Pimento cheese is a classic Southern dish — a staple of Sunday dinners, Saturday tailgate parties, and late-night snacking. But did you know that pimento cheese did not originate in the South? Salvation South editor Chuck Reece was as surprised to find this out as you probably are. He explains in this week's commentary. 

Pimento Cheese sandwich

Credit: Adobe Stock

TRANSCRIPT: 

Chuck Reece - Salvation South Editor: In any home that has deep roots in the South, pimento cheese is a thing.

It's a subject of great debate. It's an object of deep love. And it's the perfect topper for a saltine cracker. Even Wikipedia testifies to pimento cheese's deep ties to our region, noting that it has been referred to as the pate' of the South or Carolina Caviar. In the world of Southern food, pimento cheese is iconic. So, imagine my shock when Salvation South, the online magazine I edit, got its first story submission about pimento cheese which claimed that our beloved gooey spread did not originate in our region. There it was, in the second paragraph of the story we got from Sarah Brown, a writer from Mississippi: Pimento cheese comes from New York City.

There is proof positive, Sarah wrote, that this thing we all swear is a quintessential Southern food actually originated in New York City in the late 1800s. Of course, I had to check this out. And it turned out that Sarah was absolutely right. In the 1870s, New York farmers began making the soft and unripened cheese that eventually we all came to know as cream cheese. Simultaneously, Spanish food companies began exporting canned, roasted red peppers, pimentos, into the United States. Before long, these two foods were combined. And in 1908, Good Housekeeping magazine published a recipe for pimento cheese. But theirs was more complex than our current Southern version. When pimento cheese caught on down here, we simplified it, improved, made it our own.

Southern transplants often say, I wasn't born here, but I got here as quick as I could. Now, I suppose if pimento cheese could talk, it would say the same thing. The pimento cheese we make down here relies on three primary ingredients: sharp cheddar cheese, grated, mayonnaise and diced pimentos.

Here's how my wife, Stacy, makes it. She shreds a good-sized panel of sharp cheddar cheese. Then she opens her jar of roasted red peppers and chops up a healthy pile of those and drains them in the strainer. Then she combines the cheese and the drained peppers and adds mayonnaise until she gets the consistency right. Finally, she seasons with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder until it tastes right — maybe a little Tabasco for some kick. Just taste it every step until you get the flavor and consistency that you like.

Now, a batch of this makes one of the finest gifts you could possibly give to your neighbor or to your whole family. Come visit us at SalvationSouth.com.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and now on your favorite podcast platforms as well.