Along with Nation’s Restaurant News, Bon Appetit editor Adam Rappaport included pimento cheese in their lists of 2011 food trends. That was not surprising, considering the explosion in recent years of Southern-is-hip cuisine — itself a manifestation of the truism that when times get tough, comfort food wins out over twee minimalism and foamy presentations.
Food folk like to co-opt a humble, unsophisticated and usually inexpensive ingredient and bump it from economy to first class. Thus, the Philly cheesesteak finds its way onto the menus of chefs such as Michel Richard and Jose Andres, while Bobby Flay offers a $19 pimento cheeseburger at Bar Americain in New York.
That’s a long way from being shmeared down the center of celery stalks or between two slices of Wonder bread.
Southerners, of course, don’t consider pimento cheese lowbrow. Recipe notes in their Junior League cookbooks use terms such as “darling of the South,” “Southern charmer” and “Carolina caviar.” Southern cooking expert Nathalie Dupree takes credit for coining the phrase “pate of the South,” though she admits she can’t prove she did it.
Southern cooks hold serious opinions about what cheddar is sharp enough and whether it should be hand-grated or passed through a meat grinder. (Pre-grated stuff: a definite no-no.) The mayonnaise choice is crucial. New Orleanians demand Blue Plate brand, but by and large the brand that Southerners insist on is Duke’s.
The peppers get a bit of a pass. Pimentos, a variety sweeter than bell peppers, are preferred but roasted red bell peppers are acceptable, especially if they’re on sale.
Some quibble over whether you need to blend the ingredients by hand and whether adding cream cheese to the mix is acceptable.
Dupree doesn’t make such fine distinctions.
“The mixing part depends on whether the food processor is already dirty,” she says airily. “Cream cheese? Why not?”
However they make it, Southerners always have treated the concoction with respect; it’s not unusual for it to be offered, proudly unadulterated, at fashionable restaurants and included in cookbooks by the likes of chefs Frank Stitt and Virginia Willis. The title of Willis’s book, “Bon Appetit, Y’ All,” nicely captures the sense of democracy that Southerners confer upon food; fried chicken and souffle deserve equal rights at a genteel Southern dinner party, provided both are served on Limoges china.
Examples of the pimento cheese paradigm abound in Washington and beyond, especially New York. David Guas serves pimento cheese with Triscuits and a grilled pimento cheese at Bayou Bakery in Arlington. At Founding Farmers, it shows up as part of an appetizer assortment and makes a cameo as a filling for an omelet/“hangover cure” stacked with beef chili, onions and grated cheese.
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