Cheese Straws

You’ll find this recipe in:
Tried and True Cook Book
By the Ladies Aid Society and Friends of the First Methodist Episcopal Church
Deadwood, South Dakota – 1891

Original Recipe:

CHEESE STRAWS.
Half a cup of sifted flour, same of grated cheese, one tablespoon of butter, salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Mix well, roll thin, cut in narrow strips four inches long, bake 15 minutes in a slow oven.
Mrs. E. W. Martin.

My recipe:

1 ½ cups (355 mL) flour – 225 g
1 ½ cups (355 mL) grated cheese – 125 g
3 tbsp (45 mL) butter – 25 g
½ tsp (2.5 mL) salt
¼ tsp (1.25 mL) cayenne pepper
½ cup (118 mL) water

Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C). Grate the cheese and add it to a bowl along with the butter. I find it’s much easier to incorporate cold butter into a recipe if I grate it on a cheese grater as well. Measure out the flour, salt and cayenne pepper into the bowl with the cheese and butter. Mix with a pastry cutter or forks until the chunks of cheese and butter are quite small. Add water a little bit at a time until it forms into a dough.

Roll out thinly and use a knife to cut into narrow 4 inch (10 cm) long strips, about 1 cm or ½ inch thick, and place the straws on a cookie sheet and put in the oven. After about 10-15 minutes, the bottoms will start to brown. Remove from the oven and flip. They are done when crisp and golden on both sides. This recipe makes about 60 Cheese Straws.

My 2 cents: My first thought when I had a good read of the 1890s recipe was “Well, that’s not going to make very much at all!”, so my recipe is actually tripled from the original. Another way that I strayed from the original is that there was no way that the butter, cheese and flour would form into a dough, so I ended up adding about ½ cup of water that isn’t listed in the historic recipe.

I ended up using mozzarella cheese, and that’s not because I’m suggesting that people ate mozzarella in Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1890s. I’m writing this blog post about 2 weeks into social distancing in Ontario due to the COVID-19 virus. Mozzarella was just what I had in the house and I didn’t want to venture out to the grocery store just to buy a more appropriate cheese!

March 31, 2018: Cayenne Cheeses (1861) - March 31, 2019: Cheese Hooies (1965) - March 31, 2020: Cheese Straws (1891)

I almost missed marking my special occasion today – today is my 2 year blogaversary! 2 years ago today, I nervously and excitedly hit “publish” on my very first recipe post. The inaugural recipe that I picked was Cayenne Cheeses from the 1861 cookbook Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, selected because it was – and it still is – my favourite historic recipe that I’ve ever made and eaten. I definitely recommend that you give it a try.

At some point, I noticed that there was a very similar recipe in another old cookbook of mine, Stillmeadow Cookbook by Gladys Taber. Cheese Hooies contain basically the same ingredients as Cayenne Cheeses: butter, flour, cheese, salt and cayenne pepper, but this cookbook was written about 100 years later in 1965.

So I decided to make Cheese Hooies to celebrate my one-year anniversary of blogging. The ratio of ingredients was different than Cayenne Cheeses and this recipe made use of a refrigerator. Hooies were much saltier, more floury and the recipe also suggested sprinkling sugar on top, which was honestly a bit strange.

Fast forward to this past September, when we were road-tripping in the United States. On our way to Yellowstone, we made a stop in Rapid City, South Dakota for dinner and to stretch our legs for a bit. When we saw a used bookstore, Again Books & Bazaar, of course Steve and I popped in! We both love second-hand bookstores.

I was very happy to find a reprint of Tried and True Cookbook, a community cookbook compiled by the “Ladies Aid Society and Friends of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Deadwood, South Dakota” in 1891. First of all, this book is unique because I wouldn’t be very likely to happen upon a copy in Ontario, but what sealed the deal was that it contained a Cheese Straw recipe for me to make on March 31st.

So how do the Cheese Straws compare to Cayenne Cheeses and Cheese Hooies? Cheese Hooies sit down in the bronze medal ranking, for sure. I’d say Cheese Straws get the silver medal, but they contain much less butter and have a more floury texture and are less crispy. Cayenne Cheeses are still the champion, and it is all because of the butter.

For 2021, I know of an early 1900s Cheese Straw recipe in my cookbook collection that takes a different approach than the other recipes, but I’d love to hear suggestions from you if you know of a historic or vintage Cheese Straw or Cheese Biscuit recipe.