1
00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,360
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Foodstuff. I'm Any and I'm Lauren

2
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,080
Speaker 1: vocal bam, and this is the episode I've been so

3
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,880
Speaker 1: excited about. It's true, Lauren is very eager to talk

4
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,960
Speaker 1: about this one. I want you to pretend for a moment. Oh,

5
00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,680
Speaker 1: you don't know what today's topic is. Yeah, you haven't

6
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,560
Speaker 1: read the title or any kind of metadata description. Yeah,

7
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,960
Speaker 1: you don't know this is even a podcast about food.

8
00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,400
Speaker 1: And I just gave you this quote from an official

9
00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:40,800
Speaker 1: government document. What we're describing is a homogeneous plastic mass.

10
00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:46,440
Speaker 1: Would you think food? No, that's a very lot. I

11
00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,559
Speaker 1: like that you really considered. I really thought about it,

12
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,080
Speaker 1: and outside of having done this research, No, I would not. No,

13
00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:54,680
Speaker 1: I wouldn't either. And to be fair, the use of

14
00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:59,600
Speaker 1: plastic is because of today's topic, which is American cheese,

15
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:05,440
Speaker 1: specifically American or processed American cheese. Yeah, or processed cheese. Yeah,

16
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,680
Speaker 1: we're going to dig into all that, Yeah, totally in

17
00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,119
Speaker 1: a minute. But it's because of the plastic. When describing

18
00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,000
Speaker 1: that is more to the ease of moldibility and not

19
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,240
Speaker 1: actual flavor or any anything, and not because it's made

20
00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:22,320
Speaker 1: of plastic. Yes, yes, surprise, surprise, American cheese is not plastic.

21
00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,000
Speaker 1: Um extra credit listening or at the top is our

22
00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,320
Speaker 1: Cheddar Cheese episode. Yes, go check that out if you

23
00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:29,959
Speaker 1: would like a little bit more information. This is almost

24
00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,360
Speaker 1: sort of like a like a dream sequence pulled straight

25
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,640
Speaker 1: from that one. Yeah. I feel like it's in an

26
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 1: alternate timeline where we we went down the American cheese

27
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 1: door from the Cheddar Cheese episode. And I have to say, personally,

28
00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,080
Speaker 1: I know that American cheese makes most people think, I

29
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,720
Speaker 1: believe of their childhood. Oh yeah, it's a very nostalgic

30
00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,400
Speaker 1: food for me. Um My. My father, who I was

31
00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,080
Speaker 1: joking before the episode started. My father was a chef

32
00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,720
Speaker 1: who had like classical French training, but at home one

33
00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,760
Speaker 1: of his favorite meals was velvita mac and cheese stuff

34
00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,240
Speaker 1: and it is delicious. It doesn't really taste like food,

35
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,560
Speaker 1: but it's so good. It's just like salty and creamy

36
00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,959
Speaker 1: and um. I preferred the shells. I had a really

37
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,359
Speaker 1: strong preference. The flavor was better. Yeah, yeah, he would

38
00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,520
Speaker 1: he would have. We'd always have it with bertini. But anyway, Yeah,

39
00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,440
Speaker 1: but when I was a kid, I was a very

40
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 1: strange kid. I didn't like cheese. No, no no, no, I'm sorry.

41
00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,520
Speaker 1: I just I just gasped and realized it wasn't Velvita.

42
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,840
Speaker 1: It was Cheese Whiz in a Jar, which is essentially

43
00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:38,440
Speaker 1: the same project. But yeah, that was a very serious

44
00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,200
Speaker 1: moment for that was no. I felt so, I felt

45
00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:45,480
Speaker 1: like I misrepresented my father and my childhood and my

46
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,680
Speaker 1: brand loyalty. Oh, anything but that, anything, anything but that.

47
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,440
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I was saying I was a weird child

48
00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:57,560
Speaker 1: and I didn't like cheese. I ordered pizza without cheese. Um.

49
00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,560
Speaker 1: So I didn't like American cheese huh um. But when

50
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,400
Speaker 1: I got to college, that's when I like came around

51
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 1: to my love of cheese. And so American cheese for me,

52
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:08,840
Speaker 1: doesn't make me think of childhood. It makes me think

53
00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,320
Speaker 1: of college when I would be my dorm room freshman

54
00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,280
Speaker 1: year and I had i'm pretty sure illegal George Foreman grill,

55
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:17,920
Speaker 1: and I would just make those grilled cheese. Oh they're

56
00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,360
Speaker 1: so good with American cheese. They're kind of perfectly designed

57
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,239
Speaker 1: for that. Yeah. Okay, so all of that aside, what

58
00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:30,359
Speaker 1: is it? Who I am so glad you asked? Okay, so, so,

59
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,400
Speaker 1: so technically we're talking about two different things here that

60
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:38,360
Speaker 1: are often conflated, and those are American cheese and processed cheese.

61
00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,720
Speaker 1: The term American cheese originated to described cheese is made

62
00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,200
Speaker 1: in America via ingredients and a production method similar to

63
00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,280
Speaker 1: cheddar cheese, but minus a step, the pressing of the

64
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,600
Speaker 1: kurds to remove extra water in this specific way that's

65
00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,280
Speaker 1: called chedding, which we talked about in our cheddar cheese

66
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,520
Speaker 1: episode aforementioned um. The result of this process is a cheese.

67
00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:01,280
Speaker 1: It's a little bit softer and a little bit more

68
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,200
Speaker 1: mild than cheddar. Um. It might also be called granular cheese.

69
00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,040
Speaker 1: But when most people talk about American cheese, they are

70
00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 1: usually referring to process cheese or cheese food. That is

71
00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,360
Speaker 1: a quote to term. A lot of these products don't

72
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:23,560
Speaker 1: even have cheese in the name. Enough said, right done? No? No? No? Okay,

73
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,640
Speaker 1: Well how about the f D A definition pasteurized process

74
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:34,599
Speaker 1: American cheese? Still questions as well? You should have yes, okay,

75
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,160
Speaker 1: I mean think of think of cheese, fat cheese. Humans

76
00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,120
Speaker 1: have been making it for thousands of years because it

77
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,640
Speaker 1: is such an efficient and tasty way to preserve nutritious

78
00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:49,480
Speaker 1: milk beyond its normal expiry date. But it comes from animals.

