the cream cheese or mozzarella cheese.
Specifically, 2001 (MA, TN, CA, AZ, NV). Before that, 1997 (CT, NY, WA, TN). I could therefore be out of date. Many Yurpians have a misconception about the good things that have happened to beer in the US, so maybe that’s the problem with our perception of your cheese.
Heh, I’m having an argument about cheese. Cheese fight! Wet cheese delirium!
It exists here in Prague, but it is from Holland. I bought it thinking “MMM…Dutch cheese that looks like cheddar…could it be cheddar? PLEASE?” This was because they only sell cheddar in one store in town, and it isn’t a sharp cheddar, so I was hoping that this might be it…Nope. It was an exact duplicate of American cheese- same texture and taste, just a bit more orange. I had a few bites, gagged, and then my wife finished it.
Strange, but I’ve met quite a few furyners who lived in the US who LOVE American cheese…yech!
-Tcat
Fromage de la liberté, surely?
Yeah, it’s been four years since I was in an American supermarket/grocery store. The, it was in Orlando, and I didn’t notice a vast improvement as compared to '85, when I spent a year in Chicago, and the ordinary Jewel would have maybe four hard cheeses and a couple of soft.
Huerta88’s link from a texas supermarket confirms this. The selection is on par with the mom&pop convenience store around the corner from me. Any ordinary grocery store will have twice the amount and a big Supermarket will easily stock 20-25 sorts of hard cheese, and then different brands. When it comes to soft and fresh cheese, we easily get up into the hundreds.
To continue the hijack: I’ve had great food in restaurants in Chicago and San Fransisco. To my sorrow, I’ve never been to NY, and I woshed through L.A. in 32 hours. I’ve driven around a lot of midwestern and southern states, and with the exception of stand alone diners, which are quickly becoming extinct, the only thing available (for the traveller) is chain/franchise restaurants, where most of the time, the food is incredibly bland. This goes hand in hand with the boring cheese selection.
Is the situation really that different on a major European autoroute or motorway? I’ve certainly had some serviceable, but unremarkable, meals at rest stops or pubs in these settings too. America’s big enough, and car-centric enough, that travelling experiences do tend toward the Interstate highway variety, which no one would claim leads to particularly distinct experiences.
To continue your continuation of the hijack – if N.Y. is in your travel plans, you might check out:
which is both a restaurant and cheese shop. IMLE, I’ve never seen a bigger cheese selection in a single restaurant, including in Europe.
There are a number of decent cheddars made in America, but none of them are anywhere near to the delights of real English Montomery’s and Keen’s cheddar. I find it hard to believe that M’s/K’s and the others can even share the name “cheddar.” They’re nothing alike.
I have not lived in the US for 35 years, but when I was growing up in the 40s and 50s, there was a cheese we got called American cheese that was a real cheese and not processed cheese, cheese food or cheese product. It was a very fine cheese. Here in Montreal, there is a cheese called mild white cheddar at our cheese store that is essentially the same thing, only slightly crumblier. There is also a colored version of it but I have never tasted it. Of course, the white cheese is actually pale yellow, but called that to distinguish it from the colored cheese.
Is it really true that genuine American cheese that I remember no longer exists? If so that is a damn shame because it was a fine cheese.
First off:
Orange Cheese:[ul]According to legend (my own, that is), Cheddar cheese was originally made at Cheddar Gorge in Britain (now there’s a shocker!). In order to distinguish their cheese from other local solidified fermented bovine lactose curd products, they would strain the whey with marigold petals. This added a natural source of carotene (a brilliant orange organic dye), which gave the cheese its distinctive coloring.
Madison Avenue has since recognized this as the first instance of branding in order to preserve market share and decided the best thing to do would be to rip it off mercilessly. Ergo, all modern industrially extruded congealed psuedo-dairy products are dyed some variant of nuclear waste neon orange.[/ul]
The Putative Existence of Real Cheese in America:[ul]When you see all of those commercials featuring conversant kine and ending with … “It’s the cheese!” … try to remember that California now produces some of the finest cheese in the world. We have Laura Chenel making artisan level goat cheeses and for five generations, Rouge & Noir has been producing worthy simulacrums of Brie and Camembert right here in the San Francisco bay area. Vermont white Cheddar and some of the Michigan Cheddars are easily world class. Oregon’s Tillamook brand has been making decent cheese for more than a century.
While American cheeses cannot necessarily trace their lineage back to the infected toe of a crusading knight who was passing through town, they still have come of age and represent an edible and worthy addition to the dessert plate of any fine restaurant.[/ul]
I take it you don’t live in Québec. One thing I have noticed in Ontario is that bright orange cheese appears to be VERY popular here (even orange cheese curds!!!) while I actually find it kind of revolting. I grew up in Québec, and plan to move back, and one thing I miss the most is the wide selection of non-fluorescent cheeses! Hard, soft, semi-soft, FRESH cheese curds (SQUEEK SQUEEK!…I miss good cheese!
My SO’s father is a bit of a connaiseur, and he says that Québec is beginning to (or even IS) outpacing France in quality cheese production. As a province, we consumeand produce a LOT of dairy products, and imports from France have fallen quite a bit.
To get similar cheeses here to what I can get in a Québec grocery store, I either have to go to a high-end or specialty store, or occasionally a regular store in very multicultural areas might have a broader selection. It’s a bit disappointing, especially when you’re really craving that poutine