BY GINO GONZALEZ
Cheesecake is believed to have originated in Greece. It was served to athletes during the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C. By 1000 AD, cheesecake was introduced to Great Britain and Western Europe. Soon after, it reached other parts of the world.
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| Whos the Best CheeseCake in town?? | | Cheesecake can be sweet or savory, it can be light and fluffy or dense and rich. A lot of people use New York Cheesecake as a measuring stick of good cheesecake. A New York style cheesecake is a no-frills cheesecake with no fancy ingredients added or topped on it. It is made from pure cream cheese, cream, sour cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla. New Yorkers say that they made cheesecake famous because it is home to the best cheese cake makers in the world. The family of Arnold Reuben who owned the legendary Turf Restaurant in New York claimed that his family was the first to develop the first cream cheese cake recipe while others used cottage cheese. He soon served it in his restaurant.
There is only one way to know the best cheesecake in our part of the world and that is to conduct a panel tasting of cheesecakes. I made sure that the cheesecakes were baked and came close to the New York style cheesecakes. Some cheesecakes had toppings so I removed it and I even scraped off the top so that it doesn’t affect the taste of the cheesecake. I want to give a shout out to my colleague and friend, Chef Junjun De Guzman, who helped me get all the cheesecakes for the tasting. To put everybody on fair ground, I made sure that all brands didn’t know that I was going to conduct a panel tasting. By doing this, I was sure that their cheesecakes would not be enhanced or made extra special for the panel tasting. I was able to get eleven brands, some from very famous establishments and some from people who make it at home and sell it by order. The panel tasters that I got were definitely cheesecake fiends including me.
I asked the panel what comprises a good cheesecake and basically they said it should be baked, smooth, creamy and have a nice tangy taste. Ingredients used should be of good quality. A majority of the panelists like eating their cheesecake plain or New York style.
As always all eleven brands went head to head and the panelists did not know the brands they were tasting. All plates were numbered and would be revealed afterwards. Just looking at the facial expressions of my panelists said a thousand words every time they tasted the cheesecakes. It was a unanimous decision that Brand 8 (Delize) topped the tasting when we collated the results, followed by Brand 11 (Ms. Desserts), and no. 3 went to Brand 4 (Cheesecake Etc.). Some of the other cheesecakes were really good but we had to choose only 3 and a minority of the brands didn’t even deserve to be in the tasting.
Other Cheesecakes
* Brand 1 Woman on Pot- Texture is smooth with a clean &
smooth appearance
- Very light with a heavy crust
- I like the glaze on top* BRAND 2 Cheesecake Melliza
- Clean sleek look
- Sour cream is very evident, taste is
good, quite balanced
- Play safe by using the graham crust* BRAND 3 Circles
- Very formal appeal! Looks
impressive!
- Just the right sweetness but lacks
tang
- Very dense with a brownie base; the
base interferes with the flavor of
the cheesecake* BRAND 5 Kooky & Luscious
- Has an orange & eggy flavor
- It’s ok
- Tastes like a custard* BRAND 6 Classic Confection
- Attractive
- A bit too sweet with a subtle
almond profile
- Smooth & creamy, melts in the
mouth texture* BRAND 7 Mandarin Hotel
- Looks grainy but surprisingly smooth
- Very fatty in the palate, has a subtle
mango taste* BRAND 9 Goodies & Sweets
- Has a chewy texture
- Super dry
- Looks like soft broas* BRAND 10 Peninsula Exclusivites
- Top reminds me of Bibingka
- Reminds me of Mamon
- Texture is smooth
- No tang and very light
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