notbob wrote:
> > wrote:
>
>> What exactly is it? Is it a processed cheese? We don't have anything up
>> here called American Cheese. We have Velveeta, and processed cheese slices,
>> but I don't think that's it. We have a good selection of other cheeses, but
>> I'm wondering if the equivilent is cheddar?? Thanks....Sharon in Canada
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cheese

Processed cheese slices is exactly what it is. I've seen Kraft cheese
slices in Canadian groceries in Ontario. It's not really surprising
that the word "American" isn't on the labels when it's in Canada.

Process cheese is real cheese. Crappy cheese but real nonetheless. It
comes in blocks in the US but I don't remember if I've seen it in blocks
in groceries in Ontario. While in Ontario groceries I'm typically
looking for some very good locally produced cheddars.

> Velveeta is.... actually, I have no clue WTF velveeta is. Apparently,
> a subspecies of American cheese:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velveeta

Legally Velveeta is "cheese food product" so it is not cheese. For
dieters where their diet lists cheese as an option that's important to
note - Velveeta does not count as cheese. It's not recipe-legal as a
cheese because it's not package-legal as a cheese according to the USDA.

So there's a spectrum. There's good cheese like double cream
glouchestershire cheddar. There's crappy cheese like American process
from several companies including Kraft. There's stuff so aweful they
can't legally call it cheese like Velveeta. It even goes beyond
Velveeta to Cheese Whizz.

I think Velveeta does have uses. It's good as long as I never think of
it as cheese or use it as a substitute for actual cheese. But in
recipes that are explicitly for Velveeta it has its place. It melts
well, dissolves in warm milk well. It works for recipes that read like
"combine a can of X with a package of Y" of the sort that many foodies
look down upon.

If you've ever been out exploring and you drove past a cheese ranch, now
you know what they feed those young cheese wheels rolling around in the
pastures. When they roll to the barn they ar efed "cheese food
product". ;^)