This week we launch the Pimento Cheese Sandwich. This was the first sandwich ever championed by an employee – me, back in 2010 when I was a team leader on the first MIT truck.

I grew up in Austin, Texas. My grandmother would always make pimento cheese sandwiches for family reunions and picnics. I think she learned it from her in-laws who were from Mississippi, or maybe from her mom who was from San Antonio. Either way, it was one of the major Southern foods I learned about as a child. It’s a grated cheese spread with mayo and some mild pimento peppers (you know, the things they stuff olives with). Usually it’s made with a basic cheddar cheese, and usually it’s spread on white bread or Saltine crackers. I told Ayr and Rolando about it. I thought it would make a good Clover sandwich. As New Englanders, they had never heard of it, but were willing to let me make up a batch in our kitchen. A little dev work, and we tested the Clover version on customers at the truck. And since then it’s been one of the best-loved seasonal sandwiches we do here!

It has a spread we make with sharp 1-year Grafton cheddar, mayo, roasted sweet peppers, dill, and capers, then it gets a layer of pickled celery, and thick cucumber slices tossed with Aleppo pepper. It’s rich and cheesy but also has a lot of fresh, pickled flavors. And once we figure out packaging, we’re going to be selling deli containers of pimento cheese spread in our new retail area at HFI.