Tnuva Cottage with Za’atar

קוטג' תנובה עם זעתר

Tnuva has added new flavored cottage cheeses to the local market. This time they went the "savory" route, one has Darkened Olives and the other has the spice called Za’atar added to it. I am not 100% sure if the Green Olive option is new or not. I had never noticed/tasted it but, I’ve not been buying Tnuva cottage cheese since before last year’s boycott, so I do know for sure if the green olive one is new or not. The press release I read did not mention the green olive one either so it’s possible that it has been available for some time and the new flavors are the darkened olives and za’atar flavored cottages.

Product Of the Year Community Event 2012 אירוע קהילת מוצר השנה

I had the privilege of being invited to an Israeli Product of the Year Community event which took place last week. As a blogger who has written about the winners of the local Products Of the Year items, I was thrilled to be invited. Everything about the event was so well organized and ran so smoothly, it was such a pleasure and extremely enjoyable. I thought today I would share with you some of the details of the event.

Tnuva’s Low Lactose Cheese - Coupon

I found a coupon for the

 Tnuva Low Lactose 5% Soft White Cheese

 I told you about Here 

so I thought I would pass the coupon along to you.

גבינה לבנה דלת לקטוז תנובה קופון

 Source

Tara’s Thinly Sliced 9% Edam Cheese + Coupons

טרה גבינה צהובה אדם דק דק

Tara Dairy took a page out of the cold cut meat company’s book (over the past year or so all three local, major cold cut companies came out with a very thinly sliced cold cuts/deli meats line) Tara translated that to their yellow cheeses and now have a “Dak Dak” = very thinly sliced line of cheeses.

The Tara Dak Dak cheeses are available in 28% fat, 22% fat and 9% fat Edam cheese. I decided to try the low 9% fat one.

Osem’s Hazelnut Lachmit Crackers, Tnuva’s Low Lactose 5% Soft White Cheese & Beit Hashita’s Green Pitted Olives in Lemon Seasoning

I have three products that I wanted to tell you about but for one reason or another I don’t have that much to write about each of them. I thought I'd just give you a short Bottom Line on each one, in case you saw them in the store and wondered if you should try them.

The three products are: Osem’s Hazelnut Lachmit Crackers, Tnuva’s Low Lactose 5% Soft White Cheese & Beit Hashita’s Green Pitted Olives in Lemon Seasoning.

Roladin's Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif Cake

Aside from Roladin's Honey Caramel Sticky-Bun Brioche the other Rosh Hashanah cake of theirs that caught my eye was the Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif Cheese Cake. I thought it sounded creative and different so I wanted to try it.

According to the ad I had seen in the paper a full "strip" of the cake cost 59.50 NIS. I didn’t want to spend that much on a cake that I may not enjoy so I was not planning on getting it. When I was at Roladin I noticed that they also had "portion size" slices available. Although I thought 10.00 NIS was expensive for such a small rectangle of cake I decided that the cake was unique enough and I was willing to treat myself just this once.

The Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif Cake is a mascarpone cheese cake with a middle layer of raspberry coulis (a thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits) with honeyed kadaif noodles on top and bottom of the cake that are sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Kadaif is a very fine vermicelli  like pastry that according to Wikipedia is sometimes known as shredded phyllo. It's very popular here in Israel seeing as it's used to make Kanafeh.

My first disappointment with this Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif Cake came when I realized the kadaif was soggy and did not have the "crispy" texture you get when you bite into a kanafeh. I didn’t even taste the honey that was supposed to be mixed into the kadaif. If there was honey it was such a small amount that it got completely lost.

Next I thought the mascarpone layer had an overwhelming jell-o like taste and texture that I really did not enjoy. I know there was mascarpone in the mix but it was not the dominant flavor of this layer. Even Nestlé's "Nok-Out" Mascarpone & Lemon Ice-Cream Bar had more of a mascarpone flavor than this cake But what bothered most about this part of the cake was the waxy aftertaste it left in my mouth. 

רולדין מסקרפונה קדאיף בדבש

The layer of raspberry coulis was fine, neither here nor there. Since this Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif Cake is part of Roladin's Rosh Hashanah "lineup" I wonder why they didn’t go with a pomegranates coulis and give the cake even more of a Rosh Hashanah "feel".

Bottom Line: I was disappointed with almost everything about this Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif Cake and really happy I didn’t buy the full cake. In my opinion compared to their Honey Caramel Sticky-Bun Brioche this Roladin Mascarpone Honeyed Kadaif cheese cake was a major FAIL.

1 full cake 59.90 NIS

1 slice of cake 10.00 NIS

Kosher Dairy Rabbinate Jerusalem

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Crunchy Cheetos Cheese "Toast" Pizza Flavor and Mildly Spicy Cheese Flavor

צ'יטוס קראנצ' גבינה טוסט פיצה

While I still have cheese "on the mind", from yesterdays beautiful Shavuot holiday, I thought I would review these two dairy Crunchy Cheetos; one is Cheese *Toast Pizza flavor and the second is Mildly Spicy Cheese flavor.

