Cheese ball with crackers. Lauri Patterson / Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro.
The 17th April is a celebration of all things cheese ball.
Many people hate cheese balls. Or cheeseballs. However you spell it, one word or two, some people see them as being very cheesy, as in “tacky.”
In fact, “cheese ball” is one of those food words that, like corn (as in “corny”), or “vanilla”, has been absorbed into general usage to describe something as being a bit less than exotic or sexy.
Which cheese ball on Cheese Ball Day?
It’s uncertain whether Cheese Ball Day is meant to celebrate cheese balls as in the baked doughy snacks served hot on trays at Christmas, or the larger ball of cheese rolled in chopped nuts that you use as a spread, or even, who knows, whether it means to do something cheese ballish or act like a cheese ball?!
Actually, come to speak of it, did you even know there were different types of cheese balls? Many people don’t — they know only about the kinds of cheese balls they know about. A cheese ball doesn’t have to be the baked concoction that hearkens from the heart of 1950s kitchen kitsch: for the higher-brow amongst you, remember that bocconcini, buffalo-milk fresh mozzarella, Scamorza, and Caciocavallo are all cheese balls!
Among the small businesses getting into the spirit and supporting Cheese Ball Day in the past have been Luizzi’s Cheese Factory in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
In any event, if you want to treat yourself on Cheese Ball Day to a cheese ball, or a ball of cheese, the 17th of April is the day to do it!
#CheeseBallDay
Recipes
History
The earliest print mention we’ve been able to find of Cheese Ball Day occurred in February 2001.
(Click to enlarge) Carey, Tom. He’ll need vacation from holidays. Kokomo Tribune. Kokomo, Indiana. Saturday, 17th February 2001. Page C1, col. 1.