cheese sauce
{{Short description|Sauce made with cheese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox food
|name=Cheese sauce
|image=Broccoli with cheese sauce, Holiday Restaurant, Semarang, 2014-06-19.jpg
|image_size=
|caption=Broccoli with cheese sauce, at a restaurant in Semarang, Indonesia
|alternate_name=Cheese dip, cheese dipping sauce
|country=
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|creator=
|course=
|served=Can be served cold, warm or hot
|main_ingredient=Cheese, sometimes prepared using processed cheese, dried cheese, or cheese powder
|variations=
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|other=
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Cheese sauce is a sauce made with cheese or processed cheese as a primary ingredient. Sometimes dried cheese or cheese powder is used. Several varieties exist and it has many various culinary uses. Mass-produced commercial cheese sauces are also made by various companies, in both liquid and dry forms. These prepared sauces are used by consumers and restaurants, and commercial formulations are used in the production of various prepared foods, such as macaroni and cheese mixes and frozen meals.
Varieties
Many sauces are prepared with cheese or processed cheese as the primary ingredient.
- Alfredo sauce – an American sauce inspired by Fettuccine Alfredo{{cite news |last=Skladany |first=Joey |date=March 17, 2023 |title=I tried 8 jarred alfredo sauces and the winner is a true dairy queen: The winner of this taste test is a creamy, dreamy jar of goodness. |url=https://www.today.com/food/groceries/best-alfredo-sauce-rcna75306 |accessdate=April 21, 2024 |newspaper=Today |publisher= |location= |pages= |language=}}
- Blue cheese dressing
- Caruso sauce – a South American sauce
- Cheddar sauce
- Chile con queso – has a smooth, creamy texture, and is very popular in the American Southwest
- Crab dip
- Mornay sauce – a French sauce based on béchamel
- Nacho cheese – an American processed cheese sauce
Cheez Whiz is an American brand of processed cheese spread produced by Kraft Foods since the 1950s. It was developed as an easy way to prepare the sauce for Welsh rarebit. It was initially sold in glass jars, and today is sold in jars and spray cans. Cheez Whiz is commonly used for Philadelphia cheesesteak.
Cream cheese is an American sauce originating in Chester, New York. This sauce is a soft and mild cheese made from milk and cream.
File:2021-08-12 17 18 43 An open jar of Kraft Cheez Whiz in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg|An open jar of Cheez Whiz
File:Chili con queso (cropped).jpg|Chili con queso with tortilla chips
File:モルネーソース.jpg|Mornay sauce
File:Philly cream cheese.jpg|Fresh cream cheese sauce in a tub
Culinary uses
File:The Only Original Alfredo Sauce with Butter and Parmesano-Reggiano Cheese.png, prepared with a butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano mixture that forms a cheese sauce as it cooks]]
File:RealHorseshoesandwich.jpg]]
Cheese sauce is commonly used as a dip for various foods, such as chips and vegetables. It is also used as an ingredient or topping for many various dishes and side dishes, such as sandwiches, roasted potatoes, casseroles, pasta dishes, egg, fish and meat dishes and in soups.
Many dishes are prepared using cheese sauce:
- Almadroc
- Cheese fries
- Cheesesteak{{Cite news |last=Carman |first=Tim |date=12 January 2021 |title=Why the Philly cheesesteak gives us hope during a pandemic |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/restaurants/best-philly-cheesesteaks/2021/01/12/98299514-51dd-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html |access-date=3 November 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post}}
- Fettuccine Alfredo
- Fondue – a Swiss melted cheese dish, the sauce typically consists of a blend of cheeses, wine, and seasoning
- Horseshoe sandwich
- Lokshen mit kaese
- Macaroni and cheese{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Kat |date=11 March 2021 |title=Simmer Down: How to Conquer Cheese Sauce for a Perfect Mac 'n Cheese |url=https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/cheese-sauce-recipe-pasta-louise |access-date=3 November 2021 |publisher=Thrillist}}
- Nachos{{Cite web |last=Cain |first=Brenda |date=23 July 2020 |title=Ranking 12 nacho cheese sauces to eat while watching the Cleveland Indians |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/07/ranking-12-nacho-cheese-sauces-to-eat-while-watching-the-cleveland-indians.html |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=cleveland}}
- Tetrazzini
- Welsh rarebit – a dish of cheese sauce over toast, and sometimes the sauce itself
Industrial products
File:2021-03-27 00 13 42 An open container of Fritos Mild Cheddar Naturally Flavored Cheese Dip in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg Fritos cheese sauce]]
Cheese sauce is a mass-produced product in the United States and other countries, such as China and Switzerland. In the U.S., commercial preparations are available to consumers in grocery stores and are used in family-style, casual and fast food restaurants.
