The Beloved Sandwich First Lady Rosalynn Carter Once Made 30,000 Feet In The Air

When the Carters took up residency in The White House in 1977, they brought a distinctively Southern flare. From Jimmy Carter's habit of serving grits (even to global diplomats) to an ongoing friendship with members of the Allman Brothers, the peanut farmer-turned-politician and his family spent their four years in D.C. shaking up the stodgy world of federal government with their distinct, unpretentious Southern hospitality. Perhaps the most hospitable of the Carters was Rosalynn Carter, President Carter's beloved wife. It should come as no surprise that Rosalynn Carter expressed her welcoming nature through food, even while flying at 30,000 feet.

She was well known for her quintessentially Southern recipes, including a distinct love of mayonnaise. One of her most notable recipes was her pimento cheese spread. In fact, according to her grandson, Jason Carter, she once brought her pimento cheese spread aboard a Delta flight. As Jason told Southern Living, "After takeoff, we looked over, and my grandmother had taken out a Tupperware of her pimento cheese and a loaf of bread and started making sandwiches." Not only did Rosalynn Carter whip up a quick snack for her family mid-flight, according to Jason Carter, she also shared them with other passengers. This anecdote illustrates her generous spirit and her commitment to being of service to those around her, but it also makes us wonder: What was in Rosalynn Carter's pimento cheese?

For Rosalynn Carter's pimento spread, freshly shredded cheddar cheese should be used. Pre-bagged cheese contains anti-caking agents that can mess with the consistency of your spread, causing it to be too clumpy. It's also important to balance out the cream cheese and mayonnaise in your pimento recipe; her's calls for 1 cup of cream cheese, ½ cup of mayonnaise, and 4 cups of cheese. This ratio keeps the mayonnaise from being too overwhelming, and brings out the richness of the cream cheese without drowning out the essential mayo twang.

Perhaps Carter's biggest pimento cheese trick is her use of grated yellow onions. This ingredient is not all too common in most pimento cheese recipes, but adds a great, fresh bite to a simple dish. Sweet, Georgia Vidalia onions give a milder yellow onion flavor to your pimento spread and add another, super-Southern twist to your dish. Vidalia onions are also great for eating raw, which can be quite intimidating for many diners. To get the most of this recipe, pack it in some Tupperware and bring it onto your next flight (make sure to pack enough to share with your fellow passengers).

It makes sense Rosalynn Carter had her very own pimento cheese recipe; it's one of the most essentially Southern foods, and pimento cheese sandwiches are even the official state sandwich of Georgia. However, the cheesy, mayo-rich spread is actually less Southern in origin than one might expect. The first iteration of the dish was actually sold nationwide, and featured Neufchâtel cheese rather than cream cheese and pimentos. The spread was quite popular during World War I thanks to its convenient, prepackaged nature and easy spreadability. Originally developed in New York, this spread was not a beloved, home-cooked dish, but the product of a food system that was bending more toward industrialization and mass production. The first recipe for this dish was potentially printed in "Good Housekeeping" in 1908, but, before long, manufacturers were making batches of the spread for sale.

Over the years, pimento cheese did become a truly Southern food, and one especially associated with Carter's home state of Georgia. Some credit Georgians' affinity to the cheese with the burgeoning pimento-growing and -canning industry in Georgia during the first half of the 20th century. Other theories posit that this spread gained its Southern reputation as a result of the Great Depression, when many households crafted their own recipes when cream cheese or prepackaged pimento cheese became too expensive. Or maybe what makes it Southern has nothing to do with origins or industries, but its simplicity, malleability, and easy-to-share serving style, which Rosalynn Carter knew so well.