Last year I missed the season of "calahorra". Like so many things, the word was forgotten until one day two weeks ago the words, "Tengo un regalo para vos!" piqued my ears.
I opened the bag to find four pimentos. A gift indeed!
If you grew up in the South, heavy odds are that you like pimento cheese. Maybe you have a favorite brand or you like to make your own. I made mine, modeling one of my Aunt's recipes but I bought my pimentos in a jar and the cheese was pre-shredded. Those types of purchases don't exist for me in Argentina so the prospect to make a simple comfort food means patience and a little planning*.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese came to the market a few years ago. Last year I found a local cheddar (sold by the block) that is a little better than Kraft but not quite Vermont. (I also found a smokey brand that makes a really good mac-n-cheese but that's a different comfort food day.)
With 0.5 kg of cheddar, 4 pimentos, the Philly cream cheese, mayonnaise (readily available), some really old Tabasco (LONG expired), and a few other condiments, I was ready. I did underestimate the time requirement for roasting the peppers** and overall assembly but the end result was worth the wait, and of course, better the second day. (Luckily, I had already made the bread.)
I've made another batch this week, taking advantage of the season. In what has become my style of cooking, I paired the pimento cheese with two traditional Argentinean breads, "chips" y pan de manteca.
As the season moves on to root vegetables and squashes, I will too, still savoring a new food memory of the end of summer.
* Seasonal availability
** Oven Roasting > roasting one by one over gas flame
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