Garlic Bread Cheese

"Given our fondness for food mashups, you might assume that Trader Joe’s Garlic Bread Cheese is a garlic bread cheese — as in, a cheese flavored like the popular side dish for pizzas and pastas. But the truth is, it’s actually a garlic bread cheese, inspired by the Finnish delicacy that just happens, by idiomatic coincidence, to pair wonderfully with garlic. It’s crafted for us by master cheesemakers in Wisconsin, who take blocks of rich, thick, cow’s milk cheese, cover them in garlic powder, then bake them to a beautifully golden-brown hue. Known in its native Finland as juustolepä, Bread Cheese contains no wheat, or gluten, nor anything else of that nature, but rather gets its name from its hearty, remarkably bread-like consistency and squeaky, Halloumi-like texture. And much like Halloumi, Trader Joe’s Garlic Bread Cheese is best served nice and warm, after it’s had a chance to get just a little melty and gooey. Fun fact: in Finland, Bread Cheese is typically eaten in the morning, dunked in coffee. We find that the bold and savory notes of garlic in this Bread Cheese are better suited for a bit of Organic Marinara Sauce, ourselves."