KEEP THE VAMPIRES AT BAY! (Philadelphia Light with Garlic & Herbs)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Philadelphia Light with Garlic & Herbs
Date:	19/06/09 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: DELICIOUS, BRILLIANT PACKAGING

Disadvantages: SEE REVIEW

I often take a fancy for some soft cheese when I am making a snack or sandwich. I particularly enjoy a toasted bagel or toasted baguette with soft cheese spread on top, served while it is still lovely and warm... oh yummy!

With Philadelphia cheese being my favourite brand, I often find it a bit over-priced, and opt instead to purchase a supermarket-own branded soft cheese, such as Asda or Tesco. I find that the supermarket own-branded cheeses are still tasty enough, although are not quite of the same quality of Philadelphia cheese.

That said though, they are a fair bit cheaper, and sometimes I am happy to sacrifice a bit of the quality of the cheese in order to save a few pennies on my weekly shop! I find that the smallest size of supermarket-own branded cheese comes in at around 65 pence or so, if memory serves me right, whereas the Philadelphia cheese comes in at around £1.30... quite a saving to be made then!

Such a decision did not require to be made however, when I was shopping in my local Asda supermarket a week or so ago. I noted with delight that there was an offer on the cartons of Philadelphia cheese - I could choose any two packs for the sum of £1.50, thus saving me £1.16, as they were on sale for the price of £1.33 each! I was rather delighted at this prospect, and took the opportunity to stock up on some of these little tubs of cheese. The tubs are the smallest sized tubs available, and are 200g each.

I choose several different varieties of the Philadelphia Cheese, some I had tried before and some I had not. One that I HAD tried before although not for some time, was the "Philadelphia light - Garlic and Herb" flavour. I also choose some plain Philadelphia and some other varieties too (obviously after checking that the expiry dates were well in advance so that none of it would spoil before I had a chance to use it all up!)

With my cheese-flavour decisions made, off home we went and it was the following day that I had my first opportunity to try out the garlic and herb flavoured soft cheese.

After lightly toasting a bagel, I was thinking about spreading some butter on when I remembered about the rather vast quantities of Philadelphia cheese that I had bought the previous day. Choosing the garlic and herb variety, I spread a generous amount on top of my bagel and sat back to enjoy it with a big mug of tea.

I was instantly aware of the garlicky smell as I raised the bagel to my mouth to take a (large) bite! Although not over-powering, the smell was most definitely evident. Also, I was quite impressed with the look of the cheese - soft and white with definite little grey-green coloured flecks of herb through it - it looked to be of high quality, which I wasn't surprised at.

The overall taste was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Just the right balance of garlic, so that it is not over-powering, and the traces of herb through the cheese complimented the consistency of the cheese and the flavour of the garlic perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed the bagel, and opted to have this for my lunch again the following day! The practice of having the same lunch two days in a row is quite unusual for me, and so this itself is proof enough to me that the cheese is a winner!

Another great point that I noted about the packaging - which is a newer style by the Manufacturer (Kraft) is that the lid on the tub of cheese is much sturdier than the older style packaging. It is heavier plastic, which means that it is more secure and therefore I have not had any problems with the cheese drying out prematurely - the better style of packaging has ensured that the cheese has remained very fresh indeed.

The nutritional information on the tub of Philadelphia, which is 200g, informs me that 100g of this cheese will provide 155 calories, and 11.5g of fat... and I'd remind you at this point that this cheese is the "Philadelphia LIGHT" variety! Hmmm... probably not a popular choice for those of you who are watching your figures then?

The packaging also states that the cheese is suitable for vegetarians.

I would definitely recommend this cheese, and will buy it again. Other garlic and herb flavoured soft cheeses that I have bought in the past just don't cut it somehow. But this one is definitely a great choice that I would highly recommend.

Full marks from me! :-D

Summary: Keep those vampires at bay with this Garlic and Herb cheese! :-D