Today Special : National Cheese Doodle Day
National Cheese Doodle Day, on March 5, celebrates cheese doodles and all the forms they come in. From cheese doodles, cheese puffs, cheese curls, and cheese balls, these tasty snacks are sure to leave fingers bright orange. The process of making these delicious morsels are just as exciting as the snack itself. Cheese doodles are part of an exclusive list of foods that were made by accident, which includes popsicles, ice cream, and potato chips. All great foods deserve a day of observance, so this popular snack has a day to bask in its cheesy glory.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY
Like many popular snack stories, the history of cheese doodles has multiple possible origins. One of the most accepted ones involves a man named Morrie Yohai. Yohai was the president of his father’s company, Old London Foods, based in the Bronx district of New York. After a series of food inventions, the company set about creating another using cornmeal-based animal feed. In 1948, their machines accidentally processed this cornmeal under high pressure, resulting in a tubular shape.
Adding to this process, Old London Foods started baking different cheese flavorings before finding just the right mixture. Cheese Doodlez then entered the market, becoming a delectable hit. Unfortunately for them, Cheetos, the other cheese snack brand, gained national distribution and had a broader market appeal, overshadowing its competitor.
In 1965, the Borden Condensed Milk Company purchased the Cheez Doodle Company, Old London Foods. Borden acquired the snack-food company Wise, where Cheez Doodle was eventually assigned. Wise created Crunchy Cheez Doodles in the late 1960s because people just couldn’t get enough of the snack. They loved the shape, the flavor, and didn’t mind their covered cheese dust fingers. It just meant they had more of that cheesy taste to enjoy.
Today, cheese doodles are considered one of the most popular snacks and their many flavors are well-loved. They’re part of the usual group of snacks you’d expect to find at parties, as well as ingredients for other dishes. Much like their accidental creation, cheese doodles have taken on a life of their own. It’s no wonder that these finger-licking snacks are deserving of their own special day.
NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY ACTIVITIES
- Have a cheese doodle party : Cheese doodles are already the perfect snack at parties, and they’ve earned the right to have a party centered around them. Grab as many flavors and brands of cheese doodles as you can and invite some friends over for a day of fun and games.
- Add cheese doodles to dishes : To give dishes a different flavor and texture by adding cheese doodles to various dishes. Some dish examples are cheese doodle chicken meatballs, putting them in macaroni and cheese, or breading for fried fish. Be extra adventurous by creating recipes using cheese-doodles.
- Share the cheesy goodness : Use the hashtag #NationalCheeseDoodleDay and post a picture of your favorite cheese doodle. Explain why they’re better than every other version of the snack and see what others have to say about their favorites.
FIVE INTERESTING CHEESE DOODLE FACTS
- Cheesy fingers : “Cheez Doodle fingers” is the term used when cheese powder stains fingers after eating cheese-flavored snacks.
- Cheese by the pound : A whopping 15 million pounds of cheese doodles is produced annually.
- Child approval : The famous cooking teacher Julia Child was a fan of Cheez Doodles.
- Flaming hot : A janitor named Richard Montañez invented Flaming Hot Cheetos after being inspired by a street vendor in his neighborhood who made “elote.”
- Cheese wars : Cheez Doodles recently became “cheezier” and more comparable to the flavor of Cheetos.
WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY
- They taste delicious : Cheese doodles stand out among the crowd of chips and crackers. There’s really nothing quite like them. Because they’re puffed and cheesy, the lightness of the texture and the flavor creates a winning combination.
- Snacking guilt-free : Some of us can be hard on ourselves to enjoy the little pleasures in life. With the pressure of diets, we can often ignore the call of junk food, but sometimes it’s essential to let go and live a little. National Cheese Doodle Day gives us that opportunity to set our guilt aside and indulge.
- The cheesiness is irresistible : With some food, getting messy might not be all that fun, but it’s something to look forward to with cheese-doodles. Ending up with orange-stained fingers adds to the pleasurable experience of eating them.
