I had this home and was opening the package before I noticed that it was not a Trader Joe's branded product. I chose it quickly, obviously without paying a lot of attention, and assumed that "Jarlsberg" was a term for a type of reduced-fat Swiss cheese, when actually it's a brand name. Oops. Oh well. I would have bought it anyway.
But it's among the most disappointing Swiss cheeses I've ever tried. It has enough flavor that I can tell it's Swiss, but just barely. I had to use two slices at a time on crackers to get a satisfying amount of cheese taste, which defeats the purpose of having it be low in fat.
It also had a pragmatic problem: the slices were all glommed together, very difficult to separate cleanly. This nullifies the advantage of buying pre-cut slices instead of a block of cheese. It would have been faster and easier to cut my own than to wrestle with the blob inside this package.
Will I buy it again?
No.
That stinks that it was stuck together and you also had 2 use 2 pieces to get a decent taste.
ReplyDeleteThere's a nice wedge of cheese in the cheese case at TJs that is labeled as "baby swiss"- which i don't really understand vs regular swiss- but it has a spot on swiss cheese flavor without being overwhelming which makes it great for snacking as is and it also melts well
ReplyDeleteTtrockwood
If you mean this one, then we'll have to disagree about its flavor: http://exploringtraderjoes.blogspot.com/2015/08/trader-joes-baby-swiss-cheese-chalet.html
DeleteI love this cheese. LOWEST in Sat. Fat.
DeleteTaste is not the only consideration. I love Jarlsberg Lite because with my drop-dead cholesterol, I would be insane to eat full-fat cheese. There are foodies who are such butterfat purists you sneer at us who want to stay alive in spite of our cardiac conditions.
ReplyDeleteFriday. I like it. Healthy and price is right.
ReplyDeleteI agree with those above who said this is a wonderful cheese. Full of good flavor with none of the bad aspects of regular Swiss cheese. My only suggestion would be to restore it to the 16 ounce package it used to be with the price it used to be. It is shrinking and rising in price too quickly!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have noticed with this cheese is that you need to let it breathe...which can be the case with some cheeses. Open it and let it sit in the fridge for two days. And oh man does it get better. So good! And maybe it would air out faster if you left it on the counter for an hour...I don't know. But a good day or two in the fridge does wonders.
ReplyDelete