Mass-produced cheese sauce is typically prepared aseptically and then packaged in sterile cans, bottles and bag-in-box containers. Some varieties are sold in aerosol cans.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49VCkqxTPJMC&pg=PA319 |title=Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2001 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=2001 |series=S. hrg |access-date=3 November 2021}} Commercial cheese sauces may be prepared using natural cheese, processed cheese, or both.{{efn|Last but not least, there is no existing standard for processed cheese 'sauce'. i.e. natural and/or analogue..."}} Various food additives and preservatives may be used in commercial preparations to create a uniform product that is consistent and stabilized in texture, consistency, color and flavor, to enhance flavor, and to ensure freshness. Some additives and preservatives used may include carrageenan, citric acid, monosodium glutamate, sodium citrate, sorbic acid, and xanthan gum, among others.
The industrial preparation and processing of liquid cheese sauces typically involve the shredding of bulk cheese products which is then placed en masse into a large processing container along with various dry ingredients and emulsifying salts. The mixture is agitated to create a slurry, and is then aseptically treated using various machines to heat and sterilize the product and make it pourable, after which sterile bottles, jars or cans are filled with the product. Such aseptically processed cheese sauces are typically shelf-stable, requiring no refrigeration until opened.
Bag-in-box cheese sauces are typically used in retail environments and involve the use of connecting a bag of aseptically treated cheese sauce to a vessel that heats it and keeps it warm at a food-safe temperature. A pump dispenser is used that delivers the sauce to various items, such as tortilla chips and sandwiches.
Cheese sauces are also mass-produced in a powdered dry mix form. These are produced as an instant food and purveyed to consumers in sauce mix packets and jars. Dry mix packets are also provided in some dry macaroni and cheese products.
Commercial frozen cheese sauce is used as an ingredient in prepared frozen meals and prepared frozen vegetables. In some instances, particularly when a sauce has a high-fat content, the product may require emulsification to keep the product uniform and prevent it from separating. Factors in frozen sauces such as their overall fat content and the size of particulates in them plays a role in how various frozen cheese sauces are formulated, cooked, treated and processed.
Additionally, commercial cheese sauce formulations have been used as an ingredient in processed canned vegetables in the United States.
Circa the later 2000s, the Campbell Soup Company began to modify its canned cheese sauce formulas based upon the company's perceived consumer preferences in various geographic regions in the United States. The company concluded that the sauce was not considered hot enough (pungent) for average consumers in the American Southwest and West while being too hot for consumers in the Eastern United States. At the time, to better serve its customer base, Campbell's began manufacturing a hotter product in their California and Texas plants compared to their other plants.
In July 2018, Kraft Heinz issued a voluntary nationwide product recall in the United States of around 100,000 jars of cheese dip, due to a potential for the growth of Clostridium botulinum because of ingredient separation. It was only distributed in the United States, and consumers were advised not to eat it, even if it lacked signs of spoilage.
File:McD in Moscow 01.jpg|A packet of mass-produced Heinz cheese sauce at a McDonald's restaurant in Moscow, Russia
File:Kraft Dinner Cheese Packet 2018.jpg|Kraft Dinner is packaged with a processed powdered cheese sauce packet (Canada, 2018).
