Laughing Cow

When I was a kid, I used to love La Vache Qui Rit cheese (aka "Laughing Cow"). I suspect this was partly to do with the packaging: each piece of cheese was individually wrapped in foil, either as a 1cm cube or as a larger slice-of-pie wedge. The "party cubes" came in a rectangular tray, which inevitably once its plastic wrapper was removed would tumble out of the fridge when you were trying to get something else out and spill cheese cubes onto the floor -- at least three times before you'd eaten them all. The wedges were more practically packaged in a round cardboard box, containing two layers of cheese.

This iconic cheese was a fixture in my childhood fridge. I remember mostly eating it on its own but it was also pretty good to squish a wedge (or a couple cubes) between two Stoned Wheat Thins, preferably salted, with the salty side on the inside.

I haven't bought this cheese in years. Haven't thought of it since B. sent me a picture she took during the parade of sponsor floats that precedes the peloton during the Tour de France but I was (once again) researching cheese on Wikipedia and came across the entry for this product.

When I was younger, I don't think I realized that it was a processed cheese (just like the Kraft Singles I despised). According to Wikipedia, it's "a blend of cream, milk and fresh and aged cheeses, particularly emmenthaler, which are pasteurized to stop the ripening process." Nowadays, it doesn't just come in wedges and cubes: horrifingly, as promoted on the UK website, it comes in SQUEEZE BOTTLES! This marketing mistake (in my opinion) has not slowed sales: 10 million portions of The Laughing Cow® are consumed each day around the world - 7,500 every minute.

Unfortunately, for reasons not explained, "Currently, none of the products in The Laughing Cow® range can be guaranteed suitable for vegetarians." Too bad, I would have liked a bit(e) of nostalgia.