String cheese

For the band, see The String Cheese Incident.

Luke Everard

Traditional Korbáčiky from Slovakia

String cheese refers to several different types of cheese where the manufacturing process aligns the proteins in the cheese, which makes it stringy. It is possible to peel strings or strips from the larger cheese.

Central Europe

In Slovakia, korbáčiky is made, which is a salty sheep milk cheese, available smoked or unsmoked. It is traditionally made by hand-pulling steamed sheep's cheese into strings and braiding them. Machine milk versions are also available.

West Asia

In Armenia, traditional string cheese is made with a white base. The type of milk used usually comes from an aged goat or sheep depending upon the production methods of the area of choice. It includes black cumin and a middle-eastern spice known as mahleb, and it comes in the form of a braided endless loop. The cheese forms strings because of the way it is pulled during processing. There is also Syrian cheese processed this way. Other cheeses are only cut and pressed, not pulled, and don't develop strings.

Western Europe

Cheestrings became a popular snack in the UK and Republic of Ireland in the early 1990s. They are made from processed cheese by Kerry Group and the mascot is a cartoon character called Mr Strings. The original advert had a theme tune based on the popular song "Bend Me, Shape Me" but with different lyrics ("You got a cheese string day or night, you got a cheese string you're all right"). Originally Mr Strings was a wild cartoon character who pulled himself apart but by the late 1990s the packaging had been redesigned with a more simplified mascot. On television the original Mr Strings was phased out and replaced by an unseen character who played creepy practical jokes on teenage consumers. In the late 2000s the design of Mr Strings was changed for a third time to appear more child-friendly and was given a new catchphrase ("Hey, I'm just cheese").

North America

American string cheese

In the United States, string cheese generally refers to snack-sized servings of low-moisture mozzarella. This form of string cheese is roughly cylindrical, about 6 inches (15 cm) long and less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) in diameter. The cheese is cut and packaged, either individually or as a package of several lengths. The cheese used is nearly always a form of mozzarella, or a combination of mozzarella and cheddar. This type of string cheese gets its name because it can be eaten by pulling strips of cheese from the cylinder along its length and eating these strings. It was invented in 1976 by Frank Baker. String cheese is typically referred to as cheese sticks although not all cheese sticks are string cheese.

Mexico

In Mexico, a very popular type of string cheese called Quesillo is sold in balls of various sizes. It is also known as "Queso Oaxaca" or Oaxaca cheese.

Oceania

In Australia, string cheese is sold by Bega Cheese and is called Bega Stringers. Also string cheese can be sold in a can.

History

String cheese came to prominence following the market crash of 1929. Families desperate for cheese would take discarded cheeses from the aristocrats of the time. They would divide the cheese into sticks. The individual families would then take the sticks and break them into long strings to give to each of their many children. Children would often ask to be given their "string of cheese," which was eventually shortened to string cheese when cheese manufacturers began selling the product after the U.S. economy recovered.

See also

• List of cheeses
• Armenian cuisine
• Pasta filata

External links

• Process of making mozzarella cheese — US Patent 5567464
• Kraft Polly-O - http://www.kraftbrands.com/pollyostringcheese/products.html