Pass the Pimento Cheese, Please.

November 14, 2011 12:54 PM

Pimento cheese, largely unknown outside of the Southern US, is an important player in the rich culinary tradition of the South. This short (15 min) documentary explores the history of the dish and gives a glimpse at just how passionate some folks are about their pimento cheese.

Need some recipes? Paula Deen offers up a traditional Georgia version while her son Bobby's recipe includes cream cheese and onion.

Here's an attempt to recreate the famous sandwiches served at the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, GA each spring.

And it's hard to beat a grilled pimento cheese sandwich.

posted by robstercraw (85 comments total)

When I moved to Georgia 16 years ago and saw pimiento cheese for the first time, I had a huge "WTF?!" reaction. Just the idea of combining pimientos, shredded cheddar, and mayo... it's just one of those things that breaks your brain the first time you hear about it.

Then, I tried it. Real homemade (and it has to be homemade. Storebought pimiento cheese is just WRONG) pimiento cheese on a celery stick is one of those things that you just have to try to appreciate, but it really is fantastic stuff.
posted by deadmessenger at 12:59 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

My husband and I once ate a small (6oz) tub of pimento cheese we did not know was set aside for my grandmother. When the next day came and she was getting ready to have a pimento cheese sandwich, the look on her face was devastating.

I will never again consume pimento cheese that may be intended for another person.
posted by Malice at 1:02 PM on November 14, 2011 [7 favorites]

Thank you for this post. I was hungrily eying a tub o' pimento cheese in someone's refrigerator just yesterday. I did not know it was a Southern Thing. We often had it on celery where I grew up in Michigan.
posted by marxchivist at 1:02 PM on November 14, 2011

I didn't realize pimento cheese was exclusive to the south. Not really my thing but it can be good with crackers sometimes.
posted by ghharr at 1:02 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

You haven't lived until you've put pimento cheese on a hamburger.
posted by zzazazz at 1:03 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]

Storebought pimiento cheese is just WRONG

Heathen!

Just kidding. The store bought stuff has its own quaintness. Like a Twinkie or something. I like it pretty well.
posted by Malice at 1:03 PM on November 14, 2011

I hate mayo and never liked pimento cheese, until I had some on crackers during my last trip back east to my parents. Now I can appreciate good, homemade/artisan pimento cheese... nothing mass-produced, though, that stuff is still gross.

Tip: if what you're buying is spelled pimiento, tread carefully. Sorry urbanites, Trader Joe's Pimiento Cheese is no good.
posted by infinitewindow at 1:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I also was unaware it was a southern thing.
posted by odinsdream at 1:06 PM on November 14, 2011

Not really my thing but it can be good with crackers sometimes.

That's what my neighbors in Atlanta used to say about us white folk.
posted by three blind mice at 1:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

Whew, at least it's not Rotel Dip ...
posted by scruss at 1:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

Dill.

I was introduced to it by my Texan wife.
The only kinds worth eating are homemade.
The best of those include a small amount of dill.
posted by Seamus at 1:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thank you for this post. I was hungrily eying a tub o' pimento cheese in someone's refrigerator just yesterday. I did not know it was a Southern Thing. We often had it on celery where I grew up in Michigan.

Seconding this--my mother used to buy little glass jars of it all the time. To be spread on crackers and/or celery. (home-grown Michigander)
posted by Chrischris at 1:09 PM on November 14, 2011

I love my Grandma's pimento cheese, but I'm pretty sure she uses American cheese, not cheddar.
posted by swift at 1:09 PM on November 14, 2011

Try it on a cabbage leaf. Sounds insane, but it's still my brother's favorite snack. Course, he still puts ketchup on cottage cheese (just typing that made me queasy). Pimiento cheese is also good added to deviled egg stuffings, if that's your thing.

Of all the things I inherited from the Southern side of my family (Grandpa's side, my mom's dad), I still keep the porch floor painted blue (keeps the haints away), I still have a bottle tree out front (ditto), and I still love pimiento cheese.

Here's my recipe:
1 lb hard or semi-hard cheese, grated fine (for authenticity, some of it should be cheddar)
1/2 c pimiento, drained
1/4 C plus 2 T mayo, or to taste (I know some northerners use Miracle Whip - just keep that to yourself, OK?)
T T Colman's mustard
1 T grated onion
1 T dill pickle relish, optional
hot sauce, salt, black pepper to taste

No wonder I'm still so damn fat.
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 1:09 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]

I have to heartily agree with infinitewindow - TJ's piminto cheese is ghastly.

