Corazon Pimento Cheese
As a Filipino kid, I remember enjoying plenty cheese pimiento sandwiches. I never really thought much about it other than it tasted great. A bunch of cheese, touch of sugar, some red stuff, and creamy mayonnaise all on squishy bread… what’s not to like?
Fast forward 20 years and I discovered the Southern delicacy that is pimento cheese. Carolina caviar. The caviar of the South. Southern pâté. Mike Ehrmantraut’s favorite sandwich. Pimento cheese is something that’s been in my life since childhood. All I had to do was switch the words around. It really is the perfect food.
That said, I am very particular about how to make pimento cheese. No lie, this is my best recipe.
Ingredients
Makes never enough
16 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese
16 oz. mild cheddar cheese
1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
8 oz. pimento peppers, diced
4 garlic cloves, microplaned
1 tsp. cayenne (optional)
shake of paprika
1. Using a box grater, grate the 2 blocks of cheese into a huge mixing bowl. Why should you grate your own cheese? Most importantly, it tastes better because it will be fresher and creamier. There are no preservatives or chemicals in a block of cheese. Pre-shredded cheese contains cellulose. An 8 oz. package of pre-shredded cheese is not 8 oz. of pure cheese. It is 8 oz. of some combination of cheese and cellulose. You do not want that. Anyways, next step…
2. Grate the garlic cloves using a microplane. If you don’t have a microplane, just mince the garlic very finely. Add it to the bowl.
3. Add the diced pimento peppers to the bowl. If you are using pimento peppers from a jar, feel free to dump the liquid into the bowl as well. It will add moisture, I guess.
4. Add the Duke’s mayonnaise. Duke’s is sugar free. There is a garbage mayonnaise that has sugar in it. I won’t name names, but it rhymes with Yellmann’s.* Duke’s is also made with a higher ratio of egg yolks which makes it richer and creamier than traditional mayonnaise.
5. Final step is to season the pimento cheese with cayenne and paprika. Your mileage on the cayenne will vary, so I would recommend to add it to taste on your first go round.
6. Combine everything together, folding several times with a spatula.
7. You can eat it right away, but pimento cheese really shines when it gets a chance to sit in the fridge and gel together.
Notes:
*It’s Hellmann’s. Hellmann’s is garbage mayonnaise.
Pimento cheese is incredibly versatile. You can eat it with chips as a dip. You can spread it on crackers. You can put it on squishy or toasted bread. You can melt it into a grilled cheese. You can use it for mac and cheese. You can add it to grits. You can top a burger with it. Do you have a food? Can it be stuffed? Pimento cheese.