Two Popular Cheeses Were Born in the Hudson Valley
Anyone else hungry?
The Hudson Valley is known for many things, our great views, some amazing apple orchards, hiking trails, more recently, a great place for movies to get made, but did you know that two super popular cheeses were born right in our backyard?
I for one had no clue, until someone left us a message on Facebook to share their cheesy find with us. Every day at 7:30 a.m. on the Wakin' Up with CJ and Jess Show we give listeners a "useless fact" for the day, think information that may surprise you, but most times has know meaning or use whatsoever. For example the other day our fact was that, "Philadelphia Cream Cheese was actually created in Chester, New York."
Before we share our "facts" each day, I do as much research as I can to make sure it somewhat factual and wouldn't you know it, cream cheese was mass produced for the first time back in 1873 by a local dairyman, William A. Lawrence. According to Wikipedia, Lawrence lived in the Orange County town of Chester and in 1872, he figured out that by adding cream to the cheese making process he developed a richer cheese that he called “cream cheese”. A few years later he released the first brand of cream cheese and called it "Neufchatel & Cream Cheese". It wasn't until 1880 when they changed the name to "Philadelphia Cream Cheese".
The second cheese that comes from our backyard, is one you might still enjoy today!! According to a Facebook comment on our page, Donna told us that Velveeta comes from her hometown of Monroe, New York. REALLY? So again I had to fact check and wouldn't you know it, again, another true fact.
If you've never had Velveeta cheese, it's a more liquid form of cheese, it's softer and smoother and as far as I'm concerned, is a must ingredient in good mac-n-cheese. According to Wikipedia, Velveeta was invented back in 1918 by Emil Frey of the Monroe Cheese Company, which was also located in Orange County, but in the town of Monroe. The Velveeta Cheese Company was sold to Kraft foods in 1927.
Do you know of any other "things" that were inverted or created in any of our Hudson Valley towns? Let us know through the app or leave a comment below.