Store brand wise Palmetto Cheese is good (but pricey), but making your own is the way to go. I hate mayo but good p.c. is to die for. Where I grew up, Duke's was the preferred mayo.
posted by pointystick at 1:10 PM on November 14, 2011

I think pimento cheese is one of those things you've always HEARD about but may never have actually seen. I've KNOWN of it all my life but admittedly the first time I ever ate it was when it was offered on a burger at a restaurant here in Atlanta. Same thing applied to grits.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:12 PM on November 14, 2011

Also, in retrospect: pimento cheese is terrible on burgers, not because of the taste, which is awesome, but because it has the exact same problem guacamole burgers have- it's borderline painful to keep it on the goddamn burger. Next time: crackers.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:13 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well, that's one more thing I can add to the list of terrible ideas that southerners seem to be in love with.
posted by mhoye at 1:14 PM on November 14, 2011

As a child in the south, it was miracle whip and Velveeta. Some things are not meant to be, like pimento cheese.
posted by -t at 1:14 PM on November 14, 2011

Pimento cheese on a burger at the Varsity in Atlanta. Oh my lord.

And my Nanny's is the best. Half cheddar, half Velveeta, and home-pickled jalapenos instead of pimentos. My folks in Tennessee always been iconoclasts, we usually had a smoked pork shoulder instead of turkey for Thanksgiving. One year we got tired of that and fried up a mess uh'crappie (that's a sort of fish, pronounced croppie).
posted by cilantro at 1:16 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

When I was a kid our juice glasses were old pimento cheese jars. I get a little Ratatouille-style sense memory any time I come across a jar like that.
posted by padraigin at 1:18 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]

I wonder if this is the new world version of the Bavarian Obatzda which, instead of cheddar, mayo and pimentos, is camembert, butter and paprika.

Lately, I've been whipping up goat cheese and roasted red peppers with a drop of lemon juice to excellent effect.
posted by Jode at 1:20 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

I like how pimento cheese's appeal transcends ethnicity completely. The two biggest fans of it that I know are a jew from the deep south (i did not really believe these existed fyi) and a peruvian from miami.
posted by elizardbits at 1:23 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

My family is the farthest thing from Southern, and I can recall this being a staple of my parents' 1970s entertaining.

My husband and I once ate a small (6oz) tub of pimento cheese we did not know was set aside for my grandmother.

This is just to say
I have eaten the pimento
that was in

the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for grandma

Forgive me
it was delicious
so tangy
and so orange
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:27 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]

When I saw this post, I somehow conflated pimento loaf with head cheese, all at once imagining the most disgusting deli product to be conceived by man. Thank goodness I was mistaken. Carry on.
posted by Edgewise at 1:31 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

"artisan pimento cheese"
posted by liketitanic at 1:31 PM on November 14, 2011

Well, it's better than head cheese, I'll have to give it that.
posted by kozad at 1:34 PM on November 14, 2011

Ugh, pimento cheese is one of the only remembrances of my Tennessee upbringing I'm glad to have forgotten. My late mama loved to eat all sorts of bizarre things - eating raw onions whole, as if they were apples, is particularly memorable - and she looooooved pimento cheese sandwiches. It was usually my job to make them for her, and opening up that tub of unnaturally-colored glop always made me want to gag...and the SMELL, my GOD. Blech. Don't even get me started on the abomination that was my great-aunt's chow chow.

I've learned to like onions (not raw, admittedly), but I still hate pimento cheese.
posted by timetoevolve at 1:35 PM on November 14, 2011

Ruth's Salad's version is the only one you ever need to know about.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:37 PM on November 14, 2011

Metafilter: Not really my thing but it can be good with crackers sometimes
posted by toastchee at 1:38 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Wait. Pimento Cheese is bad on burgers?

I never had it until Phil's opened near my house(local Austin chain, husband of Amy of Amy's Icecream fame). The one named after my neighborhood has pimento cheese and bacon on it on it. As a relatively recent convert (to p.c.), I tried it.
Even if the cheese hasn't melted, I don't have an issue. Iwonder if the difference between our experiences has to do with buns or something.

