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…
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.