Comment by vel0city | Hacker News Reader

Comment by vel0city | Hacker News Reader

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What? Just about every Walmart with a grocery I've been to sells blocks of cheese. These are all available at multiple Walmarts around me.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Block-Sharp-Cheddar-C...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Low-Moisture-Part-Ski...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Frigo-Parmesan-Cheese-Wedge-5-oz-...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tillamook-Medium-Cheddar-Cheese-B...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Swiss-Cheese-Block-8-...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dutchmark-Smoked-Gouda-Cheese-7-o...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Castello-Gourmet-Creamy-Danish-Ha...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kerrygold-Grass-Fed-Dubliner-Iris...

and on and on and on and on and on...

It might not be right next to the pre-shredded cheese (usually those house brand blocks of cheddar and what not are), sometimes they're in a fancier part of the deli area. But I can't think of a time I've gone to a Walmart looking for a block of cheese and not found any cheese.

Its not going to be the fanciest varieties, but once again the question was for "basics" that don't exist. Having cheddar, swiss, parmesean, gouda, etc. is having the basics.

Yeah, no European is going to tell you this is "real cheese"

What makes it not "real cheese"?

The 'cheddars' are a weird colour and look rubbery, the 'mozzarella' is a hard block(‽), the 'Swiss cheese' is... I don't know what, which Swiss cheese is it?

I didn't look further than that; the parmesan looked most plausible - though '10 months' stood out, I don't think I've seen less than 24 in UK supermarkets, possibly it's a PDO related thing regulating the process. (Whereas the US doesn't respect PDO and linked one possibly made in US anyway.)

You're able to tell the actual texture and hardness of the cheese through pictures on website listing. Incredible.

Cheddar is expected to be this color in the US market, its common to add annatto to it. There are other white cheddars as well, but its usually expected to be about this color. Its not weird to be in cheese as its commonly found in Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, Cheshire, and Shropshire Blue, French Mimolette, and even other European varieties of cheddar.

Mozzarella often comes in multiple different varieties. There's the "fresh" mozzarella which is sold in the whey, while there's also commonly "low-moisture" mozzarella that's commonly used for shredding purposes. This is true in the US as in Europe. Either way, "fresh" mozzarella can also be easily found at Walmart.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/BelGioioso-Fresh-Mozzarella-Chees...

"Swiss cheese" is a common name for Emmental in the US. So once again, ignorance. Thanks for showcasing it so clearly. I guess Emmental isn't a real cheese either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_(North_America)

So ignorance and pretentiousness. Got it. Thanks for proving it.

But hey, you also said these products didn't even exist just a few comments ago so its not too surprising.

Once again, I'm not saying these are high quality cheeses. They're cheap. They're not fancy at all. Nobody goes to Walmart to get "the good stuff". But that doesn't make them not cheese. Maybe crappy cheeses, sure. Maybe produced in not the right region for a given name according to some jurisdictions. But the standard given was real and basic, not fancy or high end or excellent quality or whatever. I would agree, for good cheese I don't go to Walmart, I go elsewhere. But if all I need is a block of cheddar or emmental or "gouda" or whatever to make some sandwiches, its fine.

If you had said "good" cheese I'd have agreed with you. It's not great cheese. If I'm wanting good cheese I'll go elsewhere. But instead the standard was "real" cheese.

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