{"id":473,"date":"2012-01-03T10:00:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-03T15:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oyatsubreak.com\/?p=473"},"modified":"2013-07-28T17:01:36","modified_gmt":"2013-07-28T21:01:36","slug":"review-cheeza-51-camembert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oyatsubreak.com\/?p=473","title":{"rendered":"Review: Cheeza 51% Camembert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review: Cheeza 51% Camembert Crackers<\/strong>
\n Purchased: November 2011<\/strong>
\n Best Before: Jul 2012<\/strong>
\n Review: January 2012
\nManufactured by Glico\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s pretty telling that I have finished the entire bag of Glico\u2019s Cheeza 51% Camambert Flavoured crackers before beginning the review. I\u2019d be embarrassed, but these are just so absolutely amazing, either on their own or as bar snacks\u2014Otsumami\u2014that finishing off the small 38g bag is a given.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to point out that Cheeza 51% Camembert has a picture on the back featuring a plate of the delicious crackers next to a glass of beer, and so the several beers I have consumed before these snacks, as well as the beer I consumed with them, are more of a \u2018serving suggestion\u2019 than any sort of impairment to writing this review\u2026 got it? Got it.<\/p>\n

Seriously though\u2014these are the number one snack food that I wish was available in North America, bar none, and I regret informing you of how delicious these are knowing that you likely won\u2019t be able to find them yourself. I\u2019m sorry. Also, there are three flavours of which camembert is only one, and they\u2019re all awesome.<\/p>\n

Packaging:<\/strong> When in a Japanese convenience store, you are greeted with a huge and exciting variety of products which you have never encountered before, and many of which you might never encounter again. New products are introduced and then disappear with alarming frequency, and unless you\u2019re getting on board with the most popular, longest-lasting snack food, don\u2019t expect your favourite to be there in another store, on your next visit during the same trip, or espescially the next year you go back to Japan.<\/p>\n

So what makes one snack stand out from the crowd? Well the big red-and-white NEW doesn\u2019t hurt, nor does the name of the snack written in a great big font in Romaji (English letters). In Japan cheese and cheese flavouring is not traditionally terribly popular as compared to other flavours, and when you do get cheese flavouring it\u2019s been my experience that it is considerably dialed back\u2014and awful. Never have Cheetos, in Japan, for example. Or do, but don\u2019t expect \u201cCheetos\u201d. A visit to Natural Lawson one rainy evening in 2010 produced our first experience with the Cheeza brand of snacks, and they popped right off the shelves. We were ready for cheese, after 2 weeks more-or-less deprived of our favourite food, and CHEEZA made big promises. Crackers shaped like wedges of cheese, pictures of real cheese on the outside, and that 51%, promising that a certain percentage of the cracker would be made of real cheese. We gave it a go, amongst the hundreds of other offerings. I think that says a lot.<\/p>\n

Also? Resealable package. Just a lovely touch of class.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Scent:<\/strong> I\u2019ve just cracked a fresh bag (we brought back a few), and so here are our (my husband\u2019s and I\u2019s) immediate reactions: \u201cWow.\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s more than you would get from a North American cheese-flavoured thing.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s just a little off-centre of a regular cheese smell\u2026 Cheesey things smell salty and tangy and moldy and whatever, there are proportions to those things. It\u2019s not entirely divorce from what a cheese cracker would smell like here, there\u2019s overlap, but it emphasizes different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

These smell like fresh cheese, even in the slight stinkiness of them. It\u2019s awesome. It is strong too.<\/p>\n

Taste:<\/strong> Like manna from heaven, frankly. They\u2019re buttery, that\u2019s the first thing you notice. They\u2019re really rich on your tongue. The cheese flavour is strong too\u2014while camembert isn\u2019t the strongest-tasting cheese, this has all of that flavour and then some as the cheese has been baked into a salty cracker (best accompanied by beer). The saltiness and the cheese flavour aren\u2019t overbearing either, these don\u2019t make you reach for your beer to wash them down, they make you reach for another cracker.<\/p>\n

Verdict<\/strong>: I\u2019ll level with you\u2014I\u2019m a huge fan of cheese crackers. Ritz did the trick when I was a kid, but when I discovered Nabsico\u2019s Cheese Nips (seriously, real name, I realize it\u2019s kind of out-of-context-racist) I left Ritz behind. They\u2019re awesome crackers. Then I discovered Cheese Its and\u2026 it\u2019s just a whole \u2018nother level of salty, cheese, terrible-for-you cheese crackers. Well I\u2019ve hit the next level, I\u2019m ready to leave all of the other pretenders to the throne behind. Cheeza crackers are the best cheese crackers I\u2019ve ever eaten, and I can\u2019t really imagine how anything will be better.<\/p>\n

The downside, of course, is that these can (and will) disappear some day. I\u2019m always kind of assuming that I won\u2019t see them on the racks on my next trip back to Japan. Ritz and Cheese Its will be around forever\u2026 Cheeza crackers, I don\u2019t think Japan will know what it\u2019s got until their gone.<\/p>\n

For more on how awesome these are, visit the Cheeza website at http:\/\/www.glico.co.jp\/cheeza\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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