79
00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:50,920
Speaker 1: So it tends to be a little bit different from

80
00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,719
Speaker 1: batch to batch. There is stuff produced in factories to

81
00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,640
Speaker 1: create a consistent product, but even that can vary slightly

82
00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,640
Speaker 1: in flavor and texture. And either way you have to

83
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,360
Speaker 1: keep it refrigerated or eat it kind of immediately, and

84
00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,240
Speaker 1: it's probably kind of expensive, or can be depending on

85
00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,560
Speaker 1: what fancy type you get. Um. Oh, and also when

86
00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,560
Speaker 1: you cook it, you've got to be careful because when

87
00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 1: you heat cheese, the fats can melt away from the

88
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 1: rest of the cheese solids, leaving you with a pool

89
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:21,680
Speaker 1: of oil and lumpy, curty mess. Very sad, not pleasant,

90
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 1: but not so with American cheese. No, this stuff is

91
00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,880
Speaker 1: heck and consistent. Unopened, a package may be able to

92
00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,040
Speaker 1: sit in your pantry for months. Months. Open, the package

93
00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,280
Speaker 1: can sit in your fridge for months months. It's inexpensive,

94
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,680
Speaker 1: and it melts like a dream, assuming that you dream

95
00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:42,520
Speaker 1: about nachos, And I mean, if you don't, I'm not

96
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,840
Speaker 1: sure what we'd have to talk about. You know, that's

97
00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,920
Speaker 1: all Laura talks about. It's up there. American cheese is

98
00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,600
Speaker 1: a type of processed cheese or prepared cheese, which is

99
00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,240
Speaker 1: a fancy way of saying cheese that has been melted

100
00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,040
Speaker 1: down with some extra stuff that will give it shelf

101
00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:08,160
Speaker 1: stability and a smooth texture. Mm hmm. But how why

102
00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:14,840
Speaker 1: is it really cheese? Well, that's complicated. The answer is

103
00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,839
Speaker 1: that it's at least fifty cheese. Okay, So here in

104
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,480
Speaker 1: the United States, the FDA has crafted Oh that's a

105
00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,200
Speaker 1: pun I didn't even realize. A nice good job me

106
00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:32,760
Speaker 1: crafted and exhaustively specific legal definition of what processed cheese is.

107
00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,440
Speaker 1: The short version is that it's a type of food

108
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,160
Speaker 1: made by pulverizing, heating, and mixing actual cheese of one

109
00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:43,880
Speaker 1: or more types with an emulsifier into that homogeneous plastic mass.

110
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,200
Speaker 1: And as we said, that is plastic as in the

111
00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:54,040
Speaker 1: physical definition a substance easily shaped or molded. Process cheese

112
00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,960
Speaker 1: is not made of plastic, right, But it can contain water, salt, colors, flavorings, vitam,

113
00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,240
Speaker 1: and a number of additional fats, acidifying agents, mold inhibitors,

114
00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:11,720
Speaker 1: and anti sticking agents. Anti sticking agents has hands. The

115
00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:16,800
Speaker 1: key to processed cheese is smoothness, though, is those emulsifying agents.

116
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,480
Speaker 1: And we've talked a little bit before about emulsions on

117
00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,080
Speaker 1: the show, but in short and emulsion is a mixture

118
00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,120
Speaker 1: of two liquids that don't usually like to mix, like

119
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,520
Speaker 1: like oil and water. No matter how you stir or

120
00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,600
Speaker 1: shake them together, they will separate back out, but emulsifiers

121
00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,840
Speaker 1: make the two play nice chemically speaking. That's because the

122
00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,160
Speaker 1: emulsifiers can interact with both liquids, grabbing globules of one

123
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,400
Speaker 1: and suspending them evenly throughout the other and making this

124
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,040
Speaker 1: very strange gesture. I'm not sure what it is anyway.

125
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,400
Speaker 1: Um Those those other optional ingredients are texture and flavor

126
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,800
Speaker 1: enhancers and preservatives, and a few cheese making shortcuts that

127
00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:00,000
Speaker 1: are designed to speed the manufacturing process along. And yeah,

128
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,800
Speaker 1: processed cheese is essentially science cheese, but as long as

129
00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:09,400
Speaker 1: the finished product closely resembles it's actual cheese ingredients in

130
00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,720
Speaker 1: terms of moisture, fat, and pH levels, it can be

131
00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,400
Speaker 1: legally called processed cheese pasteurized processed cheese. Specifically, if it's

132
00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,320
Speaker 1: made from cheddar, washed curd, colby or granular cheese, it

133
00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:27,840
Speaker 1: can be called American cheese. But uh, you mentioned before

134
00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,679
Speaker 1: that cheese food kind of descriptor y'all may have noticed

135
00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,880
Speaker 1: some extra descriptors like that creeping onto packages or maybe

136
00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,840
Speaker 1: you haven't because the companies that mark them really don't

137
00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:47,760
Speaker 1: want you to notice them. The main categories are pasteurized, processed, cheese, food, spread,

138
00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:52,920
Speaker 1: and product. Man, I would have no idea. I want

139
00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,280
Speaker 1: to look at labels more closely. These designations indicate that

140
00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,599
Speaker 1: other ingredients have been added that reduce the amount of

141
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:05,960
Speaker 1: actual cheese in the finished food. So cheese food can

142
00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:10,720
Speaker 1: contain additional milk, skilled milk, buttermilk, and cheese whey. These

143
00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:15,240
Speaker 1: lower the cost of producing the cheese and increase the meltiness.