File:2020-02-20 17 43 17 A serving of macaroni and cheese included as part of a Stouffer's Fish Filet Meal after heating in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg|A serving of macaroni and cheese included as part of a frozen meal with frozen cheese sauce as an ingredient
File:2019-03-10 08 53 47 Serving of pretzel bites at the AMC Tysons 14 in Tysons Corner, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg|Pretzel bites with a commercial cheese sauce at a movie theater in the United States
See also
{{portal|Food}}
- Sauce Mornay
- Cheese soup
- Easy Cheese
- List of cheese dishes
- List of sauces
- Pimento cheese – a cheese-based spread
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{Cite web |date=26 July 2018 |title=Kraft Heinz Co. recalls Taco Bell cheese sauce for botulism risk |url=https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/07/kraft-heinz-co-recalls-taco-bell-cheese-sauce-for-botulism-risk/ |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=Food Safety News}}
{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson, David |date=26 July 2018 |title=Taco Bell Cheese Dip Recalled Due to Botulism Risk |url=https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/07/26/taco-bell-cheese-dip-recalled-due-botulism-risk/ |access-date=3 November 2021 |publisher=Snopes}}
{{Citation |last=Brownstone |first=Cecily |title=Chili con Queso Tasty Dip |date=27 June 1972 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LqNYAAAAIBAJ&pg=7378,3274291&dq=chili+con+queso&hl=en |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |page=27 |access-date=22 March 2011}}
{{Cite web |last=Heuck |first=Lidey |date=11 August 2020 |title=Baked Crab Dip With Old Bay and Ritz Crackers Recipe |url=https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021359-baked-crab-dip-with-old-bay-and-ritz-crackers |access-date=4 November 2021 |website=NYT Cooking}}
{{Cite web |last=Kenji López-Alt, J. |date=17 September 2010 |title=Cheese Sauce for Cheese Fries and Nachos Recipe |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/cheese-sauce-for-cheese-fries-and-nachos |access-date=4 November 2021 |publisher=Serious Eats}}
}}
Further reading
- {{Cite journal |date=1 July 2004 |title=Process conditions influence on characteristics of holding tube fouling due to cheese sauce |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023643804000283 |journal=LWT – Food Science and Technology |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=565–572 |doi=10.1016/j.lwt.2004.01.002 |issn=0023-6438 |access-date=3 November 2021 |ref={{sfnref|LWT - Food Science and Technology|2004}}|last1=Li |first1=Lei |last2=Singh |first2=Rakesh K. |last3=Lee |first3=Jun Ho |url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite journal |date=1 July 2013 |title=Whole grain macaroni: Flavour interactions with sodium-reduced cheese sauce |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996913002305 |journal=Food Research International |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=149–155 |doi=10.1016/j.foodres.2013.04.002 |issn=0963-9969 |access-date=3 November 2021 |ref={{sfnref|Food Research International|2013}}|last1=West |first1=Ryan |last2=Seetharaman |first2=Koushik |last3=Duizer |first3=Lisa M. |url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite web |last=Carroll, Linda |date=17 July 2017 |title=How harmful are the chemicals in your boxes of mac and cheese? |url=https://www.today.com/health/how-harmful-are-chemicals-your-boxes-mac-cheese-t113868 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=Today}}
- {{Cite book |last=Marsili |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJ0JLpA5Mc0C&pg=PA210 |title=Sensory-Directed Flavor Analysis |publisher=CRC Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4200-1704-5 |series=Food Science and Technology |pages=210–214 |access-date=3 November 2021}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Szafrańska |first1=Jagoda O. |last2=Sołowiej |first2=Bartosz G. |year=2020 |title=Cheese sauces: Characteristics of ingredients, manufacturing methods, microbiological and sensory aspects |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jfpe.13364 |journal=Journal of Food Process Engineering |publisher=Wiley |volume=43 |issue=4 |doi=10.1111/jfpe.13364 |s2cid=213369294 |issn=0145-8876|url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite journal |last=Townes |first=John M. |date=1 September 1996 |title=An Outbreak of Type A Botulism Associated with a Commercial Cheese Sauce |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |publisher=American College of Physicians |volume=125 |issue=7 |pages=558–563 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-125-7-199610010-00004 |pmid=8815754 |s2cid=15632246 |issn=0003-4819}}
External links
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