I am solidly in the Philadelphia camp (I practically have to be), but TBF have not tried many other US cream cheeses. In Germany I also like Bressot, but have not seen it back home.
We are lucky to get Sierra Nevada cream cheese out here in the west.
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Gotta say, on this I agree with the SE winners in all 3 cats. Growing up Philly cream cheese blocks and whipped Temptee had a prominent space in our family frig. Used for entirely diff purposes but alongside other mainstays like Grandma’s homemade butter, Hellman’s mayo and my Aunt’s homemade ricotta cheese.
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Sierra Nevada products are universally excellent.
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I think Kraft has the ACME of cream cheese on lockdown w/ Philly. It’s simply the baseline of what you expect when you think ‘cream cheese’ in the US.
I will give a shout to Gina Marie cream cheese, which may have been the first ever non-Philly cream cheese I ever had that i thought “oh! This can be a different thing!”
Highly recommend:
You can order it from sierranevada
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I have never noticed that brand in my markets. You are significantly closer to the CA border than I am, so maybe it is more of a N. CA,/S. Oregon regional product. I looked at their list of stores they sell to. They act like my local Safeway sells it but I checked, and they don’t seem too. They list a “natural” food store not too far from me. I’ll keep an eye out. Have you tried their butter?
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I haven’t seen the butter.
Sierra Nevada butter is fabulous!!!
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Ben’s is my favorite, fairway in nyc carries it:
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Ben’s is a very New Yorker choice. Temptee as well, till they sold to Kraft.
I never eat block cream cheese plain, nor would I ever make a cheese cake so I highly doubt I’d be able to discern big differences in brands. I usually go for what’s on sale/cheapest in the moment.
For whipped cream cheese, I also buy whatever is on sale. Except for Passover when I will only buy Temp Tee because that is what I grew up eating.
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It’s what comes of reading Calvin Trillin at age 17:
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Lots of great products available out west. Straus sour cream, too, and it’s impossible to get dry Monterey Jack cheese here in Boston though Rogue Creamery cheeses are sometimes available. I’m jealous!
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re Monterey Jack, my old country Italian in-laws exclusively used Monterey Jack, considering Parmesan Regianno as an unnecessary conceit.
Do you know if R&D uses Ben’s, or do they make their own? The two taste very similar to me.
I dunno, wouldn’t be surprised. Their lox comes from acme as does just about everyone else’s.
Philadelphia household here. I honestly don’t recall seeing anything around here besides Philly and inferior store brands. I’m feeling a bit jealous. I’ll look for Ben’s next month when I’m in NYC.
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Well, this is a very quick response from the universe to my question.
Fun fact: When I worked in video production, Acme was one of our clients. I went out there to help shoot an infomericial for them, which I also edited. I had a great time working with them, and I got A LOT of free fish.
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Oh, from the NYT sammich article!
Indeed!
