Fun in a Can

You can throw that old jar of orangey salty cheese product out now - I have really found the perfect thing to satisfy those processed-cheese cravings.

Just how much fun and satisfaction can be obtained for under $4 anywhere else? This was found at Iqbal Supermarket on Toronto's self-proclaimed "Island" - meaning Thorncliffe Park. Besides being able to pick up your Doon basmati and the best pressed-yohgurt (labneh) in Toronto there, you can find lychee flavoured Jello and other wonders.

But back to the can...



This is a Kraft product made in Australia for the Pakistani (maybe ?) market and is labelled as processed cheddar cheese. Unlike a lot of cheese products one has known (and probably loved as a child, but learned to distain) the first listed item on it's ingredients list is actually cheddar cheese. I don't know Australia's standards for food labelling, but the rest of the list looks like purer, simpler reading to me also.

It's a lot firmer than a rennet cheese like Velveeta and a lot less artificially coloured and salted than Cheese Whiz; but it's a good melter and it really does have a good cheddary taste!

Mmmmmmmmmm! I think I see nachos in my future!

Oscypek Seller in Zakopane (Poland)

I took this picture in Zakopane, Poland - a tourist town in the Tatra Mountains, where there are about 15 oscypek sellers at any given time. I bought some, figuring it was a 'souvenir' sort of food purchase and might be a tourist-friendly version of an historical product.



I soon learned that this smoked sheep's milk cheese is quite traditional, VERY yummy! - and totally authentic unpasteurized cheese product. Check it out on Wikipedia in this great article.

Oscypek is sort of like a firm Haloumi that's been lurking in someone's wood-burning chimney.