14 votes

What is American cheese, anyway?

4 comments

  1. clerical_terrors
    Link
    In my experience a lot of commercially available Gouda in France isn't even that strong when melted, but it's also not very good Gouda, usually.

    Like Gouda, but Gouda is actually pretty strong when melted

    In my experience a lot of commercially available Gouda in France isn't even that strong when melted, but it's also not very good Gouda, usually.

    4 votes
  2. [3]
    clerical_terrors
    Link
    Maybe I'm alone in this but I feel as though performative disdain of American cheese (don't tell me it's real, I know y'all eat cheap burgers too) isn't just about snobbery, but also about...

    And to all you cheese snobs out there, let's cut a deal, okay? You stop telling me what fancy-pants cheese to put on top of my cheeseburger, and I won't ask you to put American Singles on your cheese plate.

    Maybe I'm alone in this but I feel as though performative disdain of American cheese (don't tell me it's real, I know y'all eat cheap burgers too) isn't just about snobbery, but also about surreptitiously "fighting back" against the utter dominance of American cheese, and American culture at large.

    But there's definitely a good degree of snobbery in there.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      Adys
      Link Parent
      Hmpf, I'm French and I am really into cheese (it's, like, the law over here). But I don't mind american cheese. Obviously I wouldn't eat it on bread but I wouldn't eat Feta cheese with bread...

      Hmpf, I'm French and I am really into cheese (it's, like, the law over here). But I don't mind american cheese. Obviously I wouldn't eat it on bread but I wouldn't eat Feta cheese with bread either. It melts pretty nicely.

      It's a cheese that's purely there for texture. Like Gouda, but Gouda is actually pretty strong when melted, whereas American cheese is extremely mild. That burger in the top picture looks really good to me.

      With that said, there's other cheeses which are really good on burgers, especially with higher quality meat. A good roquefort sauce, cut into the buns and inside the meat, oh man (Don't put onions on that!). Or some slices of mature goat cheese, slightly melted on top of the paddy with a slice of salad. Also fantastic on pizza.

      These are pretty strong cheeses that are flavor-defining, though.

      4 votes
      1. DadIsSnoring
        Link Parent
        If there could be something that tasted like a mild cheddar but melted like american on a burger, then that would be the way to go. Until then, American Cheese will have to do. I don't think...

        If there could be something that tasted like a mild cheddar but melted like american on a burger, then that would be the way to go. Until then, American Cheese will have to do.

        I don't think there's a better burger cheese. At least... not that I can get easily here in America.

        2 votes