National String Cheese Day

National String Cheese Day (sometimes called National Cheese String Day) is celebrated on September 20th in the United States.

String cheese is a type of cheese where the manufacturing process causes the cheese to become stringy. Mozzarella cheese commonly becomes stringy when heated. In the United States, string cheese is used to refer to cylindrical pieces of cheese, called "cheese sticks," usually either mozzarella or a combination of that cheese and cheddar. String cheese can be eaten by pulling "strings" of the cheese off the cylinder, and it is commonly eaten as a snack food.

This day was apparently founded by Galbani Cheese back in 2017.

Image: Chris Hsia from United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

National Queso Day

Wackyrussell at English Wikipedia / Public domain

September 20th is National Queso Day in the United States.

Queso is Spanish for cheese but in this case it's an abbreviation for chile con queso, rather than celebrating cheese itself. Chile con queso means chili with cheese and is a cheese dip that is part of Tex-Mex cuisine. It is derived from Queso chihuahua and Queso flameado from the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

Chili con queso is a creamy sauce that is used for dipping. It's made from a blend of melted cheeses, chili peppers and cream and its most basic, but it can have other ingredients added too. The dish is served warm and, most commonly with tortilla chips, pita chips or tortillas. It is also used to top many other Tex-Mex dishes, including tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas and migas.

National Wine and Cheese Day

July 25th is National Wine and Cheese Day in the United States.

Cheese and wine are a very common combination, though different countries have different ways of eating it. For example, in Britain a cheeseboard would follow dessert and the wine served would be a sweet one like Port. In France, the cheeseboard is consumed before dessert, with a red wine. In each case, there would be a number of different cheeses used, normally of contrasting types, together with other accompaniments such as crackers, grapes and nuts.

Cheese and wine don’t have to be served as part of a meal, though. They are often served together, with the cheese and wine being the sole things served, together with the aforementioned accompaniments. Such a serving is more likely to happen at a social occasion.

Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Cheese%2C_wine_and_bread_in_a_sidewalk_cafe_in_Paris%2C_June_2015.jpg

American Cheese Month

Amin [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

October is American Cheese Month in the United States.

American cheese is not cheese of any sort that is simply made in America. Instead, it is a specific type of processed cheese. By legal definition, for a cheese to be called American cheese, it must be processed from cheddar cheese, colby cheese, granular cheese, washed curd cheese or a combination of two or more of those. American cheese has a low melting point and, although it is available in blocks, like more traditional cheeses, it is also commonly available in slices, either in stacks or individually wrapped. These slices of American cheese are the type that are found in the typical cheeseburger; the low melting point means that the cheese will typically melt simply from contact with the burger. Like most processed foods, American cheese is perhaps not as healthy as its more traditional cousins.

National Moldy Cheese Day

October 9th is National Moldy Cheese Day.

Now, this is one day that could probably have been better named. Calling it mouldy cheese just isn't that appealing, even if it is accurate.

The reason it's accurate is because an awful lot of cheeses have mould in them. These moulds are deliberately added to the cheese, either before or after the cheese itself is aged. Originally, these moulds were present in the aging room, but with modern cheeses they are added from previously prepared cultures. Using these cultures means that the end result is more consistent.

The most distinctive mouldy cheeses are the blue cheeses, but mould is present in others, even if it isn't noticeable, as some moulds may be the same colour as the cheese. In a blue cheese, distinctive veins of mould pattern the cheese, and tend to give it a stronger taste. The effect on the flavour of the cheese does vary, but most blues are quite strong.

Stilton cheese, which should properly be referred to as Blue Stilton, as there is also a white variety, is a well known mouldy cheese and has a protected designation of origin, meaning that cheese called that may only be produced in the English counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The distinctive blue veins in Blue Stilton are caused by the crust of the cheese being pierced with needles, which allows air to enter.

Mouldy Cheese Day

October 8th is Mouldy Cheese Day in the United States.

This doesn't sound the best day to celebrate; however, it isn't celebrating cheese that has gone mouldy in the fridge. Mould can be important in the cheese-making process, but cheese that has gone off is another thing entirely.

This day is instead celebrating cheese that is distinctively and intentionally mouldy, most of which is known as blue cheese.

