Jacob's Cheeselets

Once upon a time Jacobs Cheeselets came in small cardboard boxes. And weren't they made by Peek Freans?

I must have tried them sometime, probably a long long time ago, because when I joined a family where eating Cheeselets was almost a religion I recognised the taste at once. But by this time, for some reason, Cheeselets had become a seasonal snack. Available in tubs and only at Christmas, they were something to look forward to.  Almost as eagerly anticipated as the skiing season (you have no idea!).

Available only as part of a range which included the fabulous Cheese Footballs (more about these later in the year no doubt) mini Cheddars and Twiglets (these have always been available year round), but not always then. Smaller supermarkets sometimes simply never  received supplies of these little square snacks. One of the staff at our local Waitrose (herself a Cheeselets fan) admitted to me that it was a mystery to her, but the same every year. But suddenly last year Cheeselets became available in rather square - presumably to match the shape of the snack - blue bags all year round. Why the change? Who knows. 

The odd thing about Cheeselets is that they aren't really very cheesy. Tasty, certainly, and very savoury. But cheesy? The ingredients list claims they are made with dried cheese and cheese flavouring. So why don't they taste of cheese? Another who knows it seems. Although maybe it's only me. Even the flavour dust that sticks to your fingers isn't particularly cheesy. So, not very cheesy, but you can't stop eating them.

However, having mourned the unavailabilty of Cheeselets for most of the year, and rushed at the first opportunity to buy vast supplies for Christmas, we find the allure of this small square biscuit has been quite spoilt by year round stocks at "all good retailers".

Yes. I know this is a childish reaction but what can you do?

The packaging trumpets the fact that Cheeselets are baked not fried. Very much healthier I imagine. But I am fairly sure they were nicer fried not baked. And wasn't there more flavour dust to be licked off your fingers?

On the other hand, they remain an awfully good and extremely tasty biscuity snack. Absolutely superb with chilled dry sherry - which we almost never have in the house and I don't know why not. If we are going to have Cheeselets all year round I ought to do something about the sherry supplies.

A day later: so now I can sit down at the weekend with a small glass of manzanilla and a little dish of Cheeselets (thus avoiding the awful trap of guzzling a whole bag all at once) and enjoy a kleine Pause like a grownup.

The little dish was a present from Christine when she lived in Morocco and has greengages in it.
The glass is supposed to be 18th century. (You can see this is turning into World of Interiors).

Oh, and Cheeselets aren't square at all but rectangular. Which is a bit of a surprise because I have always though of them as square. And, another surprise, each one has 5 little holes punched in it. Still not cheesy though.