Kenneth Coble muttered....

>
>
> "Opinicus" > wrote in message
> ...
>> ConnieG999 > said:
>>
>> >> I heard a reference to hook cheese while viewing the Food Channel
>> >> on making maccaroni and cheese. Does anyone know what hook cheese
>> >> is?
>> > You probably heard "hoop cheese".
>
> [snip]
>
> Well, I've lurked here a while and this is my first post. Around here
> (central North Carolina, USA) hoop cheese is what a lot of older
> people call medium to sharp cheddar cheese. There used to be a little
> country store nearby where my grandparents would stop and buy 'hoop
> cheese' and the clerks would cut a wedge off a big wax-covered wheel
> (possible source of the 'hoop' part of the name) of cheddar. When I
> was a kid it was always sharper than I liked...
>
> So in regard to the original poster's question, it might help if we
> knew who the host of the show was and what the provenance of the
> recipe was. There's that older lady from South Carolina who has a
> show... if it was her, she may well have meant cheddar cheese.
> Especially as the OP said it was a mac'n'cheese recipe, I'd bet on the
> cheddar. Just my $0.02, and now I'll re-lurk...
>
Other US perspective....

No way, Jose!

"Cheddar" is a name of late origin given to sort of standard classic yellow
regular cheese in the US. It ain't cheddar or much like (except in some
aged, small batch varieties) what transpondians think of as cheddar.
better we should use names like the humble "Rat trap" or "Longhorn"
(signifying long logs instead of fat wheels) as more descriptive and apt.

In my experience, "hoop" or "Farmer" cheese was the basic "curds minus
whey" product, partially/mostly strained and receiving it's name from
having been packed into a wooden of metal "hoop" (ring) from which aging
might turn into cheese for slicing or grating and other culinary purpose.

Cottage cheese and ricotta may have similar flavors but have either not
been dehydrated to the extent that hoop cheese is (or have had milk solids
and liquid added back, as i suspect storbought cottage cheese does).

TMO