144
00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,480
Speaker 1: But cheese food must still have moisture, fat, and pH

145
00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,560
Speaker 1: levels that are close to that of natural cheese. Cheese

146
00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,920
Speaker 1: product can throw those rules right out the window, and

147
00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:31,720
Speaker 1: cheese spread may have added moisture sweeteners, starches, and moisture

148
00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:37,760
Speaker 1: binding gums or hydro colloids to optimize spread ability. You

149
00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,360
Speaker 1: want optimal spreadability, if you do, that's what that's what

150
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,200
Speaker 1: you gotta put up with. But again, in order to

151
00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,520
Speaker 1: still use the word cheese on the label with the

152
00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:52,840
Speaker 1: correct spelling of cheese, all of these creations share one

153
00:09:52,960 --> 00:10:00,360
Speaker 1: overarching quality, cheese content that's all by weight. I think

154
00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:08,240
Speaker 1: some days that could be me just cheese content with

155
00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:14,240
Speaker 1: all kinds of other bind binders and stabilizers, alsifiers. Yeah,

156
00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,920
Speaker 1: I should get a label. Oh my goodness, all right,

157
00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,559
Speaker 1: we needed we need a T shirt and and all

158
00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,800
Speaker 1: of that is a really really long way of saying that, yes,

159
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,240
Speaker 1: American cheese is cheese, but it's also kind of a

160
00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,800
Speaker 1: lot of other stuff. Yeah. The Academy of Nutrition and

161
00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:36,680
Speaker 1: Dietetics ordered Craft Singles the Kids Eat Right labeled, the

162
00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:41,720
Speaker 1: first food to receive the designation in I think, um.

163
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,000
Speaker 1: There's been some speculation from those in the food industry

164
00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,520
Speaker 1: that this is because of crafts influence within the Academy.

165
00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:53,319
Speaker 1: Craft Singles fall into the category of of cheese product

166
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,360
Speaker 1: that kind of that kind of middle ground of cheesiness

167
00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,320
Speaker 1: as far as processed cheese goes nutrition, Why is it

168
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,080
Speaker 1: has more carbohydrates and salt than regular cheese does, but

169
00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,160
Speaker 1: less of kind of everything else. I Fewer calories, less fat,

170
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:12,320
Speaker 1: less protein, less vitamin A and calcium in less extra

171
00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,880
Speaker 1: vitamins and minerals have been added back in. If you were,

172
00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,520
Speaker 1: for example, to spend a few minutes on the internet

173
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,360
Speaker 1: comparing a slice of Craft Singles two percent milk American

174
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,000
Speaker 1: cheese slices with an equal weight of Kroger brand Extra

175
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,440
Speaker 1: Sharp Cheddar cheese. Here's what you're looking at. The cheddar

176
00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,800
Speaker 1: has one point six times more calories, two point four

177
00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,400
Speaker 1: times more fat, one point two times as much protein,

178
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,200
Speaker 1: and two point five times as much vitamin A. The

179
00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,240
Speaker 1: process cheese, on the other hand, or with added calcium,

180
00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,000
Speaker 1: has six point seven times as much sugar, one point

181
00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,520
Speaker 1: four times more calcium, and about twice as much sodium,

182
00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,520
Speaker 1: And the exact value of all of this on a

183
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,760
Speaker 1: person's well being could be debated. Like, fewer calories overall

184
00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,920
Speaker 1: is hypothetically laudable, and it's nice that you can add

185
00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,280
Speaker 1: more calcium and other vitamins and minerals to the process cheese,

186
00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,600
Speaker 1: But given current research about the effects of sugars versus

187
00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:15,480
Speaker 1: fats on one's health, decreasing the fat content and increasing

188
00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:20,480
Speaker 1: the sugar content isn't isn't good? No, And the real

189
00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,480
Speaker 1: cheese definitely scores points for having more protein and less salt.

190
00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,960
Speaker 1: According to the Academy's executive director in an article in

191
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,520
Speaker 1: The New York Times, labeling craft singles with that Kids

192
00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:39,240
Speaker 1: Eat Right thing is not an endorsement of Craft singles

193
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,600
Speaker 1: by the Academy, but rather identifies the craft brand as

194
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:46,240
Speaker 1: a supporter of the Kids Eat Right program and provides

195
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,320
Speaker 1: greater consumer awareness of kids Eat right dot org as

196
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:54,319
Speaker 1: an educational resource. Oh that's clear as day. Craft brand

197
00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,680
Speaker 1: representatives maintain that as a kid friendly product, Craft singles

198
00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:00,520
Speaker 1: are a good way to get kids to eat calcium

199
00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:08,320
Speaker 1: in vitamin D. M M. Yeah, yeah, just pay attention

200
00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:14,840
Speaker 1: to labels is perhaps absolutely always always, my friends, some

201
00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,200
Speaker 1: numbers here we go. According to Kraft, the company behind

202
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,600
Speaker 1: those Craft singles, surprised that for most of us is

203
00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,679
Speaker 1: the quintessential product when you're talking about American cheese. They

204
00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,800
Speaker 1: sell seven point to billion of those slices a year.

205
00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,280
Speaker 1: But that's just a single product. The global value of

206
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,560
Speaker 1: the processed cheese market was valued at over thirty two

207
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,440
Speaker 1: billion dollars as of six and was expected to grow

208
00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,080
Speaker 1: from there. Wow, it's not a bottom, it's not a

209
00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,600
Speaker 1: top anyway. Yeah, it's biggest in North America and Europe,

210
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,520
Speaker 1: but with increasing markets in Asia, Africa and South America

211
00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,680
Speaker 1: as the growing middle classes gain access to fast food

212
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:58,000
Speaker 1: and convenience foods. M it's doing all right, Yeah, it's

213
00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,960
Speaker 1: doing just fine. Well, let's talk about how it got

214
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,160
Speaker 1: to be got to be this multiple plastic thing that

215
00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:11,560
Speaker 1: it is incredibly successful, multiple plastic. Yeah. But first let's

216
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:23,600
Speaker 1: hear a quick word from our sponsor, and we're back,

217
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,920
Speaker 1: Thank you sponsor. All right, let's go down that alternate

218
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:31,280
Speaker 1: timeline of the Cheddar episode where we just stopped and said, like, y'all,

219
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,960
Speaker 1: this is going to be a different episode exactly here

220
00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,400
Speaker 1: here that episode is. This is the sliding doors moment. Yeah,

221
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:42,440
Speaker 1: here we go. Okay. As we mentioned in that episode,

222
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,440
Speaker 1: the first American cheese factory in New York in eighteen

223
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,520
Speaker 1: fifty one was opened by Jesse Williams as part of

224
00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,320
Speaker 1: a father son partnership, and according to something I read

225
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,080
Speaker 1: on Mental Flause, the dad came up with the idea

226
00:14:55,160 --> 00:15:01,000
Speaker 1: to hide his son's poor cheese making prowess. The model

227
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,640
Speaker 1: of buying milk from local farms and centralizing production at

228
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,600
Speaker 1: one location made cheese making in the US viable in

229
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,600
Speaker 1: a way it had not been before. And from there,

230
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,680
Speaker 1: American cheese factories spread like the spreadable cheese, and so

231
00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,880
Speaker 1: did that sort of generic yellowish American cheddar, non cheddared cheddar,

232
00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,000
Speaker 1: yeah right. Consumers called it yellow cheese or store cheese,

233
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,720
Speaker 1: which I love storage store cheese, not not that other store,

234
00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:33,120
Speaker 1: cheese store cheese. But Williams isn't the name most of

235
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,840
Speaker 1: us would associate with American cheese or that's what I

236
00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:40,120
Speaker 1: would gather. Nope, that distinction goes to James L. Craft.

