Article: Cheese curds: It's a Minnesota thing; Doing time at the vat helps one appreciate their greasy goodness.(VARIETY)

"Cheese!" Gary Wunderlich hollered from his spot behind the deep-fat fryers. On command, we scrambled to replenish the empty tub of batter-soaked cheese chunks.

Wunderlich scooped out a handful and drizzled the clumps into a vat of hot oil, his fingers nearly touching the surface.

"Using a spoon makes 'em too doughy," he explained. "You don't want to splash them in, and you don't want them in big chunks."

That is key to creating the perfect cheese curd - that uniquely Midwestern dish that makes even the most nutritionally rational person throw caution to the wind at least once a year.

"They're standing in line at 8 o'clock in the ...

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