Cheese and crackers, also known as cheese and biscuits in the UK, is a dish consisting of

cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

s paired with

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

. Historically the fare of sailors, soldiers, and pioneers, it had become a regular menu item in American restaurants and bars by the 1850s. Many types of cheeses are used, and it is often paired with wine. It may also be served with fruit products or preserves, or preserved meats, such as pepperoni or salami. Mass-produced cheese and crackers include

Handi-Snacks Cheese and crackers, also known as cheese and biscuits in the UK, is a dish consisting of crackers paired with cheese. Historically the fare of sailors, soldiers, and pioneers, it had become a regular menu item in American restaurants and bars ...

Ritz Ritz or The Ritz may refer to: Facilities and structures Hotels * The Ritz Hotel, London, a hotel in London, England * Hôtel Ritz Paris, a hotel in Paris, France * Hotel Ritz (Madrid), a hotel in Madrid, Spain * Hotel Ritz (Lisbon), a hotel in ...

Jatz Jatz is a brand of Malt, malted Australian cracker introduced by Arnott's Biscuits in 1952. The crackers are circular, about 5cm in diameter, lightly salted on one side and have a scalloped edge. It is typically eaten with cheese, dipping sauce, di ...

and Lunchables.

Overview

Cheese and crackers is a common

snack food A snack is a small portion of food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snack ...

or ''

hors d'oeuvre An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the m ...

'' consisting of

s paired with various

s. In the United States it has also been served as a dessert, with the addition of ingredients such as jam, jelly, marmalade or preserves. It is also commonly served at parties in the U.S., and in the Southern United States, it is relatively common for hot chili

pepper jelly Pepper jelly is a preserve made with peppers, sugar, and salt in a pectin or vinegar base. The product, which rose in popularity in the United States from the 1980s to mid-1990s, can be described as a piquant mix of sweetness and heat, and is us ...

to be served atop cream cheese and crackers at cocktail parties. Cheese and crackers has a relatively high amount of protein, per the cheese as an ingredient. Cheese and crackers is a common

food pairing Foodpairing, or the non-registered trademarked term food pairing, is a method for identifying which foods go well together from a flavor standpoint. The method is based on the principle that foods combine well with one another when they share ke ...

that can serve to complement various cheeses, and the dish can be paired with wines. The cheese can be sliced or cubed, and served separately with crackers or pre-placed atop the crackers.

History

Cheese with three crackers raphaelle peale

Cheese and crackers has been consumed by various sailors such as immigrants, whalers and explorers before refrigeration existed, using hardtack crackers and cheese. It has also been consumed by various land explorers.

United States

Cheese and crackers increased in popularity circa the 1850s, when bakers began producing thinner crackers with a lighter texture compared to hard tack. During this time period, the combination was placed on restaurant menus as an after-dessert course and was also served in saloons. Cheese and crackers was a

food ration Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

used by soldiers during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Some soldiers at the time referred to cheese and crackers as a "square meal". Cheese and hardtack was consumed along with dried venison meat by Ezra Meeker during his time on the Oregon Trail in 1852. In 1915, mountaineer Philip Rogers consumed cheese and hardtack along with raisins and nuts during his expedition around

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...

in Washington state. By the beginning of the 20th century, cheese and crackers was being prepared in homes and cooked by baking it and adding additional ingredients after cooking, such as paprika and mustard. At this time, the combination was sometimes served with soups and salads, and was used on salads for decades thereafter. It was also commonly served at parties beginning around this time. It was consumed as a dessert, rather than after-dessert by some during the

Great Depression in the United States In the United States, the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and then spread worldwide. The nadir came in 1931–1933, and recovery came in 1940. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high un ...

, and was sometimes consumed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House for dessert, along with other foods. Beginning in the 1950s, cheese and crackers was recommended as a snack for children by parenting experts, home economists and authors of cookbooks. Consumption of the snack increased during the mid-1980s when Oscar Mayer introduced its Lunchables product, which included cheese, crackers and lunch meat, and occurred in part to boost the company's lunch meat sales.

Mass production

* Handi-Snacks are a mass-produced cheese and crackers snack food that are prepared using processed cheese. * Lunchables is another commercial product that includes cheese and crackers as ingredients. * "Fancy cheese and crackers" was a cheese and crackers lunch product purveyed by Oscar Mayer in the mid-1980s that included additional foods such as lunch meat and a dessert.

In language

The term "cheese and crackers" was used as a

minced oath A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh" ...

in the United States in the 1920s (from " Jesus Christ!"), and as a slang term for testicles in the United Kingdom circa the late 1990s. It was the catchphrase of the

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

comic Billy Hagan.

References

External links

7 Spins on Cheese and Crackers
Food Network Appetizers Cheese dishes Food combinations