*"Toast" here in Israel refers to a grilled cheese sandwich toasted in a Panini Press. A "pizza toast" would have pizza sauce added to it as well.

Crunchy Cheetos is a puffed corn snack that comes in many different flavors. I think these are the first 2 dairy ones to hit the market here in Israel but I am not 100% sure about that.

I have yet to see a press release about these Cheese Flavored Crunchy Cheetos, so they might not be as new as I think, but I had not seen them before. If they are not new, I apologize and we will slip this post into the "new to me" category.

Both of the Cheetos were crunchy and full of flavor. Upon opening the bag I could immediately smell the cheese flavor on both snacks.

Considering my disappointment over Bagel Bagel's pizza flavored Safari Pretzels, last year, I was pleasantly surprised that these Cheese Toast Pizza flavored Cheetos did have an obvious pizza taste. I'm guessing the cheese powder they used on these Cheetos really "did the job" and majorly contributed to the "more authentic" pizza flavor.

צ'טוס קראנצ' גבינה חריף בקטנה

Although the Cheese Toast Pizza Cheetos absolutely had a cheesy pizza flavor, I actually preferred the Spicy Cheese Cheetos. They did have a little "kick" to them but they were not overly spicy. The cheese flavor on these Cheetos was less dominant than on the Cheese Toast Pizza ones, but I kind of preferred it that way. I found them to be slightly addictive and it was hard to stop eating them once I started J

Both of these Cheese Flavored Crunchy Cheetos have no artificial food coloring and no preservatives added.

Bottom Line: Seeing that crunchy Cheetos was never my "go to" savory snack I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the Mildly Spicy Cheese Crunchy Cheetos. Yes the Cheese Toast Pizza Crunchy Cheetos certainly lives up to its name, and I can see children of all ages enjoying every last one of them. But if I buy them again I would choose the Mildly Spicy Cheese ones for myself.

100 gram bag – 5.79 NIS

Kosher Dairy Mehadrin

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Tnuva's Yoplait Cheesecake Flavored Yogurt with Cookies "On Top"

Like all the dairy companies here in Israel, Shavuot is Tnuva's busiest time of year. Their sales dramatically rise the week or so before the holiday, as everyone buys all sorts of milk products for festive meals. It's no surprise that Tnuva releases many limited edition and special products for Shavuot.

יופלה "און טופ"  עוגת גבינה ופירורי עוגיות

One such item is from their "On Top" line of Yoplait yogurts, it's a cheesecake flavor yogurt with cookie bits to add in. In that way it's similar to Strauss-Danone Yogurt with Cranberry Granola that I reviewed back in February.

As with the Danone yogurt this Yoplait container seemed quite empty, I understand that they want to leave you room to add in the topping but I still think they could make a slightly smaller container or put a little more yogurt in it than they do.

This cheesecake flavored bio Yoplait yogurt, like many yogurts, had a slightly sour taste, not too sour, but it was clearly yogurt. I did think it resembled a cheesecake flavor to some degree. Without the cookie topping, it was an enjoyable sweet, but not overly so, smooth and creamy yogurt.

I thought the cookie pieces "on top" were very dry and almost seemed to have a slightly burnt taste to them, which I didn’t really enjoy all that much.

They're a nice sized chunk of cookie, not crumbs, like you would get as a topping or base of a real cheese cake. Somehow I would have preferred more of a Petit-Beurre/ tea biscuit type of cookie but these chunks didn't go soggy when I added them to the yogurt and I am guessing the Petit-Beurre /tea biscuit would have.

So if you are looking to get the cheesecake flavor this Shavuot without all the calories of a real cheesecake, this 3.7% fat bio yogurt might be a nice treat to enjoy on this Shavuot holiday.

Bottom Line: Aside from my slight disappointment over the taste of the 17 grams of cookies "on top", this Yoplait Cheesecake Flavored Yogurt with Cookies, was pleasant enough. But I still much prefer the 2 yogurts I reviewed a few days ago; Tzuriel's Goats-Milk Yogurt & Muller's Yogurt with Dark-Chocolate Shavings.

If I want a low calorie cheesecake I might attempt to make this Ultra Light Cheesecake recipe I saw on Pragmatic Attic's wonderful blog.

Two 150 gram containers of Yogurt – 9.70 NIS

Kosher- Dairy Rabbi Whiteman

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

This weeks Haveil Havalim blog Carnival is now up over on

 Frume Sarah's World

Gad's 30% Fat "Cream Cheese"

"Gad" Dairy, who recently won a "Product of the Year Award", for their Feta & Bulgarian Traditional Cheese Line, have now introduced 2 new soft white cheeses.The new 30% fat "Cream Cheese" is available in natural favor as well as a vegetable cream cheese.

I tasted the vegetable cream cheese.

