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BIG (like Americans) IF TRUE (thelemmy.club)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/2northamerican4you@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

True, there really are a lot of people making proper cheese in the US. Wisconsin has a large amount of Dutch-style cheese production (stemming from Dutch immigrants). There's plenty of French ("mold cheese" like camemberts) and Italian style fresh (ricotta, mozzarella) cheese producers. Probably proper British cheddar producers as well.

So yes. Tons of proper cheese being made in the US, all [insert country]-style cheeses though.

But what exactly is "American cheese" then? I'd say this can only refer to this plastic crap. The US exported this yellow dyed cheap plastic curdled milk through McDonald's, then the rest of the world started making "American style cheese" because it is cheap to produce and has a long shelf life.

I would genuinely be interested to hear if there's any exceptions? Are there any actual cheese making processes that were invented in the US that are not a derivative of immigrant cheese-making?

Any Native American (buffalo?) cheeses maybe?

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    American Cheese is made with Sodium Citrate which is totally fine to eat. It's an emulsifying salt commonly used in molecular gastronomy... It's not plastic. American cheese has its uses like someone else said. It's literally just other cheeses like cheddar or Colby, melted in milk and emulsified with the sodium citrate. What is so bad about cheap cheese that has a long shelf life? Not everyone can afford to eat the fancy mountain-cave aged Swiss alp cheese.

    Besides... People have been making cheeses for thousands of years, like how many more different ways to make it can we come up with? It's all the same basic ingredients at the end of the day. There are only so many permutations someone can come up with. The rest of the world kinda had a head start.

    Also I just thought of another American cheese invention. How about cream cheese? Do you hate that too?

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

    "It's literally just other cheeses molten in milk and emulsified." That's solidified cheese sauce and still made from [insert country]-style cheeses. The "making cheese of milk", the proces that produces actual cheese and flavour, already happened.

    I don't even hate it, I like it on a burger or in Mac and cheese. It's just not really cheese, and not really American. My question was, is there an actual American cheese?

    The cream cheese is a nice one! I'm genuinely into cheeses and wondering what type of actual American cheeses there are.

    Also, I find this a really funny analogy for USA culture in general.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago* (1 child)

    But what exactly is “American cheese” then? I’d say this can only refer to this plastic crap. The US exported this yellow dyed cheap plastic curdled milk through McDonald’s

    Pretty sure it got popularized by being distributed to the troops in WWI (and then even more in WWII), not with McDonald's.

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