A cheese ball is an American

hors d'oeuvre An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer 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 meal, or ...

that is a type of

cheese spread Cheese spread is a soft spread (food), spreadable cheese or processed cheese product. Various additional ingredients are sometimes used, such as multiple cheeses, fruits, vegetables and meats, and many types of cheese spreads exist. Pasteurized p ...

. It first appeared in the 1940s, fell out of fashion, and then had a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century.

Ingredients, preparation and serving

The cheese ball is typically made from grated

hard cheese There are many different types of cheese, which can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as: length of fermentation, texture, production method, fat content, animal source of the milk, and country or region of origin. These criter ...

and softened

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...

, sometimes with some sort of binder such as mayonnaise; the mixture is shaped, chilled to resolidify, and often rolled in nuts, seeds, or herbs to provide a decorative finish. It is often served with crackers or crudites at holiday parties in the United States. Cheese balls are sometimes formed into wheels or logs rather than balls or shaped and decorated to represent a variety of items such as owls or pineapples.

Origins

The dish is representative of mid-20th century US cuisine. According to '' Splendid Table'' the first recipe appeared in a 1944 cookbook by Virginia Safford, a "wildly popular columnist" for the ''Minneapolis Star Journal''.

Popularity

The dish fell out of fashion for a period; by the late 1980s the term "cheeseball" was synonymous with "lacking style, taste, or originality". According to Amanda Hesser, writing for the ''New York Times'' in 2003, it "tend to be associated with shag rugs and tinsel, symbols of the middle-class

middlebrow The term middlebrow describes ''middlebrow art'', which is easily accessible art, usually popular literature, and ''middlebrow people'' who use the arts to acquire the social capital of "culture and class" and thus a good reputation. First used ...

". Kim Severson, writing for ''The New York Times'' in 2016, said it was "the culinary equivalent of a

Rorschach test The Rorschach test is a projective test, projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychology, psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists u ...

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series '' Strangers with Candy'' (1999–2000) and the prequel film '' Strangers with Candy'' (2005), wh ...

and her brother

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

wrote a play, ''The Book of Liz'', that focussed on cheese balls as a metaphor for "the cliches we all live by", according to

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher, and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 t ...

. She included a recipe in her 2006 cookbook, ''Hosting a Party Under the Influence'', and in 2007 made a version on the Martha Stewart Show, which according to Severson, "elevated cheese ball

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

to an art form". According to ''Splendid Table'''s Jennifer Russell, writing in 2014, "Sedaris may be singlehandedly responsible for the cheese ball's revival." In 2014 ''Culture'', an industry magazine, said "cheese balls are making their comeback". MplsStPaul Magazine called 2016 "the year of the cheese ball", calling the dish "the North’s answer to Southern

pimento cheese Pimento cheese (or pimiento cheese) is a spread typically made of cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos and is typically served on crackers and vegetables or in sandwiches. There are ingredient variations among family recipe, commercial recipe, and ...

References

{{Cheese dishes Cheese spreads Appetizers American cuisine Cheese dishes