Fast Break: Pimento Cheese

I love cheese. It’s one of my most charming traits, I’d like to think. Gouda, manchego, ricotta, aged cheddar…you name it, I probably love it. But the new Low Country Benedict and the Bacon Pimento Cheeseburger, two of our winter menu items, are graced with pimento cheese. What is that? It’s delicious, that’s for sure.
How had I never heard about it before? I felt I had betrayed my inner cheese-loving self, so I did some digging.
Pimento Cheese, or the “pate of the South,” actually originated up north in New York during the Industrial Revolution. American Neufchâtel (cream cheese) and the canned Spanish sweet peppers pimientos were perfect for a new mass-produced food item. The Spanish ‘pimientos’ lost the ‘i,’ became ‘pimento,’ and a new cheese was born in the food factories.
The cheese worked its way into the bellies and hearts of Southern United States and became a staple on their tables. Now pimento cheese is usually made with sharp cheddar cheese, pimento peppers, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise. And the best is made-from-scratch (of course). Although it is still a very Southern delicacy, it doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t enjoy it.
It’s a cheese that defines “comfort food,” which is why it graces our menu this winter. Try the Low Country Benedict (buttermilk biscuits, pimento cheese, and hand-breaded fried chicken, topped off with two poached eggs & sausage gravy) or the Bacon Pimento Cheeseburger (pimento cheese and candied bacon) to get a taste of our own twist on homemade pimento cheese. We’re stepping deeper intro tradition as we bundle up against the cold.
 

–Anna Hetzel, Social Media Manager