Although it is a brand name, Cheez Whiz also is an unavoidable regional passion in Philadelphia, where it graces many of the finest cheese steaks. It was invented in the early 1950s by Kraft scientists whose goal was to design a stable cheese for the rarebit trade (a popular luncheon dish of beer, bread, and cheese quickly grilled), but their creation was far greater than they intended. In the tradition of Velveeta, which Kraft had introduced in the 1930s as better than plain cheese (because “nutritive value” was added by scientists), Whiz was marketed as nothing short of a miracle. It has a near eternal shelf life; it melts on contact with hot food, thus eliminating the need for grating; and, unlike so many cheeses, it doesn’t clump or curdle—it is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Instead of being just one monotonous kind of cheese, it is “cheese food,” containing American, mozzarella, Muenster, and Gouda, as well as the tastes of mustard, salt, and Worcestershire sauce, the preservative powers of sorbic acid, and the distinctive school-bus orange hue of food dye #A001M.
When it was test-marketed in 1952, housewives reported 1304 uses for Cheez Whiz, including spooning it into hot macaroni, mixing it with vegetables (as a way of getting children to eat broccoli), dolloping it warm on frankfurters, and spreading it on crackers. They even praised the glass jar it came in (eight- or sixteen-ounce size), which could be reused for jelly or even as an emergency drinking glass. The dissemination of microwave ovens in the 1960s gave Cheez Whiz a whole new life. Bombarded by electromagnetic energy, the claylike stuff in the jar slackens into fluid custard usable as hot cheese sauce or five-layer Mexican dip without a single pot or pan getting soiled.