Quescrem Cream Cheese Olive Tub

TASTING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

The Quescrem Cream Cheese Olive Tub is perfect for big batch bakes and servings. It’s made with the classic Quescrem cream cheese, smooth and rich, with a creamy, tangy and fresh flavor. The addition of authentic Manzanilla olives adds a slightly smoky, nutty dimension.

PREPARATION AND PAIRINGS

This incredible cream cheese has a great emulsifying capacity, and remains stable after baking. So, it’s wonderful to make creamy sauces with, and to use in baked tarts and pies. It’s creamy and spreadable, so it’s also wonderful on bagels and toast. Use it also for sandwiches, canapés, or as part of your charcuterie, on crackers. And of course, you can enjoy it as pasta stuffing, for raviolis or pasta shells.

THE JOURNEY OF CREAM CHEESE

Cream cheese has had such a journey. It was first made in Normandy, France, and was thus called French Neufchatel. It dates back to around 1035, and is one of France’s oldest cheeses. It was first recoded in 1543, and attained AOC status in 1969.

But the version of cream cheese we are all familiar with, the one that you see everywhere, was made in the United States in the 19th century. It was created by William Lawrence, a dairyman from New York who added cream to Neufchatel cheese to make it richer, and called it “Neufchatel & Cream Cheese.” It quickly grew in popularity, and was quickly in demand. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, bakers started using wheat flour for bagels, making them softer, which made it easy to spread stuff on. It was during this time that it became incredibly popular in the New York Jewish community, where it was called “schmear,” and is used in the now-iconic bagel and cream cheese.

Storage Instructions

Keep cream cheese refrigerated. Store in refrigerator with a temperature of 40º F or lower. To maintain its consistency, do not freeze cream cheese packed in plastic containers which are softer than foil-wrapped blocks. Keep the original packaging of foil-wrapped cream cheese refrigerated if still unopened.