4 ms·

Well of course not, but at some point it became an icon. Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry... Of course cheese wi

Well of course not, but at some point it became an icon. Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry... Of course cheese with holes in it isn't the only type of cheese they make

dylan604 1y ago
I'd rather be known for Swiss cheese than American cheese. At least Swiss is actually cheese and not a cheese product. American cheese is nasty. It baffles me people not only eat it, but also like it
- gerdesj 1y ago
  There are largely three types of cheese in the US: Swiss, American and Cheddar. I live near to Cheddar (Somerset, UK) but I'm not going to get too outraged. All countries, without exception, do something unpleasant to an ingredient or dish that the rest of the world will cry foul over. It is the way of things.
  - maxerickson 1y ago
    Did you form this picture of US cheese after visiting a hot dog cart?
    - selectodude 1y ago
      Few things are more popular among Europeans than making up ignorant nonsense about how dumb and backwards Americans are.
      - tomnipotent 1y ago
        My favorite is that we don't have bakeries or endless varieties of fresh bread.
        JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        Americans are richer per capita than Europeans. Particularly when it comes to disposable purchasing power in a foreign country. A lot of European stereotypes about America are filtered through both tourist traps and cost constraints. (For a similar effect in respect of Europe, see the median Russian tourist summarizing Western Europe.)
        elzbardico 11mo ago
        Switzerland and Norway usually have a higher per capita gdp than the US. Most Western European countries are not so dramatically behind the US. But on the other hand, European countries have far less income inequality than the US, and less poverty. Then, not everything is about money. Culture matters a lot when it comes to food.
        JumpCrisscross 11mo ago
        > Switzerland and Norway usually have a higher per capita gdp than the US And strong currencies. You don’t get this bias in either, generally. > on the other hand, European countries have far less income inequality than the US, and less poverty Irrelevant. I’m not saying one is superior to the other. Just that the median European tourist probably isn’t experiencing any American city or town like the median American who lives there. This is partly due to tourist effects. But it’s also due to cost. After GDP/capita differentials and FX effects, you’re comparing drastically different worlds. (Same for Americans traveling to Europe and, outside a few pricy capitals, generally finding a cheap, luxurious holiday.)
        tick_tock_tick 11mo ago
        > Switzerland and Norway usually have a higher per capita gdp than the US. But lower median disposable income. Europe mostly just poor.
  - tomnipotent 1y ago
    Processed cheese is ~20% of the US market, and Swiss cheese is less than 3%. Mozzarella by itself is something like 30%.
  - electroglyph 1y ago
    hey, you forgot #4 and #5: queso fresco and cotija in the southwest. we also import and make plenty of other good cheeses =)
  - eru 1y ago
    I'm always somewhat amused that British supermarkets seem to have a cheese section and right next to it a Cheddar section. (Ie Cheddars take up as much space as all the other kinds of cheeses combined.)
    - gerdesj 1y ago