(And while I am here . . . what the hell is up with everyone making hamburger buns out of sweet breads these days? tastes like I am eating a danish with meat inside.)
posted by Seamus at 1:38 PM on November 14, 2011

...a jew from the deep south...

Oh god you found him? He's been lost off the grid for years. I'll send for the rescue choppers. WE'RE A-COMIN', BUDDY!
posted by griphus at 2:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [10 favorites]

Mmm, homemade pimento cheese. Most delicious. It's so good it can stand alone between two slices of white bread and make a tasty sandwich.
posted by wierdo at 2:11 PM on November 14, 2011

Also, documentary pronounces it wrong. You should in no way be able to ascertain that the correct spelling is "pimento" from the spoken word. It should be more like "perminna", but with a softish "r".
posted by wierdo at 2:12 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]

I add garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and jalapenos to mine.
posted by keli at 2:12 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I had forgotten about pimento cheese entirely, but I also never knew there was homemade stuff. Apparently in Oklahoma it was just in tubs and jars and served on celery, or maybe I just never knew anyone growing up who actually made it from scratch.
posted by Curious Artificer at 2:14 PM on November 14, 2011

This was a fixture of my childhood, thanks to my mother. Every summer, on our annual pilgrimage to the grandparents' house in the deep south, the first thing we did after crossing into the southern states was pull over at a Winn-Dixie or Piggly-Wiggly so Mom could get her plastic tub of pimento cheese. She did occasionally make it when we were at home in Yankee-land, but she had some specific store-bought brand she preferred, the name of which I can't recall. Or maybe it was those Yankee pimentos screwing up the home-made batches :)
posted by artemisia at 2:19 PM on November 14, 2011

Grew up with the stuff at every family gathering. Love it, and yes -- it is only worth eating when homemade.

My recipe?

1 block of cream cheese

1 lb shredded cheese

1 jar chopped pimientos. The larger jar. I believe offhand that it is 4oz?

a decent amount of finely minced purple onion. To taste.

cayenne pepper, black pepper, and a bit of salt to taste.

mayonnaise. Start at about half a cup and go up slowly from there until desired consistency is reached.

fresh dill to taste

Let all that set up for at least 3 hours, for best taste. Then eat the ever-loving shit out of it.

NB: The cheese is best when you shred it yourself. That pre-shredded cheese comes caked with corn starch and won't mix in as well, in my experience. I generally use sharp cheddar, and prefer that best, but have had fun mixing it up with the likes of chipotle cheddar and such.

posted by kaseijin at 2:29 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

I want to try this.

1 lb hard or semi-hard cheese, grated fine (for authenticity, some of it should be cheddar)

Old or mild cheddar? Also, dyed orange or not? I'm guessing a mild orange cheddar.

T T Colman's mustard

1 T? Also I've only had this mustard in the UK, and it was yellow, super insanely strong and thickened with flour. Is it the same in the US? Would Keen's work as a substitute? Or is it more like French's, weaker and thinner but still yellow?
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 2:29 PM on November 14, 2011

"Old or mild cheddar? Also, dyed orange or not? I'm guessing a mild orange cheddar."

I use a sharp cheddar, ymmv.

The color of homemade pimiento cheese dip really does not resemble anything you see in tubs at the store. I guess it is possible that people who have only tried store-bought might be skittish about the contrast in colors that the homemade has, but I think it's totally unnecessary to dye it.
posted by keli at 2:40 PM on November 14, 2011

My grandmother made pimento cheese from the surplus block my great-grandmother would get. Yes, I grew up eating government pimento cheese, but it was awesome.

Today I tend to buy the Publix store brand, it beats several of the 'name' brands, and is way cheaper. when I go to the store with my mother, one of the conversations is almost invariably 'is there still pimento cheese?'.

Pimento cheese on toast with a little swirl of Sriracha. Yum.
posted by pupdog at 2:41 PM on November 14, 2011

Pruitt-Igoe, it's the powdered mustard they'll be talking about. A tablespoon sounds about right for a pound of cheese. And half sharp and half mild cheese is what you want.
posted by cilantro at 2:51 PM on November 14, 2011

Pimiento cheese is a favorite of mine; I detest chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, and anything else that looks like it was chewed up and spit out prior to being put on my sandwich, but pimiento cheese is the exception. Not only was it a staple of my childhood, but the town I live in goes nuts for it during the first week of April.

