Cheeseball Day celebrates these odd little culinary mainstays and encourages us to explore the history behind them and how they came to pass. Who knows, Cheeseball Day may find you creating your own cheeseballs and adding them to your everyday fare!
History of Cheeseball Day
The history of Cheeseball Day starts at an unusual point in history, when the first cheeseball appeared at perhaps the most unexpected place, the White House. You see there was a farmer by the name of Elisha Brown, Jr in 1801 who was seeking to present an unusual gift to then President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. So it was that an unbelievably massive ball of cheese wound up on the White House lawn. How massive? 1,235 pounds. Little wonder that it became known as “The Mammoth Cheese”.
From that point it disappeared into culinary history for nearly 150 years, surfacing in a book by Virginia Safford called Food of My Friends. In this book, a recipe was included for the Cheese Ball, and it wasn’t long after that it found itself a staple of cuisine. “Cuisine?” we hear you ask? That rather requires that there is more than one variation, doesn’t it? If you’re like most people, you’ve probably only seen the variety that’s rolled in toasted almonds. Believe it or not, there are hundreds of varieties of cheese balls available for every imaginable occasion!
Cheeseballs can be made of almost any kind of cheese, and rolled in almost anything you can imagine!
How to Celebrate Cheeseball Day
The best way to celebrate Cheeseball Day is simply to indulge in the delicious treat that is the cheeseball. Get your favorite dipping implement, whether that’s crackers, bread, or even bits of meat, and go to town! Or you can do some research and create your own culinary cheeseball creation and share it with everyone. Remember, little events like this are always popular at the office, and imagine how many types of cheeseball you’ll discover then! (Or… maybe you’ll just get a lot of almond covered ones)
- Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms. There are over 2000 varieties.
- Cheddar cheese is dyed orange to give it an appealing color. White cheddar is closer to its natural color.
- Cheese is one of the oldest foods in history, dating back 4000 years to the ancient Egyptians.
- Cheese takes up about 1/10 the volume of the milk it was made from.
- The terms “Big Wheel” and “Big Cheese” originally referred to those who were wealthy enough to purchase a whole wheel of cheese.
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