      Are you sure? I live within 1 mile of Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl (OK) and within say five miles of a lot more supermarkets and all the cheeses are mixed up somewhat across the aisles. I will have to stray to Sherborne or Crewkerne for the really exotic mob (Waitrose). I'm quite partial to Somerset brie and I'm putting my head up over the parapet here 8)
      - eru 1y ago
        Well, I mostly lived in the UK in the 2010s. Perhaps things have changed in the meantime?
  - dragonwriter 11mo ago
    > There are largely three types of cheese in the US: Swiss, American and Cheddar. All sources I can find have cheddar #1 and mozzarella either #2 or #3 (with cream cheese #2 when moz is #3) in the US. American is behind them and Swiss is way back behind a bunch of other things including Jack and various blends. Swiss/American/Cheddar might be the big three for a particular sandwich shop, but...
- _2d30 1y ago
  American cheese is just cheese with an emulsifier, sodium citrate, added that makes it so that it doesn’t break when melted. At most it adds a slight amount of acidity and makes for a very attractive melting property. There’s not really anything disgusting about it for most people because most people find its melting properties to be a positive. Hating American cheese is an affect people adopt for the same reason people adopt an affect of hating mayo: certain cultural elements tell them to.
  - bobthepanda 1y ago
    The technical definition of American cheese is that. In practice, unless you are going to look specifically for it, Kraft, Velveeta et. al. are more than happy to sell you "American cheese product" which does not meet FDA standards for labeling for American cheese, and in practice a lot of people criticizing American cheese are actually criticizing cheese product, which is what is super easy to find both in American supermarkets and abroad. Europeans also generally take offense at some of the stuff in American supermarkets that has implied labeling like European cheese, like the powdered Kraft Parmesan.
    - pests 11mo ago
      Unless you are buying the absolute cheapest package of cheese slices it will still be real cheese. I'm not even sure if I've ever even seen a Kraft or Valveeta sliced cheese product, only lesser no-name brands. I've been am American all my life and do not buy process cheese product as it does take like plastic, but actual American cheese is delicious on burgers and grilled cheeses and a few other select meals. What's crazy is Europe allowing 5% non-milk-fat/vegetable fat products to be called "ice cream". Thankfully in America it has to be 10% milkfat at least.
      - bobthepanda 11mo ago
        The hero image for Kraft Singles on Wikipedia clearly states “Pasteurized prepared cheese product” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kraft_Singles.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kraft_Singles.jpg It is a sleight of hand that it says American, but it specifically does not say American cheese as a single phrase.
- 542458 1y ago
  Not all American cheese is “cheese product”. American cheese is, broadly speaking, “normal” cheese blended with emulsifiers and additives. The deli-style ones have minimal additives and are still legally real cheese.
alkonaut 11mo ago
> Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry... Amusingly, the danish pastry would be called "wienerbrød" meaning: bread from Vienna. like the Viennese only made one type of pastry... Luckily, the Viennese don't call it something-from-somewhere, so the chain ends at 3. I wonder if there is a 4-chain of terms anywhere.
- matttproud 11mo ago
  Another similar naming rabbit hole (hyper-local to Switzerland): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanisch_Brötli https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanisch_Brötli.