After decades of trying variations on the theme, my personal recipe includes sharp cheddar cheese (grated but not finely grated), mayonnaise (Dukes, but Hellman's will do in a pinch. No "salad dressing" or anything with the words "miracle" or "whip" on the jar!), a generous portion of well-drained, chopped (but not too fine; I like my pimiento cheese to have some texture rather than be the slurry that some recipes make) pimientos, and salt and pepper to taste. Now for the secret ingredients (so far you have the standard recipe). I add a generous spoonful of Grey Poupon or other Dijon mustard (Pruitt-Igoe, in the US Colmans refers to the dry mustard powder that is very strong and makes a great addition to a number of recipes; I would add some dry sherry to it and use it in this recipe if Grey Poupon was not handy.) Some coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts and you are good to go. If you want a little bite, some finely chopped jalapeños and/or their juice is a nice addition. The local Fresh Market makes a spicy pimiento cheese that is very popular, but it is so easy to make at home and customize as you like, that I almost never buy it. Ruth's is a popular brand here, though.
posted by TedW at 2:59 PM on November 14, 2011

As the aforementioned jew from the deep south, I have to whole heartedly agree with this:

Also, documentary pronounces it wrong. You should in no way be able to ascertain that the correct spelling is "pimento" from the spoken word. It should be more like "perminna", but with a softish "r".


Also, oddly, not a he.
posted by syncope at 3:10 PM on November 14, 2011

Whew, at least it's not Rotel Dip ...

Hush your mouth. Rotel and Velveeta is food of the manufactured plastic gods.

I never had it until Phil's opened near my house(local Austin chain, husband of Amy of Amy's Icecream fame). The one named after my neighborhood has pimento cheese and bacon on it on it.

Oh my god I think I know what I'm having for dinner. For serious.

My mother says pimento cheese is what the diet industry people call a "trigger food": a food you can't stop eating once it's put in front of you. (For me, that's glazed southern-style donuts, none of your Krispy Kreme or Dunkin.) My mother made or bought pimento for all her parties but none was ever left for me.
posted by immlass at 3:11 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

One long and compounded word: Pimentocheesedonutholesalamode
posted by Cerulean at 3:38 PM on November 14, 2011

It should be more like "perminna", but with a softish "r".

I would go so far as to say more like "p'minna."

My mama makes it best.
posted by naoko at 3:41 PM on November 14, 2011

The Breakfast Burger at Only Burger in Durham, NC, has fried green tomatoes, egg, and pimento cheese along with the beef patty.
posted by needled at 4:36 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

another michigander who grew up with this stuff - no idea it was a southern thing, either
posted by pyramid termite at 4:39 PM on November 14, 2011

I grew up in the South, and because I was a very picky eater as a child, I hated pimento cheese. I can still recall the taste, though, and I now know that I would love it.
posted by zardoz at 4:46 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Pimiento cheese, bacon, fried green tomato, lettuce, on toasted wheat bread.

(Must be homemade or at least made locally. No florescent orange glop allowed.)
posted by Stewriffic at 4:51 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have read your comments. And now I am hungry.
posted by dig_duggler at 5:17 PM on November 14, 2011

While I was aware of pimiento cheese when I lived up north, I never ate any until I moved to the south. And now I pretty much love it (thanks for the recipes, folks!)

Coincidentally, I had a burger with house-made pimiento cheese from this joint today.
posted by box at 5:23 PM on November 14, 2011

Glad to see this here. I was a kickstarter backer of this project and I know Nicole Lang Key. She's very passionate about the subject of pimento cheese. Hope ya'll liked the film!
posted by josher71 at 5:27 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Holeeee crap - gimme a tub of this stuff and a loaf of Mrs. Baird's Texas Toast white bread - it's gonna be a feast!
posted by PuppyCat at 5:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Before you add your favorite mayo, you should put 1/2 tsp of cayenne and two dashes of Tabasco in it and stir it up good before you apply it to the cheese and pimiento - it changes everything for the better. We also put about a tablespoon of onion that's been so finely minced you can't identify it. Best made the night before and allowed to mellow in the fridge until you just can't wait any longer.

Tell Nicole she did a great job making me hungry.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:29 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

she had some specific store-bought brand she preferred, the name of which I can't recall.

