# Cream Cheese Sandwich **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421 "2011-08-04T03:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/21 "2011-08-04T07:03:28Z")
I voted “condiment only”, but the question is odd. I sometimes spread cream cheese on a bagel without anything else, but even still I much prefer butter and _then_ the cream cheese. Anyway, in this case I think the “main attraction” is the bagel. If I’m thinking “sandwich,” then cream cheese isn’t going to enter into it with a whole lot more going on. (Like… tomato, sprouts, avocado; olives, cucumber, etc.) Plain bread and cream cheese? No. Even with the bagel and cream cheese scenario… there was _one_ diner in the West End of Vancouver- whenever I ordered a “Bagel with cream cheese,” they also brought tubs of strawberry jam. This was divine. It seemed declasse enough that I would never ask for the jam anywhere else, but… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/22 "2011-08-04T07:43:35Z")
I used to eat cream cheese sandwiches with olives, black or green. Sometimes I’d have it with a slice of turkey cold cuts. Sometimes I would just have cream cheese if it was a flavored kind. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/23 "2011-08-04T08:39:07Z")
I used to work graveyard at a 7-11 in NJ. Around 4 AM, we’d get a bread truck in, who’d deliver about 5 dozen fresh bagels and 5 dozen fresh Kaiser rolls. My job was to split each, and make buttered rolls and cream cheese bagels. We had logs of cream cheese about 5 pounds each, and I’d slice off a slab about 1/4 inch thick, and slap it between two half-bagels. I’d always make a double for myself. To this day, some of my fondest memories are of sitting in the park after work, about 7:15 in the morning, joint in hand, taking a bite of cc bagel, and a swig of coffee, letting the flavors mingle in my mouth. ETA : Cream cheese, salami, and grape jelly make a pretty nice sandwich, too… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/24 "2011-08-04T09:47:27Z")
mmmmmmmmm. Cream Cheese. Excuse me, drifted off there for a minute. Never had nor heard of JUST cream cheese on white bread, but … I can see it. As a kid we used to have a sandwich filling made of whipped (not that bastardized “soft” cream cheese) and drained crushed pineapple. Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/25 "2011-08-04T10:11:03Z")
philly cream on white bread? sure. but i prefer cream cheese spread thin on toast, then add a little chopped onion, sour cream, and beluga caviar. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/26 "2011-08-04T11:57:54Z")
I used to see cream cheese sandwiches on the menu in New York diners all the time. They just sliced off a big piece, and slapped it between to pieces of what we used to call “brown bread”. It was really sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/27 "2011-08-04T12:06:44Z")
I worked in a bistro where they had had bagel+cream cheese+smoked salmon+honey mustard. The mustard was made by the bistro. I would say that you poll needs an extra option for “spread.” It’s more than a condiment, but rarely quite right on its own as the main sandwich fill. I would never eat it alone between two slices of brad, but I would use it as the “topping” of my bagel. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/28 "2011-08-04T12:36:14Z")
Main attraction if and only if it’s on a bagel. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/29 "2011-08-04T12:42:52Z")
Since I have German & Jewish branches in my family tree, there’s a welcome place on my pallet for sour. But just cream cheese alone would be dry, so there’s always jelly. This makes a healthy alternative to a PB&J, considering the amazing amount of calories in peanut butter. But what to wash it down with? PB&Js go with milk, but who wants to wash down cheese with milk? Soda reacts violently with the jelly. Coffee goes with cheesecake, but not it’s bastard sandwich stepchild. Ice tea is all I’m left with. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/30 "2011-08-04T12:54:32Z")
I’m starting to think grilled cream cheese on whole wheat with hot tomato soup . . . ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/31 "2011-08-04T13:17:34Z")
I’ve made them. It’s better on a bagel and best on a toasted English muffin but even on plain white bread it’s still good. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/32 "2011-08-04T13:38:32Z")
It’s been a long time, 60 years or so, but cream cheese sandwiches were a regular treat at our house when I was a kid. As often as not, there would be other ingredients like pecans or bacon or a fruity thing. I don’t remember spreading on white bread being an issue. Maybe our bread was tougher in those days, or maybe the cream cheese was already spreadable. Once I had my first bagel with cream cheese, maybe 40 years ago, I never went back to plain white bread as a base. Bagels are so much better. As for the condiment issue, I equate cream cheese more with butter than with cheese, so I think more of a spread to combine with other fillings. By itself cream cheese is okay, but nothing special. My vote was for both usages, however. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/33 "2011-08-04T13:43:06Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I used to eat cream cheese sandwiches with olives, black or green. Sometimes I’d have it with a slice of turkey cold cuts. > > Sometimes I would just have cream cheese if it was a flavored kind. I enjoy cream cheese with minced green olives and ham on rye toast. I get the salad green olives, and run them through a Salad Shooter or processor, just until they’re chopped into small bits. I don’t particularly care for black olives with cream cheese, though I like both of them separately. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/34 "2011-08-04T13:44:49Z")
No option for “cream cheese is one of the most vile foods in existance”? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/35 "2011-08-04T14:24:25Z")
When I was a kid, my absolutest most favoritest sammich in the world was cream cheese and peanuts on white bread. You had to gently put a thick layer of cream cheese on the bread, being careful not to tear. Then you took salted peanuts and layered them on the cheese, making sure each was held in place by the delicious mortar. Finally, a second slice of white bread on top, all smooshed together so the ingredients fused into a single piece of heaven. My classmates would look at me as if I was insane, but I’m pretty sure they were jealous. Funny, it never occurred to me to use peanut butter instead. The crunch was part of the experience. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/36 "2011-08-04T15:03:49Z")
I had cream cheese on toast (open-faced) and cream cheese and arugula on toast (close-faced) just last week. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/37 "2011-08-04T15:15:44Z")
Wait, cream cheese on a bagel is not a sandwich? Hey, it’s an open-faced sandwich. Work with me here. I dimly recall my mom serving up cream cheese and jam sandwiches in my youth, and recently I’ve been making sandwiches of bagels with chive-infused cream cheese and cucumber, so I guess my answer is main event and condiment. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/38 "2011-08-04T15:45:38Z")
I love a ham and cream cheese bagel sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/39 "2011-08-04T15:52:34Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Wait, cream cheese on a bagel is not a sandwich? Next you’ll be ruling out Egg McMuffins! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421/40 "2011-08-04T17:17:25Z")
I used to make grilled cream cheese sandwiches all the time. Preferably with rye or pumpernickel bread, and occasionally with a slice of ham. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cream-cheese-sandwich/591421.md?page=3)