237
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: That Craft, Yes, that Craft, with less than one dollars

238
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,840
Speaker 1: to his name. Craft moved to Chicago from Canada in

239
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:52,640
Speaker 1: nineteen o three intending to sell some cheese. He bought

240
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,440
Speaker 1: a horse and buggy and would rise early in the

241
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,120
Speaker 1: morning to get the first crack at buying cheese at

242
00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,080
Speaker 1: the market, and then would sell his purchased cheese to

243
00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 1: grocery stores. After doing this for a bit and observing

244
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,200
Speaker 1: how quickly cheese and grocery stores spoiled, he got to

245
00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:11,200
Speaker 1: thinking about ways to reduce cheese waste. This was a

246
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:16,360
Speaker 1: particular problem and warmer weather and climates which ye, yeah,

247
00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,280
Speaker 1: that's pretty pretty clear, doesn't it doesn't chip? Well, no,

248
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,960
Speaker 1: no it doesn't. He got the idea to try jarring

249
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,440
Speaker 1: and canning cheese. Kraft took any leftover cheddar, shredded it up,

250
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,800
Speaker 1: repasteurized it, and added some sodium phosphate, and what he

251
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,960
Speaker 1: was left with was American cheese. It became official with

252
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,960
Speaker 1: a bright shiny patent in nineteen sixteen. The patent reads um,

253
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,400
Speaker 1: the chief object of the invention is to convert cheese

254
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,120
Speaker 1: of the Cheddar genus into such condition that it may

255
00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,960
Speaker 1: be kept indefinitely without spoiling, under conditions which would ordinarily

256
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,080
Speaker 1: cause it to spoil, and to accomplish this result without

257
00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:03,840
Speaker 1: substantially impairing the taste of the cheese. Yes, the Cheddar genus.

258
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:07,639
Speaker 1: I love that Kraft may have gotten the idea to

259
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,120
Speaker 1: experiment with canning from two fellas out of Switzerland testing

260
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,080
Speaker 1: out the same thing with local cheese. One of the

261
00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,000
Speaker 1: things they tried was putting some sodium citrate on cheese

262
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,080
Speaker 1: as it was melting, and lo and behold the cheese

263
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:23,320
Speaker 1: held together and melted in all its glory. Yes, it

264
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,800
Speaker 1: was nineteen eleven and these Swiss cheesemakers, Walter Gerber and

265
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,320
Speaker 1: Fritz Stettler, developed the first commercial processed cheese. This was

266
00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:33,240
Speaker 1: while they were trying to find a way to ship

267
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,320
Speaker 1: their products too warm climates without that gross fat separation

268
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,560
Speaker 1: thing happening. Along the way. They were perhaps inspired by

269
00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:46,639
Speaker 1: European cheese dips and sauces like fondu. Welsh rabbit sometimes

270
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:51,840
Speaker 1: called wear bit and the German carquis or French conquate,

271
00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,560
Speaker 1: in which shredded cheese is heated with extra ingredients like

272
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,720
Speaker 1: eggs or beer or baking soda to keep the melted

273
00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,199
Speaker 1: mixture nice and smooth. And these two dudes realized that

274
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,600
Speaker 1: when you let such concoctions cool down, they confirm up

275
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,600
Speaker 1: into these solid, long lasting blocks. And they'd settled on

276
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:14,480
Speaker 1: sodium cit trait as an inexpensive yet effective ingredient. Indeed,

277
00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,879
Speaker 1: simultaneously to Crass patents. One of the cheese companies to

278
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,000
Speaker 1: pop up in New York following that first factory was

279
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,760
Speaker 1: the Monroe Cheese Company, and they became a big player

280
00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,800
Speaker 1: in the US cheese market. They too were looking to

281
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,160
Speaker 1: reduce cheese waste, particularly when it came to broken Swiss

282
00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,240
Speaker 1: cheese wheels they received from their Pennsylvania factory. The company

283
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:41,280
Speaker 1: put their cheese specialist Emil Frey or is it Fry? Oh?

284
00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:47,320
Speaker 1: Because well it's that either one Frey or Fry. He

285
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 1: was on the case. Fry was coming off the well

286
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,000
Speaker 1: received invention of an American riff on Limburger cheese he

287
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,360
Speaker 1: called Leader Caass. Fry took the cheese pieces he salvaged

288
00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:00,720
Speaker 1: from the broken wheels and ran a cup of experiments

289
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,280
Speaker 1: with them on his home stove. When he added some

290
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,320
Speaker 1: cheese by products like way Back into the cheese, it

291
00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,520
Speaker 1: resulted into these easily molded cheese product that melted like

292
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:18,119
Speaker 1: a velvet jee. Because of that, Fry named it Velvita.

