(Photo credit: Ile de France)
Raise a glass if you like good cheese!
Now raise a glass if you like good cheese in convenient packaging!
Truly, I would love the excuse to serve up a wheel or generous wedge of brie every time I consume lovely, soft, creamy brie. The reality, however, is that I control myself (whaaa?!) and try to consume small portions, endangering the wrapped remainder to grow stiff and stale in my deli drawer, lest I lack the good sense to host a cheese soiree after every purchase of brie.
This is why I welcome the brie bites that appeared earlier this year (or earlier, if I wasn't looking in the right places) at Trader Joe's and Costco. Each 9-ounce portion has the consistency and flavor that have made me swoon since my first taste at a foreign language festival in the early 90's (Bâtir un pont--parler une autre langue!). Complete with soft, edible rind, these two-bite morsels are individually housed in a plastic cup with a peel-off lid. I confess not only to snacking on these, but also presenting them, quartered, on the occasional impromptu cheese platter (sometimes alongside serving sizes of goat cheese, often conveniently found alongside the brie in in the deli case).
My guess is that both stores carry the same cheese (Ile de France), though Trader Joe's carries it under the company name, Trader Jacques (Trader Joe likes to put clever store name spins on products of foreign origin). So, where can I get the best deal?
My shopping takes me to Costco and Trader Joe's in equal measure, so convenience is not a factor.
Now raise a glass if you like good cheese in convenient packaging!
Truly, I would love the excuse to serve up a wheel or generous wedge of brie every time I consume lovely, soft, creamy brie. The reality, however, is that I control myself (whaaa?!) and try to consume small portions, endangering the wrapped remainder to grow stiff and stale in my deli drawer, lest I lack the good sense to host a cheese soiree after every purchase of brie.
This is why I welcome the brie bites that appeared earlier this year (or earlier, if I wasn't looking in the right places) at Trader Joe's and Costco. Each 9-ounce portion has the consistency and flavor that have made me swoon since my first taste at a foreign language festival in the early 90's (Bâtir un pont--parler une autre langue!). Complete with soft, edible rind, these two-bite morsels are individually housed in a plastic cup with a peel-off lid. I confess not only to snacking on these, but also presenting them, quartered, on the occasional impromptu cheese platter (sometimes alongside serving sizes of goat cheese, often conveniently found alongside the brie in in the deli case).
My guess is that both stores carry the same cheese (Ile de France), though Trader Joe's carries it under the company name, Trader Jacques (Trader Joe likes to put clever store name spins on products of foreign origin). So, where can I get the best deal?
My shopping takes me to Costco and Trader Joe's in equal measure, so convenience is not a factor.
