This cheese tastes mild and has a firm texture right out of the package. However, when you fry it, something amazing happens: the cheese becomes soft and takes on a nuttier, cheesier flavor. Its taste is particularly complimented by something sweet like jam, honey or maple syrup.
Here, I have coated it in maple syrup and pan fried it for a couple of minutes on each side until it's soft. Just a warning: this stuff is addictive!
6 comments:
I never saw that. Crazy.
Hi Jolene,
I think the frying cheese that TJ's is selling is very similar to Finnish frying cheese called Kainuun leipajuusto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipajuusto
Anyways. In my opinion the best way to eat it is with cloudberry jam. You can get that at the Ikea food market.
Addictive for sure!
Thanks for the photo :)
I recently discovered this wonderful item at my TJs, and I was looking around to see what others were doing with it. I think it is fantastic! I place mine in small squares, into a non-stick fry pan, then onto toasted whole grain english muffins (also found at TJs) then I top with either cherry preserves, or fig preserves. This is wonderful comfort food with a cup of my favorite tea. Thank you for your post and the maple syrup suggestion.
While this cheese called "frying cheese" is new to Trader Joe's, it has been around for awhile. Originally from Finland, it is called Bread Cheese there, due to the fact that it resembles the round flat shape of Finnish rye bread. In my family we called it "squeaky cheese", as it squeaks when you bite it. Whenever I visited the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as a child, we would buy a round of "squeaky cheese" from a local farmer's wife who made and sold it from her kitchen. My Finnish grandfather used to "warm" the cheese by dunking cubes of it into his hot coffee. (Finns were the original coffee dunkers, long before Dunkin Donuts came along). You can also warm it briefly in the microwave, if you prefer, rather than frying it. Since it contains very little fat, it doesn't melt like other cheeses. In Finland they typically eat this slightly sweet and firm cheese with cloudberry preserves....find them at IKEA or a Scandinavian specialty store. Apricot preserves have a similar taste.
Randy
Thanks for the tips Randy (and pietari too!) I knew it was too good to be exclusive to trader joes.
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