293
00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,400
Speaker 1: Craft would purchase Velvita, which functioned independently outside of the

294
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,920
Speaker 1: Monroe Cheese Company. In or that's one version. A spokesperson

295
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:34,000
Speaker 1: from Craft claims they figured it out internally and used

296
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:39,480
Speaker 1: Fry's name externally for laughs. I don't know. M adds

297
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,600
Speaker 1: a Craft rand for the product in described it as

298
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,439
Speaker 1: a product of scientific research that was as workable as

299
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,520
Speaker 1: butter m HM, which is one of the reasons how

300
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,400
Speaker 1: it ended up on so many vegetables like cauliflower, which

301
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,879
Speaker 1: we touched on briefly in that episode. It was pushed

302
00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,320
Speaker 1: to something you could put on top of leftovers to

303
00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,879
Speaker 1: jazz them up. That and Craft marketing it as a

304
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,800
Speaker 1: health food for quote weight watching moms were in calories

305
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:12,600
Speaker 1: and fat um. There's another ad from them. Behind every

306
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,800
Speaker 1: successful little boy is a mother who serves Velvita. Oh

307
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:17,760
Speaker 1: my goodness, yeah, do you like to give the kids

308
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 1: a treat? After school. Smart mothers naked a Velvita treat

309
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,280
Speaker 1: for extra fine nutrition. They cause crafts famous pasteurized process

310
00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,199
Speaker 1: geese spread is extra good for youngsters, and sandwiches and

311
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,919
Speaker 1: crackers snacks. Even the American Medical Association got on board,

312
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:38,280
Speaker 1: saying Velvita promoted firm flesh, which sounds like an endorsement

313
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,359
Speaker 1: from a serial killer. It does, it does in dude,

314
00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,760
Speaker 1: but serial killers are not. It was easy to market.

315
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,679
Speaker 1: American food culture at the time was increasingly valuing brand

316
00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:54,919
Speaker 1: consistency and mild flavors and convenience. All about that convenience

317
00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,440
Speaker 1: and apart from vegetables. A recipe released by the company

318
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,560
Speaker 1: suggested pouring Velvita on top of a toasted peanut, butter

319
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,480
Speaker 1: and pickle sandwich. Whoa whoa toasted peanut butter and pickle

320
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:16,480
Speaker 1: topped with Velveta sandwich. Well, yeah, I do want to

321
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: eat that. I would try it, for sure. I think

322
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 1: I'm I'm like pre upset about it, but I definitely

323
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,040
Speaker 1: I'm pret upset about how much I'll like it. That's

324
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,520
Speaker 1: the setting bit, because I'll be like, well, this is delicious,

325
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,199
Speaker 1: and I'm and I hate me Now. I think I

326
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 1: think I would like it too. I'm intrigued. Who came

327
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,879
Speaker 1: up with this idea? I don't know. We'll have to

328
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,400
Speaker 1: we might have to test it absolutely, Okay. And maybe

329
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,440
Speaker 1: that peanut butter and mayo sandwich that I ran across

330
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,040
Speaker 1: from the internet the other day. Yeah, yeah, peanut butter

331
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 1: is one of my favorite foods of all times. So

332
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,840
Speaker 1: if anything could make me like mayo, I don't know,

333
00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,080
Speaker 1: it's like the matter anti matter Annie sandwich exactly. Maybe

334
00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 1: I'll just poo anyway. Yes. Um. One last health note,

335
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:07,080
Speaker 1: despite not being quote real cheese, um, for the up

336
00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,200
Speaker 1: to six of the world that have some form of

337
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:14,000
Speaker 1: lactose intolerance, Velvita is trouble, more trouble than cheese like parmesan,

338
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,560
Speaker 1: which has small amounts of lactose ye. To do the

339
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:18,880
Speaker 1: manufacturing process, you wind up with more of those milk

340
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,760
Speaker 1: sugars in there to help a flavor and texture the product. Yeah. Thanks.

341
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 1: In Part two, World War One, crafts American cheese was

342
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 1: pretty much an instant commercial success. But despite what you

343
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,879
Speaker 1: might think, it wasn't cheap either. Craft was able to

344
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 1: successfully market the stuff as safer and more reliable than

345
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,360
Speaker 1: other products you might get. It was the big mac

346
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,120
Speaker 1: of cheese, and I also I am pretty sure it's

347
00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:47,439
Speaker 1: the cheese on big Mix. Probably probably the marketing worked.

348
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,960
Speaker 1: By the nineteen twenties, jailed Craft and Brose was bringing

349
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,760
Speaker 1: in quite a hunk of cheese millions of dollars. Craft

350
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 1: cheese accounted for about forty percent of the US cheese

351
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: market by nineteen thirty. While American cheese and velvita perhaps

352
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,600
Speaker 1: weren't as cheap as you'd expect, they were cheaper than

353
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: milk and got a boost during the Great Depression because

354
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,200
Speaker 1: of this. And this popularity grew with the rations on

355
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,199
Speaker 1: cheddar and milk in World War Two. But you know

356
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 1: who didn't like this and not one bit? Who the

357
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 1: quote natural cheesemaker? Oh I can imagine, yes, does anything

358
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 1: like butter and margin in our butter episode. Yeah? Yes,

359
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: They lobbied successfully to require cheese like products to be

360
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:38,120
Speaker 1: labeled as such. Oh and let's talk about Thomas Jefferson

361
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,119
Speaker 1: for a second. Okay, we haven't had him on the

362
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,640
Speaker 1: show in a minute. Yeah, let's bring him back. While

363
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: he was in France, Jefferson fell in love with this

364
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,520
Speaker 1: little dish you might have heard of, so much so

365
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: that he included it as an item at an eighteen

366
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 1: o two State dinner that dish mac and cheese. What

367
00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:02,960
Speaker 1: yepe to show? Indeed, fast forward to the nineteen thirties

368
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: and the Great Depression, and a traveling salesman of unknown

369
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,160
Speaker 1: name was going door to door touting the I'm assuming

370
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 1: mostly macaroni products of the Tenderoni Macaroni Company of St. Louis.

371
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,320
Speaker 1: That it's fun to say Tenderoni macaroni. I like it.

372
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,119
Speaker 1: It was cheap but also quite boring. So this salesman

373
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 1: got the idea to sell packages of the macaroni and

374
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 1: grated craft cheese. As you can imagine, it was quite popular.

375
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: And also, as you can imagine, craft wonders shut that

376
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,840
Speaker 1: now and then reopen it as their own product, which

377
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 1: they did hiring the salesman, and by nineteen thirty seven

378
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 1: American consumers could find the boxed Craft dinner find them.

