As you might have guessed, these breakfast treats are comparable to the previous Liege waffle offerings from Trader Joe's in terms of price, size, texture, and packaging. We're looking at $4.99 for six individually-wrapped Belgian waffles. And yes, they are actually imported from Belgium.
The original Brioche Style Liege Waffles are still my favorite just because they're a tad more versatile than these or their maple-flavored counterparts. We weren't able to get our hands on the pumpkin spice variety last fall, but we'll make another attempt come September, provided they return again this year.
These Liege waffles do have tiny specks of strawberry throughout their bready Belgian brioche-style bodies. It's actually "apple strawberry pieces," whatever those are. There's also some strawberry puree in the mix. And yes, many of you know exactly what's coming: a complaint. They still don't taste enough like strawberry.
I want strawberry chunks in the next one. I want just a whisper of bread with my strawberry puree. I want big berry boldness. I want the berry flavor to knock my socks off. And that's not what this does. It just whispers "strawberry" softly...like a distant melody on the wind...being played by a middle school band...in the next town over.
Maybe I exaggerate. It'll be strawberryish enough for many folks. It's certainly strawberryish enough when paired with Trader Joe's Whipped Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread (review upcoming) although that product isn't exactly strawberry overload just on its own, either. But hey, in terms of convenience and value, we've got another winner on our hands.
Sonia and I would both purchase Trader Joe's Brioche Style Strawberry Liege Waffles again. Like their predecessors, they're perfectly edible straight out of the wrappers, but they shine even more when toasted and topped with butter and/or strawberry cream cheese. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. Seven and a half out of ten stars from yours truly.
When I first saw these, I was thinking they might be like the Turkish version of a cheese blintz. They're not too far off in terms of texture, but blintzes tend to be sweet and gözlemes, I've gathered, are savory. This version features authentic Turkish flatbread stuffed with tulum, kashkaval, and mozzarella cheeses.
It's a delicious combination. It's much more like the Turkish version of a quesadilla or a grilled cheese sandwich than a blintz. In fact, I'd say it's right in between the two. A gözleme is thicker than a quesadilla but not quite as thick as your typical grilled cheese. It's a bit oily and buttery, salty, creamy, and tangy. The three cheese combo yields something akin to melty mozzarella, texture-wise, but it's much tangier and flavorful than mozzarella alone. The flavor is something along the lines of feta, another great Mediterranean cheese.
The flatbread gets nice and crispy on the outside during preparation. It's phyllo-esque in some respects but also doughier than typical phyllo. There's a chewy element to it, but it's very pleasant. Goes great with the cheeses.
This product does indeed come from Turkey. It's apparently a popular type of street food found throughout the nation. It's often stuffed with various meats or veggies like spinach or potatoes. They typically grill the flatbread and its fillings on a griddle and serve it hot. Preparation instructions for this Trader Joe's offering state explicitly that it's to be prepared from frozen on the stovetop rather than the microwave or conventional oven. I'd go out on a limb and guess they don't want you to toss it in the air fryer either, although I'm certain someone out there has tried it. I was tempted myself but resisted the urge.
Sonia heated ours on her nonstick skillet. Instructions said to "place in dry pan" and she did...and lo and behold, it stuck to her pan. I mean, it wasn't a total nightmare. She got the product off of the pan and onto our plate pretty much entirely intact. Subsequent attempts were even more successful when the HexClad was called up for duty. The product is fairly oily on its own and probably isn't begging to be deep fried or anything like that.
We plowed through all three gözlemes within 24 hours of opening the box, so that's a testament to its scrumptiousness, I'd say. In our video review, we muse about what condiments might work with it. In the same way I like Mexican salsa with my quesadillas, I wanted a Mediterranean hot sauce with this product. I pondered whether it might work with Trader Joe's Tunisian Harissa Paste. Sonia thought it would pair well with Trader Joe's Italian Bomba Sauce. Since we had some of the bomba on hand, we were able to confirm subsequently that they do indeed go very well together. I still wanna try it with harissa.
The beautiful wifey and I would both buy this product again. $4.99 for three cheese-stuffed flatbreads, found in the frozen section. Product of Turkey. Eight and a half out of ten stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Gözlemes. I'll go with eight out of ten stars.
