You Don’t Need To Like Pimento Cheese To Be A Southerner

August 26th, 2016

Come to find out that not every Southerner is a fan of pimento cheese.

MATTHEW MEAD / Associated Press

Commentator Nick Rogers strongly identifies as a Southerner.

Throughout his series “Fried Pies and Moonshine” on “City Lights,” Rogers has discussed the important connection between Southern cuisine and Southern identity. So when Rogers realized he had a distaste for pimento cheese, he felt shame.

“It’s enough to get you blacklisted from potlucks if not run out of town entirely,” he said.

To work through this identity crisis, Rogers asked his social network of friends online, via Facebook, to give him recommendations for the best pimento cheese out there. While he did receive a number of suggestions, to his surprise Rogers wasn’t alone in his negative feelings toward the orange spread. Some friends claimed the cheese is “granny food” and that “the texture is off-putting.”

Emboldened by this observation, Rogers went in search of more concrete data to prove to himself he could let go of his shame. He posted a survey on his Facebook page, asking respondents what they thought of pimento cheese, if they were born in the South and their age. Rogers found two main themes: that people don’t necessarily love pimento cheese as much as they say they do and that whether or not a person enjoys the stuff depends on where they’re from and how old they are.

With this solid evidence that not every Southerner loves pimento cheese, Rogers was able to find some inner peace.

“I tried to conquer my secret Southern shame by facing my fears and changing myself, but instead I learned that you can also beat shame by acknowledging that you are what you are and knowing that somewhere out there, there are enough people out there to start a support group.”