379
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 1: They did eight million of them in their first year

380
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,119
Speaker 1: on the shelves. Yeah, in nineteen forty three, during the

381
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: height of World War Two, rationing that number was eighty

382
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:59,679
Speaker 1: million boxes. Wow, um m hmmm. It wasn't until nineteen

383
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 1: thirty five that we get pre sliced American cheese. One

384
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:05,720
Speaker 1: of the reasons this pre sliced thing was a big

385
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:10,840
Speaker 1: deal was because processed cheese was like hard, very difficult

386
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 1: to cut. And this had to do a bit with

387
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,640
Speaker 1: how the product was made. Those cheddar byproducts, um were

388
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,200
Speaker 1: brought to degrees fahrenheit or around seventy nine degrees celsius

389
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,680
Speaker 1: four fifteen minutes and this hot cheese was poured directly

390
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 1: into the can or whatever solidifying vessel. Imagine trying to

391
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,679
Speaker 1: cut hot cheese. Oh no, that doesn't work well. And

392
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: then I imagine it it would be hard to get

393
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,960
Speaker 1: out of the can and slices. I'm picturing like like

394
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,440
Speaker 1: a total failure to do what Cranberry sauce does. Yes. Um,

395
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 1: it was James Kraft's brother Norman who arrived at the solution.

396
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,959
Speaker 1: If you poured the hot cheese into a cold, stainless

397
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 1: steel surface and then even it out with a rolling pin,

398
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 1: and then once it was cool, slice it, it was

399
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 1: ready to be sliced. Easy peas. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

400
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: There were a few pink stork out and it took

401
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 1: until nineteen fifty for the process of process to be

402
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,480
Speaker 1: perfected with the innovation of a chill roll that both

403
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:20,200
Speaker 1: cooled and cut Oh, elementary school humor. You never let

404
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 1: me down. Chill roll not cut the cheese. Um. What

405
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 1: did they call the slices? D luxe process slices? That

406
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,440
Speaker 1: sounds very fancy and also I would have new idea

407
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,199
Speaker 1: what I'm getting. Another fifteen years passed and someone patented

408
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 1: a process for wrapping individual slices of cheese and plastic.

409
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,080
Speaker 1: Witchcraft took and tweaked for their own purposes, bringing as

410
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 1: those iconic Craft singles. In nineteen sixty two, Craft purchased

411
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:55,679
Speaker 1: an underground mine called Springfield Underground near its plant in Springfield, Missouri,

412
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: and they use it as sort of an underground storage

413
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:03,159
Speaker 1: closet for all their rigerated products. Yeah, as often they

414
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: had the equivalent of around thirteen football fields of space.

415
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,680
Speaker 1: What like the Cheddar games we talked about in the

416
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 1: Cheddar episode, but bigger and somehow more menacing. Yeah, I can't.

417
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: I'm picturing at the end of Indiana Jones. Yeah, with

418
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:22,960
Speaker 1: the crates forever. I mean, that's it. Good to know

419
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 1: an apocalypse situation. Uh. The nineteen sixties is the same

420
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,600
Speaker 1: decade when the government included government cheese as an item

421
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,919
Speaker 1: for food stamps and welfare recipients. You can see our

422
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,560
Speaker 1: Cheddar episode for more on that one. President Lyndon B.

423
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 1: Johnson and lifelong he was president and a lifelong Texan,

424
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,720
Speaker 1: was a huge fan of the combination of Velvita and tomatoes,

425
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,680
Speaker 1: so much so that his wife, Lady Burt Johnson, submitted

426
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: it to an official cookbook in nineteen seventies six. Jump

427
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: ahead to two thousand five, and the chairman of a

428
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 1: Texas gallo called the Black Tie and Boots and Agril

429
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 1: Ball said that any gathering worth its salt will require

430
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 1: three hundred pounds of vel Vita, and on his list

431
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,800
Speaker 1: of necessary things, get ranked of third most importance. What

432
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:17,080
Speaker 1: three hundred pounds of Velvita for every gala? Okay, yes,

433
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:21,919
Speaker 1: every gala, Lauren share in night we see Velvita shells

434
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:26,360
Speaker 1: and cheese as crafts first foray into the shelf stable market.

435
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 1: The Velvita and tomato combination got a big boost in

436
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 1: two thousand two when Rotel and Velvita entered into a

437
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,640
Speaker 1: collaborative marketing agreement to appear side by side and stores,

438
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 1: an agreement which increased the sales for both companies in

439
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: order to make the exactly yeah um. That same year,

440
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,960
Speaker 1: the FDA warned Craft to change the labeling on Velvita

441
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 1: from cheese spread to cheese product. The company complied, and

442
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,440
Speaker 1: I ran in several episodes I've run across this marketing

443
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 1: partnership as an example of a very six sucessful collaboration. Yeah,

444
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 1: I always wonder exactly how successful. Like I'll see it

445
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: in a store and I'll go, why are they bothering?

446
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 1: Doesn't everyone know that that just happens anyway? But then

447
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, nope, nope, apparently it's really big apparently

448
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 1: and it works really well. Um, And then who could

449
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 1: forget the cheese Pocalypse of twent me Apparently? I don't

450
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,200
Speaker 1: remember it? You do? I do? I remember reading I

451
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: remember reading headlines about it and having this moment of

452
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 1: of misplaced panic where I was like but and I

453
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,720
Speaker 1: was like, oh, I don't buy that anymore. Okay, I'm

454
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 1: gonna be fine. I mean, if I just saw cheese Pocalypse,

455
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 1: I would be panicked. But this is not talking about

456
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 1: all cheese. The Internet tells me that, and backed up

457
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 1: by Lauren, there was a Velveta shortage brought on by

458
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:53,239
Speaker 1: increased consumption, and heaven forbid, it hit right before the

459
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 1: Super Bowl Bless my stars. Sales of this stuff went

460
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 1: up three point seven from but why though, Well, it's

461
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:08,920
Speaker 1: thanks to the increasing need to save money for a

462
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: lot of Americans on tight budgets, leading to a bump

463
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,080
Speaker 1: in sales at places like Family Dollar. Craft of course,

464
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 1: turned this whole thing into a marketing opportunity, dubbing Velvita

465
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 1: our nation's most precious commodity liquid gold. Oh my goodness. Um.

466
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: Final note to bring us to the present and to

467
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: close out this history segment, and also one of my

468
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 1: favorite things I found while researching anything ever, Um, I

469
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 1: went on a bel Vita fan fiction rabbit hole. Literally yeah, um,

470
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:49,400
Speaker 1: as in fan fiction about Velvita and about rabbits. Yep.

