Butterkist Simply Salted Popcorn

 

This gently flavoured popcorn isn’t as exciting as the Sweet & Salty version of my previous post. It is lightly salted, and lightly buttery, which may not sound very gourmet. But the popcorn itself is tip top. Really good quality, very nice indeed. 

If you like subtle flavours then this is the popcorn for you. Very easy to eat and extremely moreish.

Butterkist Deliciously Sweet & Salty Popcorn

 

Absolutely delicious! Really nice quality popcorn and a lovely taste. 

What more could you want? Umm, yum, I think this is the best popcorn I have ever tasted. Honestly, so good!

I am not sure why this simple combination of sweet and salt is so extremely tasty, but it is. I’m not surprised it won a Great Taste Award in 2024.

Run to your nearest supplier and buy a packet for yourself because I’m not sharing. I got mine in the local Co-op.

Really good!

Walkers Heinz Tomato Ketchup

 

 I’m pretty sure I haven’t tried these crisps before. And I’m not very sure I should have bothered.

Tomatoes are quite sharp and almost citrusy, and ketchup can be quite sharp too. So we need something to sort out the flavour. And in many cases, a spoonful of sugar will do the job.

I think the flavour of these crisps is just too thin. And the crisps themselves are quite thin. Not a lot of crunch really.

Not bad, not nasty, perfectly edible but just not quite right. They just don’t seem to taste of ketchup. Honestly, Walkers, I think you could do better.

There are even TV ads for this flavour. That’s not going to change my mind, Sorry Walkers.

What other ketchup flavours have we tried? What about this one?

Tyrrell’s Furrows Beef Brisket & Black Peppercorn

 I am gobsmacked. This Beef Brisket & Black Perppercorn crisp really tastes as if it was made with actual meat. Or meat extract. Or something. But no. It is actually suitable for vegetarians.

Now, the Family Vegetarian Taste Tester tells me that no amount of  “oh yes all the ingredients are suitable for veggies” style info on the back of crisp packets makes any difference. If the packet is labelled Beef Brisket she’s just not going to try it. I wonder how many vegetarians this applies to.

And I do wonder if crisp manufacturers are trying to woo vegetarians with totally veggie flavours that sound meaty, or are creating meaty flavours (that are in fact veggie) because that’s what they think people want.

Hard to say. But if you ask my stepdaughter they’re going in the wrong direction.

And honestly, I am not mad about these crisps. They smell, not exactly meaty, but not veggie. A little bit marmite. They look tasty. Nice crinkle cut. Yum.

Except…there’s a sort of greasy aftertaste that I’m not a big fan of. I noticed that Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester was able to eat a lot more than me. 

Brown Bag Crisps Rosemary and Sea Salt

 

Brown Bag Crisps. Very nice.

Naturally delicious apparently. 

Proper British potato crisps. Gluten free and vegan.

Well, I have already tried the lightly salted crisp from this brand, and the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar and Onion. Although, I only got to sniff the empty packet that Senior Taste Tester gave me when he brought it into the office and complained that the taste was too strong. I am very fond of Senior Taste Tester, but really. He could have left me one crisp at least.

This is a lovely crunchy crisp but there’s an awful lot of overly tasty flavour dust, and I think it’s a bit too rosemaryyyyy. I think it was a present from kind Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester.

The Masters Potato Chips

My stepson, who shall remain nameless, went to the Masters this year. And while he was there he spotted packets of Masters themed crisps and thought ooh I expect Georgina would be interested. Did he buy me a packet to taste test? Have a guess.

For those not in the know, the Masters is one of the most famous golf tournaments in the world. British golfers want to win the Open, preferably at St Andrews, American golfers want to win the US Open (I don’t know what their course of choice would be), but everyone wants to win the Masters.

Held at Augusta in Georgia, the Masters is perhaps one of the very few sporting events that might also interest enthusiastic gardeners. The course is beautifully landscaped with big trees and planted with masses of azaleas and dogwoods which are usually in full flower during the tournament.

Like all events these days there is merchandise to buy. Glastonbury socks anyone? Obviously most of the merch available at Augusta is golf related, but the food is also branded. 