It was creamy, smooth and flavorful. Being that its 30% fat it is "heavier" than most of the soft white cheese spreads available here. To me it's still not what I'm used to as an "American style" cream cheese. It's thinner and a little more sour than say "Kraft's Philadelphia" cream cheese. (which is available here)

The vegetables; green pepper, red peppers and garlic are chopped up extremely small and thin but, taste-wise for me, they made a big impact. I think part of why they make such an impact is because Gad also added some flavor enhancers to the cheese, so you can definitely smell the garlic as soon as you open the container.

I actually would have preferred the natural cheese without the vegetables but my friend, who likes vegetable soft-white cheese, was very happy I bought this one. He said the vegetable flavor absolutely enhanced his sandwich.

Bottom Line: I've yet to see a vegetable cream-cheese from Kraft Philadelphia-cheese, here in Israel, so for those who like vegetable soft-white cheese, Gad's new cheese seems to be a winner, even if in my book I can't call it cream-cheese.

200 grams 11.38 NIS

Kosher: Milk Rabbinate Bat-Yam

חלב נוחרי

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Tnuva's Shtuzim-Whipped Cheese-Yogurt

Believe it or not, I have another yogurt to review. I could probably review a milk product once a week and still not cover all the new dairy products that are released here on a regular basis.

Since I gave so much attention to Strauss's Spring Line of Puddings I thought it only fair to review Tnuva Yoplait's "Shtuzim".

I'm not sure why they call them Shtuzim as far as I can tell Shtuzim is a slang word made popular by a children's author (Datia Ben-Dor) it comes from 2 words

 Nonsense, silliness - שטויות

 Rhymes, poems - חרוזים

The kind of rhymes you might find in a Dr. Seuss book (don’t get me wrong I'm not saying Dr. Seuss books are silly or nonsense, I love them.)

What story-book rhymes has to do with this "whipped" cheese-yogurt, I have no
clue. Yes, Shtuzim is geared toward children but that’s the only connection I can come up with.

Shtuzim is Tnuva's answer to Strauss's whipped Daniela Yogurt. (You may have noticed from the Dani pudding that Strauss likes to give some of their yogurts/pudding human names).

Shtuzim is available in 3 flavors; Vanilla, Strawberry and Apple

The strawberry and apple ones are made with real fruit (whereas Strauss's fruit versions are not). Shtuzim is made of whipped cheese and whipped BIO yogurt, making it heartier and better for you than its competitor from Strauss.

I tasted the vanilla flavor and I really enjoyed it.

It was light and fluffy. The vanilla flavor was present but not overpowering it has a delicate or subtle vanilla flavor. It did have a slight yogurt taste but it was more sweet than sour. It was actually very close to Strauss's Daniela but a little sweeter and ever so slightly fluffier. I personally preferred Shtuzim vanilla over the Daniela vanilla whipped yogurt.

Bottom line: Regardless of the name I liked this whipped cheese-yogurt and I would buy it again. I preferred it to Strauss's version.

Box of 4 containers - 84 grams each – 9.69 NIS

Kosher: Milk Chief Rabbinate of Israel

מחיל חלב נוכרים


Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Tnuva's Cottage Cheese Snack-Pack with Strawberries or Honey

After decades of major success with their cottage cheese Tnuva has decided to try something completely new with this product. They have worked for over a year to develop a line of snack-size flavored cottage cheeses.

There are 4 flavors available, 2 sweet options; cottage with honey and cottage with strawberries, in the savory category; cottage with olive tapenade, and finally the classic Tnuva cottage cheese.

Granted I have seen sweet/fruit toppings added to cottage cheese in the USA for years now but, this is new for Tnuva and the Israeli market.

Of the different ones available, Tnuva's is the cottage cheese I prefer so I was very interested to taste the new snack.

For me it was the perfect size snack. They come as a twin set of containers. Each individual container is 125 grams, which is half of their full size cottage and just a little bit bigger than their mini one which is 100 grams.

I tasted the strawberry and honey options.

When I opened it up I didn’t see any strawberries or honey but as soon as I put my spoon into the container I found an abundance of the add-in hiding at the bottom.

I was very disappointed with both flavors. They tasted extremely artificial and overly sweet to me.

I had envisioned bits of cut up strawberries and instead got something between a jam and syrup made mainly of artificial strawberry flavor. There were a few mini fruit bits mixed in to make it seem like I was eating fruit but the taste was overwhelmingly artificial.

The honey one was ever so slightly better but still did not taste like fresh natural honey. It was more of a sweet artificial syrup. It was edible but I did not particularly like it.

Bottom Line: I like the concept, but the product itself was too artificial for me.

Seeing as Israel is (as I mentioned in the past) "the land of milk and honey", as well being blessed with a wide variety of delicious fresh fruit, if you want a sweet cottage snack, my suggestion would be to buy the classic flavor cottage (snack-size) and add your own real honey or whatever fresh cut fruit you fancy.  

2 containers 125 gram each, classic cottage cheese – 6.97 NIS

2 containers 125 gram each, sweet or savory additions -7.49 NIS

Kosher: Tnuva's Mehadrin Committee

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me.  No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.