The term blue cheese is a generic name for what is actually a wide range of different cheeses that are made with cow's, goat's and sheep's milk. Blue cheese has had a mold culture, Penicillium, introduced so that it ends up with a distinctive mottled or veined appearance.

Whilst it varies from cheese to cheese, blue cheese tends to have a strong taste and smell. Some of the more well known blues around are Stilton, Danish Blue, Gorgonzola and Roquefort, but it is possible to convert many base cheeses into blues by adding mould to them when they are made.

National Cheese Pizza Day

September 5th in the United States is National Cheese Pizza Day.

What is a cheese pizza? Well, it could be interpreted as being any pizza, of whatever type - calzone, deep pan or thin and crispy, for example - that has cheese on it. Which, seeing as cheese is one of most common pizza ingredients, would actually be most of them. Mozzarella is the standard, traditional pizza cheese, with buffalo mozzarella being found on the best.

Alternatively, it could be a pizza where cheese is the most important, or practically sole (except for herbs and the tomato based pizza topping) ingredient. One of the traditional cheese pizzas, and one of the oldest pizzas referred to as such is the Margherita, which is made with mozzarella, tomato, basil and extra virgin olive oil. Although the latter two ingredients will often be left out, even though they are still typically called Margheritas.

Other cheese pizzas would have multiple different cheeses on them, such as three and four cheese (or even more) pizzas. These are definitely for the cheese lover. Cheddar cheese is a popular cheese type found on multiple cheese pizzas, as it has a good taste and melts well in cooking.

National Welsh Rarebit Day

September 3rd is National Welsh Rarebit Day.

Also, and possibly more correctly, known as Welsh rabbit, this dish is possibly not Welsh (welsh was a word used to mean foreigner), and certainly doesn't contain rabbit. Welsh rabbit was the earliest known term for this dish, dating back to the early 18th century, which was later corrupted to rarebit. Although it may not have originally been a Welsh dish, and another reason it may have got that name was because of the linking of Wales with cheese, there is also evidence of there being English, Scotch and Irish rabbits too.

This dish is basically cheese on toast. In its most common variants, a piece of toast is covered with a sauce made from melted cheese. The cheese, in the UK at least, is typically Cheddar (which is a good cheese for melting), and other ingredients are added to it. Some common ones are mustard and Worcestershire sauce, and there are also various boozy Welsh rarebit variations in which alcohol, such as beer or ale, or possibly cider, are also added. Where it differs from normal cheese on toast is that the cheese is typically made into a sauce, whilst in the normal version it is sliced and placed on top of the toast, and then melted.

Another variant is the buck rabbit, which is Welsh rarebit served with an egg on top.

National Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day

July 29th is National Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day in the United States.

If you find the name of this day a little confusing, do not worry. You are not alone in this.

There is general agreement that July 29th is Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day. What no-one seems to know for certain is just what this day is celebrating.

A fairly plausible explanation is that this is the day that cheese is purchased to be used to bait a mousetrap, which is where the sacrifice part of the name comes in.

Other than that, it's rather hard to see how you could sacrifice a piece of cheese - at least sensibly; it's possible it's one of the bizarre old customs that have made their way down through the centuries.

Perhaps another way of sacrificing some cheese is to simply eat a bit of it.

National Cheese Day

June 4th is National Cheese Day in the United States.

Derived from milk, cheese is an incredibly versatile and diverse form of food that is found all over the world. There are many hundreds, if not thousands, of different cheese types available, with variations constantly being created. Different cheeses can have different textures, range from soft and spreadable to quite hard, and have different tastes. Other ingredients can also be added to cheese, such as fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices and other, more unusual items, such as alcohol, flowers and toffee.

Mould is also commonly added to cheese, creating cheeses such as the distinctive, and quite often strongly flavoured, blues. Cow's milk is most commonly used when making cheese, but goat, sheep and buffalo are also used. Different cheeses can be used in sweet and savoury dishes - soft cheeses are quite commonly used in sweet items, such as cheesecake, but they can still be used in savoury ones too. Cheese making dates back to at least 8,000 BC, but it is not known where it originally came from.

National Cheese Soufflé Day

National Cheese Soufflé Day is on May 18th in the United States.

Soufflés are lightly baked cakes that can be either sweet or savoury, depending on what ingredients are used. The name derives from a French word and means "to blow up" which refers to how the dish should come out of the oven.

