Gluten-Free
The Lady met the owner of Kitchen Table Bakers through Linkedin. After they connected, Barry Novick offered to send samples of his parmesan crisps to The Lady. The Lady rarely (think never) turns down free food… does anyone turn down free food??? I doubt it… but I digress…
His samples arrived and in the box were three different varieties: Aged Parmesan, Sesame and Everything.
The Lady decided to serve them “naked” and after The Man and I tasted all three and shared our thoughts, she then delighted us further with a mini-cheese platter to accompany the crisps.
Before my reviews, let me tell you a bit about Barry and his company, Kitchen Table Bakers.
Barry’s mom, a home baker, told her family, “If you use only the highest quality and best tasting ingredients, you will always end up with something delicious and nutritious.” Barry took her philosophy to heart and in 2003 created his first Parmesan wafer, one small batch at a time. Soon he was making larger batches and friends and family helped spread the word. Barry began sending out samples with his phone number. His phone started ringing and didn’t stop. He left his career as a hospital administrator and never looked back. Recently, Vons Pavilions and Safeway Stores began carrying his Parmesan Crisps in their Specialty Food areas. (We love Pavilions; when we were still in SoCal, it was our “go-to” grocery store.) In 2010, Rachel Ray named these crisps one of her “Snack of the Day” choices. In 2009, KTB’s crisps won a Prestigious Gold Sofi Award at NASFT’s Summer Fancy Food Show.
These 100% Parmesan crisps have a lot of great things going for them: They are gluten-free, 100% natural, zero sugar and zero trans-fat. They are rich in calcium and protein. For complete nutritional values, please click here.
Now for my reviews:
Let me begin by saying, that I have my favorite of the three, but that in no way should diminish your perception of these crisps. All three that we sampled are scrumptious, borrowing a word from Miss Anne, mother of the late, great Hemingway, Joel (who has also left us behind) and The Lady and she’s a friend of mine.
All three of these flavors are round, flat disks of total cheese: nutty and a bit salty – exactly the way I like my Parmesan. They are baked to perfection with just the right amount of crunchiness. These crisps are thick enough to support toppings such as cheese, dips, spreads and still thin enough to be munchable.
100% Parmesan Crisps – “Everything” – This was my least favorite of the three but again let me reiterate, these are excellent crisps. You can never go wrong with anything that is 100% cheese, especially when it’s topped with poppy seeds, garlic, onion and sesame seeds. Personally, I thought the onion was almost burned and that’s the only thing wrong with this crisp.
I give the Everything Crisp 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).
100% Parmesan Crisps – “Sesame” – Sesame seeds add a nice mellow, nutty finish to these tasty treats. I could eat these crisps every day, if The Lady would allow… sadly her views and mine on my dietary needs don’t always connect…
I give the Sesame Crisps 3 out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).
100% Parmesan Crisps – “Aged Parmesan” – These were my favorite and also The Man was quite taken with these. I had to fight him paw-for-paw to get my fair share. I knew his mother and she taught him manners, but some days, especially when around food, I think he forgets and thinks only of himself… I remind him every chance I get that everything is all about me… but I digress… back to the review…
I think the less added to cheese, the better and these are pure, naked cheese. It just doesn’t get any better than this. Nutty, salty, crunchy, long finish – cheese perfection.
I give the Aged Parmesan Crisps 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).
Serving Suggestions: You can eat these straight out of the package and be perfectly satisfied. But you can dress these babies up as well with hummus, baba ghanoush, salsas or cheese spreads. You can use them as a “bottom” for your favorite canapé or with other slices of your favorite cheeses.
Wine Pairing: The Lady suggests a merlot or other robust red; the same as she would pair with parmesan in its original form.
Beer Pairing: American Brown Ale or an ESB.
Source: Cows’Milk
Awards: 2009 SOFI Gold
You can “Like” Kitchen Table Bakers Parmesan Crisps on Facebook.
You can follow them on twitter where they tweet as @ParmCrisp
FTC Full Disclosure – The manufacturer sent me their product, hoping I would review the product/cheese.
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