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Devilled Cheese Strips
2 cups grated cheese 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons weak vinegar Shake of cayenne 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon sugar hot toast Cream all the ingredients together until smooth and spread on hot buttered toast; cut in finger strips and serve with salad.
A cold devilled cheese spread on hot toast, meant to be cut into fingers and passed alongside a salad course. It comes together in a bowl in five minutes, so the only real work is getting the paste smooth.
- The hinge: soften everything firstThe mixture is creamed, not cooked, so butter and cheese must be at room temperature or the paste stays lumpy and refuses to spread. Twenty minutes out of the refrigerator is enough; a food processor will do it from cold if you are impatient.
- "Weak vinegar"Period vinegars varied in strength, and a call for "weak vinegar" is most likely a mild or diluted one. Modern bottled vinegar is generally around 5 percent, so use 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar diluted with a little water, or substitute lemon juice for a rounder acidity.
- What cheese to grateThis wants a firm, dry, well-aged cheese — sharp cheddar, Cheshire or a dry Lancashire. Two cups grated is roughly 6 to 8 ounces. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with starch and gives a chalky paste.
- Shake of cayenneRead that as a scant 1/8 teaspoon. Devilled mixtures are meant to bite, but cayenne strength differs between brands, so add half, taste, and adjust.
- The sugar is not a mistakeA teaspoon of sugar against 2 tablespoons of vinegar and the Worcestershire is a deliberate sweet-sour balance, the same logic behind a devilled sauce. Leave it in unless your vinegar is already mild.
- Toast and timingSpread on toast that is hot from the toaster and buttered, then cut and serve at once. Held more than a few minutes the toast goes limp under the moist spread; if you want it firmer, run the finished strips under the broiler for a minute to gloss the top.
- YieldEnough to cover four to six slices of bread, giving 16 to 24 finger strips — a first course or savoury for four to six people.
"Devilled" was in use in English cookery by the late eighteenth century for anything seasoned hot and sharp -- mustard, cayenne, vinegar, Worcestershire -- and it attached itself to kidneys, bones, eggs, crab and, as here, cheese. Cheese fingers on toast belong to the older British savoury course, the small salty dish served after the sweet. The pairing with a salad rather than a full plate suggests light entertaining food rather than a formal course.