Egg whites, which have beaten to what is known as soft peak meringue, and a cream sauce or purée, such as crème pâtissière or something with that flavour, are the base ingredients in soufflés. When a soufflé comes out of the oven, it should be all puffed up, but it will quickly collapse in a matter of minutes after being cooked, so it has to be served and eaten straight away, rather than being saved for later use.

This soufflé is, at least usually, a savoury dish, as it has cheese added to the ingredients (there are some sweet cheese dishes, but soufflé would not normally be ones of them).

National Cheese Ball Day

April 17th is National Cheese Ball Day in the United States.

This is an American dish that is commonly served during the Christmas period. Which makes April an odd time to be celebrating it.

The ball is made from cheese spread and, as can be guessed from the name, it's made into a ball.

Many different cheeses can be used, as long as they are soft - although some cheese balls are made from multiple types of cheeses, including ones that aren't soft.

Many soft or cream cheeses can be used in both sweet or savoury dishes, depending on what other ingredients they are combined with. Consequently, cheese balls can also be sweet or savoury, simply by altering what the cheese is combined with. The balls can be coated with the other ingredients.

In 1800, the town of Cheshire, Massachusetts, was the only town in Berkshire County that supported Thomas Jefferson. On his victory Cheshire, being a cheese making town like its namesake county in the UK, made a celebratory cheese ball weighing 1,235 pounds from cheese curds from every farmer in town.

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day is on April 12th in the United States.

This is a variant on the standard cheese sandwich, which consists of cheese, of whatever type desired, between two slices of bread, possibly with the addition of a spread of some type. The difference is, in this case, the sandwich has been cooked.

The concept of cooking cheese sandwiches has been around for years, and in many different cultures. It is also known as the toasted sandwich or toastie. Once the sandwich is made, it would then be placed under the grill, so that the bread toasts and the cheese melts (some cheeses are better suited for melting than others). Alternatively, the sandwich could be heated on a griddle or in a frying pan, and would be flipped partway through cooking. Today, appliances designed to cook sandwiches like this can also be bought. The trick is to cook the sandwich evenly without burning the bread.

As well as the cheese, and possibly a spread, other ingredients may also be added to the sandwich. Ham is popular, but vegetables, especially onions, may also be included.

National Cheese Fondue Day

April 11th is National Cheese Fondue Day in the United States.

Although the name fondue is now used to refer to a variety of different related dishes, such as chocolate fondue, or anything else which involves food being dipped into hot liquids, the original fondue was the cheese fondue. The name fondue comes from the French word meaning "to melt." The dish is quite an old one, dating back to the turn of the 18th century, but it became really popular in the middle of the 20th century.

Cheese fondue is a dish of Swiss, Italian and French origin. A cheese sauce is melted into a communal pot, and then kept liquid by a small, portable heat source, such as a stove, that is placed under the pot when it is served on a table.

Long forks are used to dip small pieces of food, such as vegetables, meat and toasted bread into the cheese. Different types of cheese may be used, and other ingredients are added as well, with their being different variations on the cheese fondue.

National Cheese Lover's Day

January 20th is National Cheese Lover's Day in the United States.

Not so much celebrating cheese, as those who love it. Admittedly, it's hard to do that without actually celebrating the cheese itself.

Cheese is a product that is made from milk, and there are many different types of milk that can be used to make cheese, although cow's milk is generally the most common. The other main milk types are goat, sheep and buffalo.

Cheese is an old food, dating back to at least 5500 BC, and possibly being even older, as this is simply the date of the oldest cheese making equipment that has been found. It's believed that cheese manufacture could date back to 8000 BC. Cheese, especially those that have a hard rind (or wax in some modern cases), can have a very long shelf life, with hard cheeses generally lasting the longest. This makes cheese a useful prepared food that can be stored until consumption, an important element in earlier civilisation.

Just as there are different types of milk used to make cheese, there are different types of cheese. there are hard cheeses, and soft cheeses, and cheeses at various steps in between the two. Cheese are used in both savoury and sweet dishes, cheesecakes being one of the most common of the latter (soft cheese are most commonly used in sweet dishes), although not every type of cheese is suited for sweet dishes. Other ingredients are also added to cheese, such as fruit, herbs and spices, with one of the most common being mould, which creates mouldy, or blue, cheese. Some cheese are also smoked.