The ever-evolving pimento cheese recipe
May 7th, 2008
You could make pimento cheese every day for the rest of your life and never follow the same recipe. Once you’ve figured in the three basics—cheddar cheese, jarred pimientos and mayonnaise—pimento cheese is whatever you want it to be.
Add black pepper, cayenne pepper or white pepper. Hot sauce, Worcestershire or beer. Onion, garlic or jalapeño. Oregano, nutmeg or cumin. Sugar, parmesan or cream cheese.
Even the three staples allow for variation. You can use cheddars of varying sharpness, which you can grate, shred or blend. Some people insist on Duke’s, while others prefer Hellman’s or their own homemade mayo. Do you leave the pimientos in strips or do you chop them? If you chop them, how finely? Do you use the back of a fork to work the cheese and seasonings together and then add the mayonnaise for consistency? Or do you use a food processor to blend the core ingredients and then stir in the seasonings? Speaking of consistency, should it be more like a paste, a spread or a dip?
Many people get around this analysis paralysis by using a recipe that was handed down. Having always taken a more itinerant approach, I’ve been searching for years for the best pimento cheese recipe (even as I refuse to believe that there is such a thing), trying a little of this and a little of that.
Several years ago, for an assignment about the Southern Foodways Alliance’s Pimento Cheese Invitational, I spent some time deconstructing pimento cheese.
In Birmingham, my favorite pimento cheese came from a place called Stignani’s. The ingredients were basic: sharp cheddar cheese, Kraft mayonnaise, pimientos and “enough pepper to give it a kick.” Everything went into a food processor, and a little of this or a little of that was added until three people in the kitchen signed off on it. When I asked Bernie Stignani how she decided when it was ready, she said that it “shouldn’t taste too strongly of cheese but shouldn’t have a mayonnaise taste either.” Once the batch was done, it went into a bowl, and “not too much cayenne pepper” was sprinkled on top.
For a while, I was using a recipe from a family friend who used to work in the Southern Living test kitchen. Her recipe was fixed down to the 1/4 teaspoon: an 8-ounce package of cream cheese; an 8-ounce package of extra sharp cheddar, grated; 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of Hellman’s mayonnaise; 1 tablespoon of mustard; a 4-ounce jar of pimentos; 1/4 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. She too used a food processor but she waited until the end to add the pimentos.
The winning recipe in the SFA’s Invitational came from a woman named Nan Davis, of Oxford, Miss., who inherited the recipe from her Aunt Lella. As she explained in the note that accompanied her entry, Aunt Lella was a woman so well known for her pimento cheese sandwiches that at her funeral, the minister of her church mentioned them in his eulogy. In high Southern fashion, Ms. Davis described the scene: “[The minister] said that he didn’t know who had been making the pimento cheese sandwiches in Heaven before she got there, but they were going to have to move over now because she was going to be in charge.”
As much as I like that sentiment, I don’t believe there can be only one. So tell me how you make your pimento cheese.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I used a pimento cheese recipe from Food & Wine for a Super Bowl party we hosted a couple of years ago. Being the only Southerner in the room, I’m pretty sure I was the only person who ate any at all, but it was delicious. The recipe called for grated Vidalia onion and hot sauce, in addition to the basics. Yum!
May 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Like Amy, mine calls for grated Vidalia, and hot sauce (I use Worcestershire). I use an even sharp and mild cheese mixture, and no cream cheese. The “secret” ingredient? A tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. It’s pretty popular as an hors d’oeuvre on crackers!
May 7th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
This recipes looks great, I live for cheese. If you have any Vegetarian theme postings , you should submit it to my Veg Head carnival. Nice blog, first but not last time on your blog
May 7th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I’d never heard of pimento cheese before now. Seems like we on the West Coast are missing out!
May 8th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Chip,
Mrs. Butrus gave me my first taste of pimento cheese. It may have been the thing that first got me interested in food. I think hers had lots of lemon juice in it. We should ask her for the recipe.
-Brys
May 10th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Frank Stitts cookbook has a great recipe that come from one of his cooks. I don’t think he serves it in any of his restaurants, but its damn good.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:18 am
[…] Posted in Daily life, Food, Recipes/Cooking at 8:18 am by LeisureGuy Great recipes at Cookthink for variations on pimento cheese. Take a look. Post begins: You could make pimento cheese every day for the rest of your life and never follow the same recipe. Once you’ve figured in the three basics—cheddar cheese, jarred pimientos and mayonnaise—pimento cheese is whatever you want it to be. […]
July 13th, 2008 at 4:37 am
I’ve posted yet-another version of Pimento Cheese. I like using Pepper Jack as one of the cheeses, and I minimize the mayo.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
[…] A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Philly-area food blogger potluck. I love these gatherings, because it is an opportunity to taste a huge variety of foods, all prepared by people who more than usually interested in such things. At the last potluck, someone had brought a tray of what looked like plain tea sandwiches. Triangles of white bread, crusts removes, and a thin layer of orange-y cheese in the middle. […]
June 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I love pimento cheese, it was always something that my grandmother seemed to have made up for us. I never realized that it was sort of a regional food.
About 10 years ago, someone introduced me to the ultimate pimento cheese combo, Pimento cheese on raisin bread. I know, it sounds absolutely disgusting, but trust me, it’s so good.
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I think I’ll make my own, now instead of buying it pre-made at the store.
July 7th, 2009 at 7:35 am
After experimenting with pimento cheese recipes for nearly 10 years, I now insist on JFG Real Mayonnaise. And if you can get your hands on some Grafton Special Reserve Cheddar and Mario Pimientos, you’re pimento cheese will rock. (I save the cream cheese for cheesecakes ;- ).