Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese matters at every level of Dixie dining, from elegant ladies lunch to quick-eats drive-ins. Some of it is bland – little more than orange paste laced with bits of a red cherry pepper that delivers no heat and just a whisper of sweet flavor. On the other hand, cooks have spun the concept in all directions, making versions with different kinds of sharp cheddar and adding horseradish or olive bits or other more punchy peppers. Traditionally, it is served with crackers or crudités as an hors d’oeuvre and on sandwiches made with polite white bread. Golf fans from all over the country know about pimento cheese because it is the featured sandwich at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The late Dairy Bar of Columbia, South Carolina, claimed to have invented the pimento cheeseburger, which is now a popular alternative to regular cheeseburgers throughout much of the South.