For native Southerners, this fare is likely to have a hold on memories as well as taste buds.
By MARY JANE PARK
Published December 28, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - Pimiento cheese is a staple of both daily life and celebrations throughout the American South. Some people, tongue firmly in cheek, have elevated it to relative gourmet status, calling it the pate of the South.
Used to stuff celery or in crustless sandwiches, it is dependable party food.
It is as basic as peanut butter, most often slathered between two slices of white bread. PC shows up at tailgate parties, picnics, bridge clubs, church events, wedding feasts and funeral gatherings.
Although a disappointingly few restaurants offer it in the Tampa Bay area, I know of people who will drive to the Varsity in Atlanta just for the pimiento cheeseburgers.
Pimiento cheese sandwiches, wrapped in green waxed paper, are standard fare in the food tents at Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters, an extraordinary bargain at $1.25.
PC is appropriately served at nearly every holiday.
Last summer, the Southern Foodways Alliance announced its Pimento Cheese Invitational, sponsored by the Southeast Dairy Association. (A notation in the book says the Spanish "pimiento" has been Americanized to "pimento," but I prefer the traditional spelling.) The entries were published in a booklet given to participants at the annual Southern Foodways Symposium at the University of Mississippi in October, a whopping 312 pages of memories and recipes.
A few attendees, most of whom were not native Southerners, seemed puzzled about the phenomenon. Is it the stuff in the jars you can use for juice glasses later? Yes, and no.
Unless faced with dire emergency, purists won't touch store-bought PC, which usually is sold in plastic tubs.
The homemade PC of my childhood was a mixture of grated Velveeta-type cheese and bottled chopped pimientos moistened with salad dressing. (Think Miracle Whip). My mother sometimes added chopped hard-boiled eggs, presumably as an extender to feed our growing family.
As an adult, I prefer grated extra-sharp Cheddar mixed with bottled pimiento strips and mayonnaise. My favorite PC sandwich: grilled, with a glass of ice-cold milk on the side.
Basic formulas for PC call for grated Velveeta, American or Cheddar cheese, bottled pimientos and mayonnaise or salad dressing.
After that, recipes begin to diversify. You can add jalapenos, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, garlic, onions, celery seeds, olives, horseradish, hard-cooked eggs, even sugar. Some people swear by Duke's mayonnaise, some by Hellmann's. Some won't start to make PC without first preparing homemade mayonnaise.
Most PC aficionados, even those who have food processors, prefer hand-grated cheese. (Packaged shredded cheese simply will not do.) Box graters and Mouli-type cylinder graters both work well.
Some swear by whole pimientos, chopped finely by hand; others dump in the bottle of chopped or sliced pimientos, juice and all.
Nearly every recipe submitted to the PC Invitational included a story. Some entrants submitted only stories.
A recipe from St. Petersburg's Margaret Ann Burtchaell, owner of Margaret Ann's Catering & Gourmet Cookies, is included in the book.
She wrote:
"We never left home on a road trip without pimiento cheese as part of our roadside picnic of fried chicken and deviled eggs. There was never a coffee, tea or shower without pimiento cheese sandwiches, crust removed, cut into triangles, circles and squares. Any time we packed for a week at the beach or the springs (Suwannee Springs, that is), pimiento cheese was packed in the cooler, since it "traveled well.'
"When there was a death in a family and food was taken to the house for all of the relatives, pimiento cheese sandwiches were there. That is the wonder of pimiento cheese - it runs the gamut from the most basic comfort food to fancy party food. For me, pimiento cheese means home - food prepared by someone who loved me and loved to feed me.
"My mother, Margaret Lewis Sapp, was from Quitman, Ga., and raised me in Jasper, Fla. She always made her pimiento cheese sandwiches on white bread, normally with the crust cut off, even if it was just for us and not a party. They were wonderful."
And there's a narrative recipe from North Carolina writer Reynolds Price, who is quoted in The Great American Writers' Cookbook, edited by Dean Faulkner Wells and published by Yoknapatawpha Press.
"Grate a pound or more of extra-sharp cheddar cheese. Chop coarsely one jar of pimientos (4 ounces, more if you like) with one or two cloves of garlic. Mix into the grated cheese with plenty of freshly ground pepper and a minimum of salt; then gradually add enough homemade mayonnaise (maybe 3 tablespoons) to form a stiff chunky paste.
Sometimes I add a little lemon juice or a very little wine vinegar or Tabasco - nothing to disguise the bare cheese and pepper and good mayonnaise. I've been caught eating a pound or two in two days (though it keeps well), especially if life is hard. On rough brown bread, it's a sovereign nerve salve."
Lella's Mayonnaise
1 egg
1 cup oil (add 1/4 cup in the beginning, reserve 3/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Dash cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Onion powder to taste
Place all ingredients in food processor or blender, reserving 3/4 cup oil. Add remaining oil slowly while processing. (Use the metal blade on the processor.)
Makes about 1 cup of mayonnaise. (If using for pimiento cheese sandwiches, double recipe and there will be enough to spread on the bread.)
Source: Nan Davis, Oxford, Miss., 2003 Pimiento Cheese Invitational Winner.
Lella's Pimiento Cheese
5 to 51/2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated
1 small jar whole pimientos
Dash onion powder
Dash red pepper
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Pinch sugar (less than 1/4 teaspoon)
Homemade mayonnaise
Mix grated cheese and pimiento in food processor until well-blended. Add mayonnaise as needed; blend again. Add other ingredients, blend. (The pimiento cheese is a solid color, and you cannot see the pimientos once they are blended.)
Source: Nan Davis, Oxford, Miss., 2003 Pimiento Cheese Invitational Winner.
Margaret Ann's Mother's Pimiento Cheese
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
7 ounces pimientos, liquid drained but not totally dry
1/3 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise
Salt and black pepper to taste
Grate the cheese by hand. Pour the drained pimientos into a bowl with a small amount of their liquid. Chop and mash them with a fork. (It is important to use a fork and not a spoon.) Add the grated cheese and mix well. Add 3/4 cup mayonnaise, stirring well. You might need to add more mayonnaise, up to 1/2 cup, in order to get the right consistency - just enough to hold it together. Salt and pepper to taste.