It was Ruth's. I'm sure of it. Maybe some ham salad, too?
posted by MrMoonPie at 5:40 PM on November 14, 2011

My dad, who is from Indiana, loves pimento cheese. He would buy the big ol'tub of the orange glop. Notice I wrote would buy because ever since I made him a batch of the homemade stuff for Father's Day that is all he wants. I know he has got a hankering for it when I go visit him and there, sitting in the fridge, is all the ingredients I need to make him a big ass batch of it. Me? Eh, I can take it or leave it.
posted by govtdrone at 6:25 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I had some here in New York. It was delicious.
posted by jonmc at 6:29 PM on November 14, 2011

I grew up in Texas and loved pimento cheese, but my Mom (who was from Iowa) hated the stuff. I mostly had it at friends' houses. Thanks to everyone who included recipes in this thread-- I've got some cookin' to do!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 6:30 PM on November 14, 2011

I had that burger at Phil's for dinner. Not something I'd want to eat every night--bacon cheeseburgers are heart attacks on a plate--but it was good and I'm glad I ate it.
posted by immlass at 6:34 PM on November 14, 2011

I'll try piment cheese when in comes in a spray.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 6:38 PM on November 14, 2011

Whew, at least it's not Rotel Dip ...

Oh no you didn't. Rotel is awesome tasty goodness. It was at every family gathering, and my uncle was notorious for gobbling down the Rotel.
posted by Mavri at 6:48 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

My mother says pimento cheese is what the diet industry people call a "trigger food": a food you can't stop eating once it's put in front of you.

Amen to that. I love to bring fresh pimento cheese and crackers over as an appetizer to family dinners. I have made myself sick on more than one occasion because I can't stop eating the stuff. Most recently I've eaten it with Kettle's version of Doritos in a zesty ranch varietal. A glutton's heaven.
posted by hugandpint at 6:53 PM on November 14, 2011

Naoko is right about the pronunciation: in MS, I've only heard "p'minna."
posted by cp311 at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2011

In Kentucky, we don't even bother with that first p. Just minner cheese.
posted by mrfuga0 at 7:41 PM on November 14, 2011

My family lives in Virginia, and my father regularly buys pimento cheese. (He grew up in California and spent much of his adult life in Ohio; I'll have to ask him where he was introduced to it.) It always feels like something special, I think because it's one of those things - like bacon and hot dogs - that my mother tries to keep out of the house for the sake of everyone's health. I enjoy it on crackers, but I usually can't have more than a few because it's so rich. I now look forward to making some myself this Thanksgiving; I imagine it'll be far better than the store-bought, especially with a little habanero sauce mixed in.

By the way, I've been reading Metafilter for probably seven or eight years, and somehow this post was the one that finally inspired me to get an account.
posted by espidre at 8:24 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]

This post (and everyone's links and information) is fantastic! I collect old magazines and cookbooks and have a blog and Flickr where I post all my scans. I literally JUST scanned an advertisement that I'll be uploading tonight for Kraft's pimiento cheese spread and was eyeing the pictures with some envy. I've never tasted pimiento cheese nor seen any in stores, but it sure sounds good... And then I find your post! Thank you for the enlightening!!
posted by Mael Oui at 8:27 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Welcome to Metafilter, espidre!
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 8:38 PM on November 14, 2011

I seem to recall this being a thing in Phoenix when I was growing up. Maybe not as many other places, but you could definitely buy it out of the deli cases at Basha's and AJ Bayless. Guess it was just one of those things that caught on when people moved to the Valley from all over, bringing their hometown recipes and ways with them. That, and deviled eggs, too. Because mayo-based products are just perfect for picnics in 110 degree heat.
posted by dantsea at 9:26 PM on November 14, 2011

They have spiceless shredded cheese and mayo in the UK.

I was leery of the "cheese food"orange glop I'd see in supermarkets, but like what I've had at Roadfood endorsed places in the south.
posted by brujita at 10:15 PM on November 14, 2011

P'minnuh cheeeez!!!!!
posted by mudpuppie at 10:23 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I haven't even thought of pimento cheese for nearly a decade, ever since I moved away from Memphis.

