the pimento cheese experience.

so i'm not usually one to really pine away for foods back home when i'm abroad -- when i was in siena, i was pretty happy with the food that was available to me and this time around in italy, not much has changed. i can't really complain when produce is dirt cheap and scrumptious pizza is a pretty regular occurrence.  oh, and have i mentioned that wine is legitimately cheaper than water? yeah. so what can i complain about, right? 

well at the beginning of the summer, i realized that pimento cheese was maybe the most delicious cracker spread EVER.  as the summer went on, i decided i wanted to make it myself, so this became my OIB kitchen project.  while i am usually kicked out of the kitchen during regular meal time, as there are almost always people around that are much more competent around the stove than myself, in the past i have been granted the role of "hors devours preparer."  this summer, in addition to my infamous guacamole, i was determined to create amazing pimento cheese. 

and then i did. just ask matt simons. and my mom. and my sister. and everyone else that ever tried it. it was amazing. 

and then i left for italy.

i haven't been doing much cooking because i've been so busy and i also have susie-homemaker for a roommate (thanks lizzy!) which means fresh-made bread all.the.time but when drunk plans were made for a party this weekend at the boss man's pad, it was time to begin the experiments! 

without cheddar cheese (and not being sure how easy it would be to find the remainder of the ingredients), i realized i would need at least one taste test. and this lovely monday afternoon was the time. 

i went to the store and spent more money than i have yet in one stop. bought four types of cheeses and all the other pertinent ingredients. 

from left to right we have: provolne piccante (spicy provolone), gouda tedesco (gouda), latteria friuli (a soft, local, mild cheese), and graziola - pecorino sardo dolce (a piu' gustoso -- more flavorful? -- cheese from toscano). 

step 1: all of the grating. this was time-consuming. i was very careful to keep everything about all of the cheeses separate. i did not want to contaminate the results -- washing the cheese grater after each cheese was the most annoying task. 

step 2: add mayo

step 3: pimentos! 

step 4: add the spices! the only thing that was different from how i make it in the states is that i was unable to find dried mustard, so i used regular mustard spread

and the resulting consumption chaos. (wine was used as our palate cleanser, naturally, and kristin made "italian" deviled eggs at the same time -- they were also incredible, involving tabasco, garlic, rosmary, and other amazing ingredients.)

the results: 

well, i had many volunteers for taste judge.  however, none of my judges had ever had pimento cheese in the states, so this became less of a test for "which was the most accurate recipe?" and more of "which was the most delicious?"

what we found: the provolone piccante was the most similar to cheddar. the same texture cheese and it also had the best "kick" to it (i was unable to find jalepenos to add to it, so it was lacking in "kick").  the gouda was the second favorite but it wasn't as spicy (these were also first and second in order of similarity to pimento cheese in the states).  the latteria tasted too much like the mayo and spices, the cheese was too mild. and then the pecorino was too strong, tasted too much like delicious stinky cheese. 

but the REAL results came when we all got crazy and started mixing them all together.  all of them were even better when mixed with another one of the mixtures. but the final favorite was the mixture of the gouda and provolone piccante!! 

so that was dinner tonight. multiple variations of pimento cheese and italian-style deviled eggs and just the right amount of red wine. not too bad, not too bad. 

now, if i could only get a recipe for house dressing..... oh take it away, i really do miss you. 

xo