I understand that these crisps are available in plain (ready salted) and Bar-B-Que flavours. And have I got a packet to try? Nope.

But I thought you might be interested. And that’s a very odd spelling of barbecue.

Waitrose All Butter Cheddar Cheese & Chilli Bi

 

This is a very tasty little cheesy bite, with a kick of chilli to liven it up. Very nice.

It has occurred to me that the British palate has changed enormously over the last 20 years. I can’t help feeling that not so long ago these cheese and chilli bites might have been considered very much too hot. These days I suspect they are acceptable to all the world and his grandmother. We are all eating a lot more chilli, and even the most conservative cook thinks nothing of throwing a pinch (minimum) of chilli flakes into the spaghetti bolognaise.

Lovely texture, very nice bite, good cheesy taste and that little kick of chilli. I really enjoyed these.

Interesting. In the past I think these cheesy bites might have been packaged in a silver plastic baggie inside the cardboard box. You can see that this baggie is clear. Maybe the clear bag biodegrades more quickly?

Lorenz Pomsticks Paprika flavour

Here’s another packet of crispy snacks that I found in our local Turkish shop. They have an amazing array of different brands that can’t always be found anywhere else.

PomSticks, or as we called them when I was a child, chipples, are a tasty way to eat finely chopped and deep fried potatoes. And if I remember correctly, my brother and I learned to eat chipples in Edinburgh, in about 1963. So this style of crispy snack has been around for quite a while.

And this packet of “chipples” is a very tasty example of finely chopped deep fried potatoes. Very nice indeed. 

It tastes nicely of something or other, I couldn’t work out what, but I wasn’t really bothered. But tasty.

If I had bothered to read the label (sorry, I didn’t) I would have known the taste was paprika. Really? I’m not sure I could taste paprika. They don’t seem to taste particularly paprika-y. Whatever it was tasted quite good, so we’ll stick with that.

Here’s another Lorenz crispy snack.

Jacob’s Cheddars Red Leicester

Oh dear. I have enjoyed Cheddars for a long time. Delicious. Although I am surprised to find that I don’t seem to have reviewed them. How odd.

I have also enjoyed many bags of Mini Cheddars in various flavours*. Mostly delicious but smaller. So I was interested to try full size Red Leicester Cheddars.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Red Leicester is a red coloured cheese originally made in Leicester. I believe it works very well in sandwiches. 

However, and I am very sorry to have to report this, Red Leicester Cheddars aren’t a good idea. Same size as your classic Cheddars, same packet of biscuits style packaging, very nearly the same ingredients I expect, but and it is a very big but, they don’t really taste of anything. 

They have just the right crunch and snap, and feel the same in my mouth, but the taste is very disappointing. I am disappointed. I feel there is no real discernible taste of cheese.

*that’s four different posts about Cheddars for your delectation and delight.

Well, just my opinion because there’s no one here to ask their opinion now.

Lay’s Tomato flavoured

And… here we are again. This time with a tomato flavoured crisp from Lay’s which I think started life in Poland. It seems likely that this product was not originally intended to be sold in the UK, but I bought the packet in my local Turkish shop here in North London. According to the lists of ingredients, you should be able to find these crisps in PL, HU, CZ, SK, LT, LV, EE, HR and SI. 

The packaging of all sorts of products, from potato crisps to shampoo, is an interesting way to learn foreign languages. In this case though, there is no list of ingredients in any language that I actually speak. Sadly I have no knowledge of Hungarian or Lithuanian. Or even Polish. How careless of me. So the information on this packet isn’t going to act as a Rosetta Stone for me today. It’s a pity because I find the differences (and similarities) between languages fascinating.

However, the front of this packet is prominently labelled in English, so that’s a fairly big clue.

OK, so this is a tomato flavoured potato crisp. The crisps are finely cut, maybe that’s the Polish preference? And they do taste fairly tomatoey.

But once again, I have here a crisp which is perfectly edible, but to me at least, tastes far too sharp to accurately give us crisp fans a genuine taste of the advertised flavour.

Not bad. But… No, I mean, it’s not a bad crisp but I think tomato is a surprisingly difficult flavour to get right.