That generally just refers to cheese curds.

Swap out the processed cheese for a good cheddar, and we’re talking.

“IST. Cheese-IST.”

Note: I’m lactose intolerant and love cheese. Maybe I’m a cheese snob but I actually prefer “sharp cheddar” over “mild cheddar” because “mild cheddar” reminds me of American.

to elaborate: “pasteurized process cheese” is, in fact, a mixture of cheeses with a small amount of pre-approved emulsifier (vegetable oil is not allowed), which must be 3% or less of the final product by weight. the better american cheeses (the kind you get at the deli) fall into this category, e.g. Land O’ Lakes (my favorite), or Boar’s Head. they are, basically, real cheese apart from a technicality.

the cheeses including vegetable oil, as you describe, are in the lesser category “pasteurized process cheese food,” which are required only to be at least 51% cheese by weight. in fact, there are very few products in this category. for example, the pre-wrapped “singles” are in the even lower category “pasteurized process cheese product,” along with velveeta.

it’s a shame that people associate genuine American cheese (which is basically cheese engineered to melt smoothly) with the awful crap that is Kraft “singles.”

Aside from the bizarre texture, it is quite good…slightly salty and a touch sweet.   A heart attack in the making, of course. 

A bit more about Juustoa: http://up.secondwavemedia.com/features/juustoa8311.aspx

This dates back to the early 20th century, when Kraft introduced Velveeta. Velveeta is colby and cheddar with milk added back in to make it soft. The cheese/milk mixture is sealed in foil and pasteurized, so it’s shelf-stable; it does not spoil at room temperature. 

When it was first introduced, it was tremendously popular. Sales of other cheeses plummeted. Panicked cheese makers ran to Congress to try to legislate away what they couldn’t compete with. What they *wanted* was to force Kraft to label their killer product “embalmed cheese,” but they had to settle for “processed cheese spread.”

That sandwich looks awfully over-cheesed to me. I like the contrast that a fairly light bread (esp. a good sourdough) brings to the sandwich; the delicate crunchiness to contrast with the soft ooze of the cheese. Velveeta or gouda in the middle, and a light dusting of grated Parmesan on the outside, for extra crunch and flavor after it’s grilled. 

So by an extension, a literal ice-cream sandwich would involve ice cream between bread and would be disgusting, and a figurative and much more common ice-cream sandwich would include substitute bread for those frozen biscuit cookie things they use.

It’s like Australia and America got together and had a pseudodairy yeast extract baby, then cut it into slices, individually wrapped it, and stuck it in the fridge to eat later.