Emil named it “Wreath of Song” for the Liederkranz customers.  It soon became as internationally known as tabasco from Texas or Parisian Camembert which it slightly resembles.  Borden’s bought out Frey in 1929 and they enjoy telling the story of a G.I. who, to celebrate V-E Day in Paris, sent to his family in Indiana, only a few miles from the factory at Van Wert, Ohio, a whole case of what he had learned was “the finest cheese France could make.”  And when the family opened it, there was Liederkranz.

Another deserved distinction is that of being sandwiched in between two foreign immortals in the following recipe: 

 Schnitzelbank Pot

1 ripe Camembert cheese 1 Liederkranz 1/8 pound imported Roquefort 1/4 pound butter 1 tablespoon flour 1 cup cream 1/2 cup finely chopped olives 1/4 cup canned pimiento A sprinkling of cayenne

Depending on whether or not you like the edible rind of Camembert and Liederkranz, you can leave it on, scrape any thick part off, or remove it all.  Mash the soft creams together with the Roquefort, butter and flour, using a silver fork.  Put the mix into an enameled pan, for anything with a metal surface will turn the cheese black in cooking.

Stir in the cream and keep stirring until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.  Strain through sieve or cheesecloth, and mix in the olives and pimiento thoroughly.  Sprinkle well with cayenne and put into a pot to mellow for a few days, or much longer.

The name Schnitzelbank comes from “school bench,” a game.  This snappy-sweet pot is specially suited to a beer party and stein songs.  It is also the affinity-spread with rye and pumpernickel, and may be served in small sandwiches or on crackers, celery and such, to make appetizing tidbits for cocktails, tea, or cider.

Like the trinity of cheeses that make it, the mixture is eaten best at room temperature, when its flavor is fullest.  If kept in the refrigerator, it should be taken out a couple of hours before serving.  Since it is a natural cheese mixture, which has gone through no process or doping with preservative, it will not keep more than two weeks.  This mellow-sharp mix is the sort of ideal the factory processors shoot at with their olive-pimiento abominations.  Once you’ve potted your own, you’ll find it gives the same thrill as garnishing your own Liptauer.

Minnesota Blue

The discovery of sandstone caves in the bluffs along the Mississippi, in and near the Twin Cities of Minnesota, has established a distinctive type of Blue cheese named for the state.  Although the Roquefort process of France is followed and the cheese is inoculated in the same way by mold from bread, it can never equal the genuine imported, marked with its red-sheep brand, because the milk used in Minnesota Blue is cow’s milk, and the caves are sandstone instead of limestone.  Yet this is an excellent, Blue cheese in its own right.