471
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,480
Speaker 1: This was written by it Jason the Skunk. Okay name,

472
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,680
Speaker 1: so it's been name and um it's called the Velveta Rabbit.

473
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:04,480
Speaker 1: The opening line is as follows. There was once a

474
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 1: rabbit made entirely out of Velvita, and in the beginning

475
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 1: he seemed really splendid. But this is my favorite bit.

476
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,960
Speaker 1: Fancy all that fuss for a bit of pasteurized processed

477
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 1: cheese food. The boy sat up in bed and stretched

478
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 1: out his hands, Give me my bunny. He said, you

479
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 1: mustn't say that. He's not invitation, he's real cheese. And

480
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 1: later you were real to the boy, the cow said,

481
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 1: and real disgusting to everyone else. It's actually really good.

482
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. Um. There's mentions of spam, there's

483
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,200
Speaker 1: a palm, a pun about the wise and old bottle

484
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 1: of Cabernet Sauvignon being transparent. It's got it all. It's

485
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,920
Speaker 1: very sweet. Um. I don't want to spoil it, but

486
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 1: it's a heart warmer and it's kind of like a

487
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:57,200
Speaker 1: the Cheese version of the Circle of Life. I also

488
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:01,760
Speaker 1: read a Velvita Harry Potter fan pick and an Avengers

489
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 1: one too, so you know, it's a what a time

490
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,920
Speaker 1: to be alive. It really is, Lauren, it really is. Yeah,

491
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 1: I did. I did read at least some of some

492
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 1: of the Velveta Rabbit, and it is. I personally have

493
00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:19,240
Speaker 1: huge nostalgia also for the Veteen Rabbit in addition to Velvitas.

494
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,480
Speaker 1: So I guess you know, hitting all the marks. I really,

495
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. So, Jason the Skunk, thank you

496
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 1: for giving us that. That wraps up our history portion.

497
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 1: We do have a tiny bit of science for you.

498
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,400
Speaker 1: We do. But first we've got one more quick break

499
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:49,480
Speaker 1: for a word from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,

500
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:52,920
Speaker 1: thank you. One of the things that I never even considered,

501
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,200
Speaker 1: um but ran across is you can make this stuff

502
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,440
Speaker 1: at home, should you so choose. It literally ever occurred

503
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 1: to me to do this in my entire life. This

504
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 1: is this is through several episodes of cheese Mania here

505
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 1: at work, so I'm quite impressed. Um but yeah. There

506
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:18,160
Speaker 1: are plenty of recipes for making process cheese on on

507
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,600
Speaker 1: the interwebs. Um the one that I found from Epicurious

508
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 1: seems the most simple. It uses gelatine to create this

509
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,320
Speaker 1: this creamy emulsion kind of situation. It's just milk, gelatine,

510
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 1: a little bit of butter, a little bit of salt,

511
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 1: and whatever mild semihard cheese you like. Colby is recommended

512
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,600
Speaker 1: for the true nostalgia flavor. Yeah, you just you just

513
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,480
Speaker 1: blend them in a food processor and chill, and you've

514
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,280
Speaker 1: got home made American cheese. Wow. Apparently it will make

515
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 1: the best grilled cheese sandwich you have ever made in

516
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,840
Speaker 1: your life. Okay, I'm on board with that. Yeah, I'm

517
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,000
Speaker 1: very on board with that. Absolutely, so, yeah, we'll have

518
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,200
Speaker 1: to try it out. Yeah, I think I have I

519
00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: have all of this. We could do this now not,

520
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:02,760
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't have it in the studio. I

521
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 1: just care just in case I need to make cheese

522
00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,959
Speaker 1: at any moment that is not too ridiculous of a thought.

523
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,799
Speaker 1: It's I wouldn't put it past you. I do like

524
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,800
Speaker 1: cheese quite a bit. Yeah, so if any of you

525
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,920
Speaker 1: listeners decide to make this, please let us know how

526
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:30,880
Speaker 1: it turns out. Yeah. Absolutely, And this brings us to yes.

527
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:37,759
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, um, okay, so our first one is

528
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,640
Speaker 1: from Rose. She wrote in about our delivery episode. I

529
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 1: was surprised to hear Annie, I think, and yes it

530
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,239
Speaker 1: was me state that there doesn't seem to be much

531
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,239
Speaker 1: of a food delivery culture in Japan, and I say, oh,

532
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,840
Speaker 1: concre there's a very rich history. Food delivery started in

533
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 1: the middle of a to ak Tokyo. Wealthy daimio would

534
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,360
Speaker 1: send servants to eateries and bring back meals to their masters.

535
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:07,160
Speaker 1: These servers eventually became known as day my. Even with

536
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,719
Speaker 1: the end of the shogun Nate, day My continued restaurants,

537
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,840
Speaker 1: specializing and easy to transport foods like sushi and sofa

538
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 1: imployed day min to carry around massive stacks of food

539
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 1: to popular locations like college campuses, smart selling their wares

540
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 1: much like the tiffin malas of India you mentioned. With

541
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,799
Speaker 1: the invention of the telephone, households could call now these

542
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,280
Speaker 1: same specialty shops, and this practice continues today. My favorite

543
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,840
Speaker 1: part about the day my is that the serving dishes

544
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,160
Speaker 1: are real, not made of throwaway materials and must be

545
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:42,680
Speaker 1: returned to the restaurant. But how simply rints and set

546
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,200
Speaker 1: your dishes outside and the same day mine will return

547
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,440
Speaker 1: later and take them back to the restaurants. Of course,

548
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,759
Speaker 1: in modern day Japan you can get much more than

549
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,800
Speaker 1: soba and sushi. You can get bento boxes, McDonald's pizza

550
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:58,080
Speaker 1: and anything really even yeah cult brand yogurt delivery. But

551
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,040
Speaker 1: my favorite part about modern Japanese livery is the delivery scooters.

552
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 1: Some scooters have a special floating spring suspension platform. The

553
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,200
Speaker 1: food is strapped to so when the driver goes around corners,

554
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 1: who does it not shift or slash around, but stays level.

