unripened materials. It began as a kind of
resolidified, long-keeping fondue made from
trimmings of genuine cheeses that were
unsaleable due to partial defects or damage.
The first industrial attempts to melt together a
blend of shredded cheeses were made at the
end of the 19th century. The key insight — the
necessity of “melting salts” analogous to the
tartaric acid and citric acid in a fondue’s wine
or lemon juice — came in Switzerland in
- Five years later, the American company
Kraft patented a combination of citric acid
and phosphates, and a decade after that it
brought out the popular cheddar look-alike
Velveeta.
Today, manufacturers use a mixture of
sodium citrate, sodium phosphates, and
sodium polyphosphates, and a blend of new,
partly ripened, and fully ripened cheeses. The
polyphosphates (negatively charged chains of
phosphorus and oxygen atoms that attract a
cloud of water molecules) not only remove