Now I want some so bad.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:44 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm going to my folks' place in Charlotte, NC, next week, and I guarantee there will be a tub of Ruth's pimento cheese waiting for me in Mom's refrigerator.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:02 AM on November 15, 2011

There's a trick with the cheese. You grate it while it's still cold from the fridge, but let it sit at room temp for half an hour or so before you mix it into the mayo and whatnot. Also, I make mine with real cheese (the Colman's mustard is an addition from the store where I get the cheese) now, but I grew up on government cheese. We used to pick up aluminum cans to get up enough change to buy Texas Toast, or as we called it "Fat White Toast."

You want to guess what the Fabulas had for dinner last night? Oh yeah, we had wilted greens with our grilled puh-minnah cheese sandwiches.
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 9:18 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Holeeee crap - gimme a tub of this stuff and a loaf of Mrs. Baird's Texas Toast white bread - it's gonna be a feast!

Ugh, this is probably the most homesick a comment has ever made me. I grew up on Mrs. Baird's in Amarillo, Texas and have spent the past year in the UK. Long live Mrs. Baird's!
posted by _superconductor at 9:53 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Awesome timing--I made it for the first time ever this weekend (I'm a transplanted Yank and wrinkled my nose when it dawned on me my foodie friends here were talking about that stuff that's bright orange that comes in jars back home, ha) and it was met with much approval (I add chipotle in adobo for more spice and smoke). It got scarfed up in no time and it's embarrassingly easy.
posted by ifjuly at 10:14 AM on November 15, 2011

And I knew it was no longer Kraft Foods monstrosity when one of the local 4-stars had it on their lunch menu and my very Southern yet hoity toity foodie pal (she also loves retro jello; she got me into tomato aspic and consomme) gleefully ordered it and sighed and groaned with joy over lunch, ha. It really was good. When done right, like so many things, it's wonderful even if it kinda defies explanation.
posted by ifjuly at 10:16 AM on November 15, 2011

I love pimento cheese, and I don't mind the store-brand stuff at all. I've only thought to have it on crackers. Talk about lack of imagination. Vaguely related: if you're ever in Kentucky, do yourself a favor and try beer cheese.
posted by Pope Xanax IV at 12:37 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I just made this, with 1 lb of old cheddar (grated in my food processor), 4 oz of pimientos, 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1 Tbsp keen's mustard powder. I had to use about 1/2 cup mayo because 1/3 just disappears into the mountain of cheese.

In the end it didn't resemble so much a spread as grated cheese glued together.

Some observations:
- the cheese and mustard are the main flavors here. Really spicy
- to save money I should've bought a large jar of "roasted red pepper" instead of expensive little 2 oz jars of pimiento
- it's super salty
- it is truly addictive
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 9:49 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

to save money I should've bought a large jar of "roasted red pepper" instead of expensive little 2 oz jars of pimiento

Pimentos for this are not roasted red peppers. They are pickled roasted red peppers, and it is different. A four ounce jar should have been at most, $1.79. Use the whole jar with the juice, then your mayo doesn't disappear.

I really don't think you're supposed to use a tablespoon full of dry mustard. I think they mean a tablespoon of prepared mustard whether it's Dijon or French's yellow. Somebody is having you on. Southerners do that, you know.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 12:07 PM on November 16, 2011

Pimentos for this are not roasted red peppers. They are pickled roasted red peppers, and it is different. A four ounce jar should have been at most, $1.79. Use the whole jar with the juice, then your mayo doesn't disappear.

I will definitely use the juice next time.

I shopped in a Safeway in Canada, which is an expensive set of places for food, and I think the 2 oz jar was like $3.09. I tasted a pepper and it wasn't salty or vinegary, but tasted like a sweeter roasted red pepper packed in water. Maybe I bought the wrong kind?

It looked like this. Ingredients: pimientos, water and trace of citric acid.

I really don't think you're supposed to use a tablespoon full of dry mustard. I think they mean a tablespoon of prepared mustard whether it's Dijon or French's yellow. Somebody is having you on. Southerners do that, you know.

It is really mustardy, but not so bad. You can blame cilantro above.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 12:17 PM on November 16, 2011

I grew up in the South, Southern California that is and we frequently had pimento cheese. I haven't thought of it in at least 20 years. I want some now and I highly doubt I can find it here in BC. *sulk*
posted by deborah at 8:07 PM on November 16, 2011

Indeed, Mom came through. That's some good stuff.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:40 AM on November 25, 2011

Made some for a potluck, but there doesn't seem to have been a run on it yet--darn the luck, I may have to take some home.
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:42 PM on November 27, 2011