Pimento cheese (or pimiento cheese) is a spread typically made of cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos and is typically served on crackers and vegetables or in sandwiches. There are ingredient variations among family recipe, commercial recipe, and regional versions. Although the recipe has its origins in the northern United States, it is generally most closely associated with the

cuisine of the Southern United States The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, cuisine of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern Native American tribes, ...

Origins and history

The dish has its origins in the

Northern United States The Northern United States, commonly referred to as the American North, the Northern States, or simply the North, is a geographical and historical region of the United States. History Early history Before the 19th century westward expansion, the ...

in the early 20th century as a homemade snack spread created by mixing chopped pimiento peppers with soft cheese such as Neufchatel or cream cheese. A 1908 ''Good Housekeeping'' recipe called for soft cream cheese and minced pimentos. In 1909, Eva Green Fuller's ''Up-to-Date Sandwich Book'' included a recipe calling for pimentos and Neufchatel. By 1910 commercial versions had appeared, and ads appeared in parts of the north. According to food writer Robert F. Moss, writing in ''Serious Eats'', through the period until World War II, the spread "was mentioned in hundreds of newspaper stories and advertisements, but none of them describe it as being in any way a Southern thing". Original recipes called for canned Spanish pimentos, which were expensive; southern farmers began growing pimentos to supply a less-expensive product. Southern cooks adapted the recipe using

hoop cheese Hoop cheese refers to two different cheeses: a hard cheese similar to cheddar, and a crumbly cheese similar to dry-curd cottage cheese. The hard version is a traditional cow's milk cheese that was common in the Southern United States from the early ...

and mayonnaise. After World War II, the popularity of the dish decreased in most of the US but kept its popularity in the south; it was not well-known outside that region. By the early 2000s, according to Moss, "an increasing number of Southern writers and chefs started celebrating the humble spread they remembered being made by their mothers, grandmothers, and aunts, and they started publishing recipes for it and even putting in on restaurant menus".

Ingredients and preparation

The basic pimento cheese recipe has few ingredients, typically grated

cheddar cheese Cheddar cheese (or simply cheddar) is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white (or orange if colourings such as annatto are added), and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar, Somerset, Cheddar in ...

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

, and chopped pimentos (also known as pimientos), mixed into a chunky paste. Regional ingredients include horseradish,

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...

, salt and pepper, Louisiana-style

hot sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa (sauce), salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of Mass production, mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other ho ...

Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...

, cayenne pepper,

paprika Paprika is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers, traditionally ''capsicum annuum''. It can have varying levels of Pungency, heat, but the peppers used for hot paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh than those used to produce ...

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

s, onions, garlic, and dill pickles. Family recipes often vary the ingredients.

Serving

Pimento cheese can be served as a spread on crackers or

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'' Dulce Group or ''Apium graveolens'' var. ''dulce'') is a cultivated plant belonging to the species ''Apium graveolens'' in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. The original wild ...

, scooped onto corn chips or tortilla chips, mixed in with mashed yolks for deviled eggs, added to

grits Grits (stylized as GRITS) is an American Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit". GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter ...

, used as a topping for hamburgers or

hotdog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiling, boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter (F ...

s. The spread is often served as a sandwich filling, sometimes as a cocktail finger sandwich (with crusts trimmed, garnished with

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Eurasia. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetabl ...

, and cut into triangles) or rolled up and cut into pinwheels.

Cultural importance

Pimento cheese is most closely associated with Southern cuisine and has been referred to as the "pâté of the South", "Carolina caviar" and "the caviar of the South." Pimento cheese sandwiches have a long history at the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

. They have been served there as a concession since the 1940s. ''Southern Living'' called the sandwich one of "the iconic foods of the Masters". Minor controversy ensued in 2013 when the

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

switched food suppliers for the Masters and the new supplier was unable to duplicate the recipe used by the previous supplier, resulting in a sandwich with a markedly different taste. Sports Illustrated called the sandwich "legendary" and "more than a food option – it’s a representation of the sport's history and its traditions". According to ''Southern Living'',

Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; ; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of ...

once made pimento cheese sandwiches on a plane, handing them out to her grandchildren and other nearby passengers. File:Pimento cheese in the Charlotte airport.jpg, Close-up view of a commercial pimento cheese File:Homemade pimento cheese spread with crackers.jpg, Homemade pimento cheese spread with crackers

Similar dishes

A similar dish using queso de bola is known in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, where it is referred to as "cheese pimiento". A cheese ball is also a similar dish.

References