Many movies set in the early 20th century feature kitchen and dining scenes. They’re memorable because the food cooked there resembles nothing we’ve seen in the 21st century. Wild animals aren’t roasted in a pot-bellied cast iron oven today. We still make homemade bread, but we don’t eat hoop cheese.
However, lots of people remember the days of hoop cheese in Columbus, GA. It’s still sold in old-fashioned general stores in the deep South. Its taste is unlike cheeses produced anywhere else. What is hoop cheese’s background?
How It’s Made
Formerly known as a wheel of cheese and still called red rind or black rind hoop cheese, hoop cheese is different from other cheeses. It’s made from pure milk without cream or salt.
The milk forms cottage cheese, from which the whey is pressed. Now the cheese curds are poured into the round mold that gives the cheese its name. A red or black wax layer on the bottom of the mold gives the cheese its rind.
The cheese is a rich yellow with a creamy texture that turns hard and crumbly as the cheese ages. It’s a soft cheese that blends well with other cheeses in casseroles and other dishes. Its slightly nutty flavor adds an elegant touch to a dish.
Hoop Cheese Today
Many people have wondered why hoop cheese in Columbus, GA, disappeared from all but roadside stalls and old-fashioned general stores in the deep South. Hoop cheese lovers remember being sold wedges of the cheese wrapped in wax paper so it wouldn’t spoil before you got it home. That’s the snag – because hoop cheese isn’t made with salt, it can’t be preserved like other cheeses.
Hoop cheese has been removed from cheese makers’ menus due to that fact. It can’t be transported very far before it spoils, so cheese makers ceased to make it. Only in the deep South is hoop cheese still made with pride and sold with pleasure.