dylan604 1y ago

I'd rather be known for Swiss cheese than American cheese. At least Swiss is actually cheese and not a cheese product. American cheese is nasty. It baffles me people not only eat it, but also like it

gerdesj 1y ago
There are largely three types of cheese in the US: Swiss, American and Cheddar. I live near to Cheddar (Somerset, UK) but I'm not going to get too outraged. All countries, without exception, do something unpleasant to an ingredient or dish that the rest of the world will cry foul over. It is the way of things.
- maxerickson 1y ago
  Did you form this picture of US cheese after visiting a hot dog cart?
  - selectodude 1y ago
    Few things are more popular among Europeans than making up ignorant nonsense about how dumb and backwards Americans are.
    - tomnipotent 1y ago
      My favorite is that we don't have bakeries or endless varieties of fresh bread.
      - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        Americans are richer per capita than Europeans. Particularly when it comes to disposable purchasing power in a foreign country. A lot of European stereotypes about America are filtered through both tourist traps and cost constraints. (For a similar effect in respect of Europe, see the median Russian tourist summarizing Western Europe.)
        elzbardico 11mo ago
        Switzerland and Norway usually have a higher per capita gdp than the US. Most Western European countries are not so dramatically behind the US. But on the other hand, European countries have far less income inequality than the US, and less poverty. Then, not everything is about money. Culture matters a lot when it comes to food.
        JumpCrisscross 11mo ago
        > Switzerland and Norway usually have a higher per capita gdp than the US And strong currencies. You don’t get this bias in either, generally. > on the other hand, European countries have far less income inequality than the US, and less poverty Irrelevant. I’m not saying one is superior to the other. Just that the median European tourist probably isn’t experiencing any American city or town like the median American who lives there. This is partly due to tourist effects. But it’s also due to cost. After GDP/capita differentials and FX effects, you’re comparing drastically different worlds. (Same for Americans traveling to Europe and, outside a few pricy capitals, generally finding a cheap, luxurious holiday.)
        tick_tock_tick 11mo ago
        > Switzerland and Norway usually have a higher per capita gdp than the US. But lower median disposable income. Europe mostly just poor.
- tomnipotent 1y ago
  Processed cheese is ~20% of the US market, and Swiss cheese is less than 3%. Mozzarella by itself is something like 30%.
- electroglyph 1y ago
  hey, you forgot #4 and #5: queso fresco and cotija in the southwest. we also import and make plenty of other good cheeses =)
- eru 1y ago
  I'm always somewhat amused that British supermarkets seem to have a cheese section and right next to it a Cheddar section. (Ie Cheddars take up as much space as all the other kinds of cheeses combined.)
  - gerdesj 1y ago
    Are you sure? I live within 1 mile of Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl (OK) and within say five miles of a lot more supermarkets and all the cheeses are mixed up somewhat across the aisles. I will have to stray to Sherborne or Crewkerne for the really exotic mob (Waitrose). I'm quite partial to Somerset brie and I'm putting my head up over the parapet here 8)
    - eru 1y ago
      Well, I mostly lived in the UK in the 2010s. Perhaps things have changed in the meantime?
- dragonwriter 11mo ago
  > There are largely three types of cheese in the US: Swiss, American and Cheddar. All sources I can find have cheddar #1 and mozzarella either #2 or #3 (with cream cheese #2 when moz is #3) in the US. American is behind them and Swiss is way back behind a bunch of other things including Jack and various blends. Swiss/American/Cheddar might be the big three for a particular sandwich shop, but...
_2d30 1y ago
American cheese is just cheese with an emulsifier, sodium citrate, added that makes it so that it doesn’t break when melted. At most it adds a slight amount of acidity and makes for a very attractive melting property. There’s not really anything disgusting about it for most people because most people find its melting properties to be a positive. Hating American cheese is an affect people adopt for the same reason people adopt an affect of hating mayo: certain cultural elements tell them to.
- bobthepanda 1y ago
  The technical definition of American cheese is that. In practice, unless you are going to look specifically for it, Kraft, Velveeta et. al. are more than happy to sell you "American cheese product" which does not meet FDA standards for labeling for American cheese, and in practice a lot of people criticizing American cheese are actually criticizing cheese product, which is what is super easy to find both in American supermarkets and abroad. Europeans also generally take offense at some of the stuff in American supermarkets that has implied labeling like European cheese, like the powdered Kraft Parmesan.
  - pests 11mo ago
    Unless you are buying the absolute cheapest package of cheese slices it will still be real cheese. I'm not even sure if I've ever even seen a Kraft or Valveeta sliced cheese product, only lesser no-name brands. I've been am American all my life and do not buy process cheese product as it does take like plastic, but actual American cheese is delicious on burgers and grilled cheeses and a few other select meals. What's crazy is Europe allowing 5% non-milk-fat/vegetable fat products to be called "ice cream". Thankfully in America it has to be 10% milkfat at least.
    - bobthepanda 11mo ago
      The hero image for Kraft Singles on Wikipedia clearly states “Pasteurized prepared cheese product” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kraft_Singles.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kraft_Singles.jpg It is a sleight of hand that it says American, but it specifically does not say American cheese as a single phrase.
542458 1y ago
Not all American cheese is “cheese product”. American cheese is, broadly speaking, “normal” cheese blended with emulsifiers and additives. The deli-style ones have minimal additives and are still legally real cheese.

alkonaut 11mo ago

> Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry... Amusingly, the danish pastry would be called "wienerbrød" meaning: bread from Vienna. like the Viennese only made one type of pastry... Luckily, the Viennese don't call it something-from-somewhere, so the chain ends at 3. I wonder if there is a 4-chain of terms anywhere.

matttproud 11mo ago
Another similar naming rabbit hole (hyper-local to Switzerland): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanisch_Brötli https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanisch_Brötli.