A cheese ball is an American hors d'oeuvre that is a type of cheese spread. It first appeared in the 1940s, fell out of fashion, and then had a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century.
A cheese ball is an American hors d'oeuvre that is a type of cheese spread. It first appeared in the 1940s, fell out of fashion, and then had a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century.
The cheese ball is typically made from grated hard cheese and softened cream cheese, 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. [1] [2] It is often served with crackers or crudites at holiday parties in the United States. [3] [4] [5]
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. [1] [6] [7]
The dish is representative of mid-20th century US cuisine. [8] According to Splendid Table the first recipe appeared in a 1944 cookbook by Virginia Safford, a "wildly popular columnist" for the Minneapolis Star Journal. [8] [9]
The dish fell out of fashion for a period; by the late 1980s the term "cheeseball" was synonymous with "lacking style, taste, or originality". [10] According to Amanda Hesser, writing for the New York Times in 2003, it "tend[s] to be associated with shag rugs and tinsel, symbols of the middle-class middlebrow". [2] Kim Severson, writing for The New York Times in 2016, said it was "the culinary equivalent of a Rorschach test". [7]
Amy Sedaris and her brother David wrote a play, The Book of Liz, that focuses on cheese balls as a metaphor for "the cliches we all live by", according to Ben Brantley. [7] [11] 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 to an art form". [12] [7] [13] According to Splendid Table's Jennifer Russell, writing in 2014, "Sedaris may be singlehandedly responsible for the cheese ball's revival." [8] In 2014 Culture, an industry magazine, said "cheese balls are making their comeback". [12] MplsStPaul Magazine called 2016 "the year of the cheese ball", calling the dish "the North’s answer to Southern pimento cheese". [7] [9]