555
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:14,759
Speaker 1: Ordering food can be a challenge. My professor told me

556
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 1: once about the day he could order a pizza over

557
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 1: the phone in Japanese and the pizza successfully arrived. Flash

558
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:23,919
Speaker 1: forward to three years later, to my own time living

559
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,279
Speaker 1: in Japan and one evening's craving delivery pizza. I picked

560
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 1: up the phone, called Pizza Hut, and to confusing follow

561
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,839
Speaker 1: up calls, three hours later, no pizza, dismayed. I did

562
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,320
Speaker 1: not try again until three months later and hozza forty

563
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:42,319
Speaker 1: minutes later, beautiful piping hot tuna, mayo corn pizza. I

564
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:46,799
Speaker 1: had her see. Maybe that's the thing. It's certainly not that, yeah,

565
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: there's not a tradition in some of these places, but

566
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:54,959
Speaker 1: rather that it's difficult to access. I I've been thinking

567
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:57,440
Speaker 1: about this because, um, several people wrote in about it,

568
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 1: and I think it's because, um, i'd did talk to

569
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,440
Speaker 1: people from Japan and and I tried to order one

570
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: of these pizzas with the tuna and the corn and

571
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 1: the may on it. Um. But for me, if I

572
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:14,919
Speaker 1: get delivery late, I think everything everything is closed by then. Yeah,

573
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:16,560
Speaker 1: and I did see people with the scooters, and that's

574
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:18,680
Speaker 1: what confused me is I knew like it was happening.

575
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 1: It must be happening, but I didn't know if I

576
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:25,120
Speaker 1: was just not. It's some secret club. I must access.

577
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:30,239
Speaker 1: I tried several times, but yeah, everything was closed. I'm

578
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,359
Speaker 1: sad I missed it. That sounds pretty cool. Yeah, oh

579
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,400
Speaker 1: next time, yeah, next time. Um. Yeah, when I was

580
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,920
Speaker 1: in South Africa, this is another interesting thing. Do we

581
00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,200
Speaker 1: do delivering McDonald's in the US. Don't think so. I well,

582
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 1: I think that some of the some of the new

583
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,560
Speaker 1: app based things would pick it up. Yeah, yeah, you

584
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 1: can get it delivered. I just don't think. I know

585
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,120
Speaker 1: that Donald's does not deliver, right, Yeah, because I saw

586
00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:59,360
Speaker 1: that in both Japan and South Africa. That was the

587
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: only thing. I don't eat McDonald's, so therefore it was

588
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,720
Speaker 1: not an option for me. Oh, I can't imagine eating

589
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:10,280
Speaker 1: McDonald's anyway other than like immediately after purchasing. That's true,

590
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 1: like when everything is still so hot that you're burning

591
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 1: your mouth. That is true. But yeah, I knew that

592
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,600
Speaker 1: that existed for sure. But um, that's very cool. And

593
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,160
Speaker 1: I love the uh like delivery soup and soba and

594
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:28,280
Speaker 1: these spring loaded devices. Yeah that's pretty awesome. Yeah. Tracy

595
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,800
Speaker 1: wrote in in your banana episode, you mentioned some benefits

596
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: of peeling bananas from the bottom, and it reminded me

597
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 1: of the day I found out I peeled bananas backward.

598
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:39,200
Speaker 1: I have peeled them from the bottom for as long

599
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:41,319
Speaker 1: as I can remember, but it wasn't until I was

600
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,719
Speaker 1: in my early twenties that someone pointed this out to

601
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,400
Speaker 1: me as deviant banana peeling behavior. Shortly after, I was

602
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,319
Speaker 1: at my dad's house and I saw him peel one

603
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 1: from the bottom two The mystery was solved as to

604
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:56,240
Speaker 1: where my banana peeling habits originated, but one mystery remained,

605
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:58,879
Speaker 1: where did my dad learn to peel them like that?

606
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:01,920
Speaker 1: His family live in a few different countries growing up,

607
00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:04,480
Speaker 1: so I thought perhaps he picked it up overseas. His

608
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,440
Speaker 1: answer when I asked, I was watching a documentary on

609
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,000
Speaker 1: monkeys one day and I noticed they peeled their bananas

610
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 1: from the bottom. I figured they must know what they

611
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 1: were doing, so I tried it out. We both had

612
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,960
Speaker 1: a good laugh about it, and we continue to this

613
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:21,200
Speaker 1: day to peel bananas like the monkeys do. It's very wise,

614
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:25,960
Speaker 1: it really is. I've never noticed that. I know. Yeah,

615
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: that's uh huh, that's what. That's what. A lot of

616
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 1: the websites that are like, you're peeling bananas wrong, watch

617
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:36,120
Speaker 1: this video? Well, no, no, it's it's some it's some

618
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:38,719
Speaker 1: person saying like, just watch this monkey and then it

619
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,759
Speaker 1: cuts and then it cuts to a monkey. Okay, yeah, yeah,

620
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:45,440
Speaker 1: that's I just never even put it together. No, no,

621
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:47,680
Speaker 1: me neither. I never thought about it. I still don't

622
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:49,879
Speaker 1: peel them this way. I should, I should switch over.

623
00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 1: I stopped eating bananas after the Oh really, oh both

624
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:57,759
Speaker 1: of us? Oh no, okay, well well yeah, but if

625
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 1: I ever, if I ever choose to hand races, okay, okay,

626
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:10,120
Speaker 1: well I'm glad we agree upon this. Yes, yeah, thanks

627
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,560
Speaker 1: to both of them for writing as you two can

628
00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:14,880
Speaker 1: write to us. Our email is food Stuff at how

629
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 1: staff works dot com. We're also on social media. You

630
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: can find us on Facebook and Twitter at food stuff

631
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:24,000
Speaker 1: h s W. We're also on Instagram at food stuff.

632
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,280
Speaker 1: We've had some video and stuff like that come out recently,

633
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,399
Speaker 1: so so go on over there and check that out.

634
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:31,040
Speaker 1: We hope that we will hear from you. Thank you,

635
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:35,520
Speaker 1: as always to our amazing producer Dylan Fagan, who I

636
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:38,320
Speaker 1: think my sinuses have a grudge match against, but that's

637
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 1: that's not that's not not his fault at all. Um.

638
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,880
Speaker 1: Thank you to you for listening, and we hope that

639
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:47,400
Speaker 1: lots more good things are coming your way,