Why put cheese on apple pie?
Cheddar cheese on apple pie is one of those things you hear about in Vermont a lot. A friend told me she thinks it’s an “old- school Vermont thing.” Her dad used to tell her about mom-and-pop diners that served apple pie with a wedge of cheddar on the side. Though I’ve never seen it on a menu myself, I’ve known by word of mouth that it’s a long-held tradition . Another friend told me she’d never heard of it until she moved to Vermont eight years ago. Since trying it, she said, she’ll never have apple pie any other way.Advertisement
As it turns out, cheddar on apple pie isn’t really a Vermont thing — it’s bigger than that. “Though fans of apple pie with cheese exist everywhere, they seem to be concentrated in the American Midwest, New England, and parts of Canada and Britain,” says a 2017 Gastro Obscura deep dive on the topic. Meanwhile, Southern Living argues you will never find this in the S outh: “If you serve a Southerner a slice of warm apple pie topped with a wedge of sharp cheddar cheese, prepare for confusion, or at the very least: ‘Where’s the ice cream?’”
The tradition of cheese with apple pie— and its accompanying motto, “a n apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze”— purportedly have English roots. Though I’d always seen apple pie with a slab of cheddar on top, this Paul Hollywood recipe for Apple and Wensleydale pie puts the cheese inside the pie itself and then sternly tells us not to put anything on top of the pie at the end: “The pie is delicious hot or cold and needs no accompaniment.” Advertisement
Paul Hollywood may not offer a handshake to Vermonters in this regard. A Vermont law relating to the state pie (apple, obviously) demands that purveyors make a “good faith effort” to serve pie alongside either a cold glass of milk, a slice of cheddar cheese weighing a minimum of 0.5 oz. , or a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. It doesn’t say what to do if there’s already cheese in the pie.
Though I found American recipes that put cheddar right in the pie (and in the crust), this recipe from Cabot says you should serve the cheese on the side, and that’s what I’d always heard about, so that’s what I decided to do for my own venture into this debate. Advertisement
Some would argue that apple pie goes better with cheddar. Others are horrified.
S eeking an excuse to eat some apple pie this fall , I decided to write about one of the things that’s been a mystery to me since moving to Vermont about a decade ago: cheddar cheese on apple pie. I had no idea that investigating this custom would be a headfirst dive into a pool of stark division .MTN DEW Baja Blast Hot Sauce Is a Gorgeous Oddity Share Subtitles
People have strong feelings about cheddar cheese on apple pie. In a recent, very unscientific poll I conducted among my own social media followers, 45% of responders said they’ve never had cheddar cheese on their apple pie —and they never will. Meanwhile, 21% said they love it, and 30% said they’ve never had it, but they’re curious.Advertisement
Apple & Cheese Pie from 1553
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