Philadelphia is a well known Kraft brand of many years that makes soft cheese and has recently been revitalised by advert campaigns for cooking with the product. Coming in various flavours now there is much more to the basic cream cheese than once was.


**PACKAGE**
Having not bought Philadelphia for probably a couple of years, I was surprised to see the variety that was available in a simple cream cheese. The version I am currently trying out is "Philadelphia light garlic and herbs".
What first caught my eye was the change of tub packaging. Instead of the slightly flimsily plastic pop off lid and foil peel back, comes a new more sturdy plastic lid similar to margarine tubs, but you still get the peel back foil. I don't mind this as at least I can be sure no one has been poking about in it before I buy it! This according to the company is part of there "stay fresh pack" design, and I think it does do the job better than the old.
The 200gram tub is predominantly coloured with blue and pictures of garlic and herb effects along with Philadelphia logos.

**INGREDIANTS AND NUTRIONAL INFORMATION**
Although this is advertised and marketed as a light Philadelphia, it is a medium fat soft cheese, which I have to say I find a little confusing. I just assumed, perhaps wrongly, that light = low fat. They do put on the front however that for each 30 gram serving you receive calories of 47, sugar of 1.2g, fat of 3.5g of which saturates are 2.4g and salt of 0.3g. This for weight watchers equals 1.5 points, which is not actually that bad, so they have me back in favour. They also give more detailed listings on the back along with the ingredients.
The ingredients are fairly simple - medium fat soft cheese, garlic, herbs, stabilisers (locust bean gum and carrageenan) citric acid and pasteurised milk.
*to note apparently (thanks to wikipedia) carrageen an is a stabilising agent derived from seaweed and used as an alternative to gelatine, making products more suitable for vegetarians etc.

**SO WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE**
On opening the pack you get an immediate waft of garlic followed by a subtle hint of herbs, this of course mixed with a soft cheese smell. The rich creamy texture of the soft cheese is apparent from the sight and it does taste like this too. This is what I prefer about Philadelphia to some other brands, as with some the taste can be somewhat rubbery and to mild; you defiantly don't get that with this product.
The green flecks of the herbs are in abundance throughout the cheese and are well mixed so you don't get bits everywhere. The garlic is quite strong, I like that but I do feel it may be a little overpowering for some people.
The taste itself doesn't linger in your mouth for to long which is nice when using it as part of a meal, but be warned the garlic may linger longer.

I tend to use mine on sandwiches or crackers, but as previously said there are many adverts for using it in cooking - something I am yet to try.
You can find reciepes at www.philadephia.co.uk

Avaliable in most supermarkets for around £1.70