Waitrose Christmas Hickory Smoked Nut Mix

This packet of Hickory Smoked nuts from Waitrose is left over from last Christmas and I forgot it was at the back of the cupboard. You may not be surprised to learn that I wasn’t exactly looking around for snacks. 

But now, despite the fact that this packet is seriously out of date, and the other fact that I have previously announced to the world that I don’t like Hickory Smoke flavour, I’m going to give them a try.

Just to see. 

Apparently this is a smoky mix of roasted cashews, almonds & macadamia nuts. Sounds like a nice mix.

But… 

The nuts are fine, not sure there’s actually anything wrong with them, but no, no, no, no, no, oh dear I still hate this horrible Hickory Smoked flavour. So not for me.

Honestly, even if this snack wasn’t out of date I still wouldn’t like it.

So there we are. I think we only bought this nut mix because we had already tried two other flavours in this Waitrose selection from Christmas 2024.

And check the previous Waitrose flavours. Like this one.

Walkers Sensations Oven Roasted Peanuts Honey and Salt Flavour

Here we go again, another year, another snack to write about, and just for a change (not) here’s another packet of nuts. Because I wanted to compare Honey Roast Peanuts with Honey and Salt flavour nuts.

You might suppose that they would be pretty nearly identical but you would be wrong. The Honey and Salt are much less sweet than the Honey Roast, and considerably more salty. Much more to my taste. Lots of delicious flavour dust. Very nice. 

But sadly the peanuts are not so good. Smaller and harder than KP nuts usually are. 

However, this is a good option if you fancy a sweet and salty nut.

I wonder why Walkers chose Californian honey? Surely there is plenty of honey produced in the UK, or failing that, Europe?

KP Honey Roast Peanuts

I am continuing my quest to see if I really like any flavour of peanut better than the regular salted kind. And I think it’s possible that I don’t.

This Honey Roast flavour (source of protein, high in fibre) is quite sweet (made with glucose syrup - no wonder it’s so sweet), and I am not sure that’s what I want from a peanut. Oh dear, I seem to be a lot pickier than I used to be.

I read that grief can cause changes to your sense of smell and taste, but a year after my dear husband died, although I am still grieving, I am not sure this is a good excuse. I guess I just don’t like the sweetness anymore. Maybe age also affects your sense of taste?

Honestly, I’m sure I remember enjoying Honey Roast peanuts. And the peanuts in this case seem pretty good. So don’t pay any attention to me not enjoying them as much as I once did. Even though I don’t even feel like finishing the packet. 

Maybe I will try another flavour… and there are some flavoured peanuts on sale in my local supermarket that I have never attempted. 

Y’all know what peanuts look like, so no extra photos.

The Chef 
He changed my life forever and never tried to change me
1951 - 2024

Serious Pig Snacking Cheese

The packet says pure cheese baked to a crunch, but there is noticeable rosemary in the recipe.

I wasn’t sure about trying this crispy snack but it is quite tasty. Not just cheese, which can be quite overwhelming, but rosemary too. Although it’s still very rich, so don’t try to eat the whole packet at once, a few at a time are quite nice.

I probably wouldn’t buy another packet though. Not sure I am the biggest fan of this style of snack. Maybe the time has come to go back to potato crisps. 

Serious Pig Sausage Flavour Crisps

I love sausages, and you know I love crisps, so I was excited to try a packet of sausage flavour crisps.

What a disappointment. These crisps are covered in lots and lots of flavour, but I don’t think any of it adds up to sausage flavour. 

Now, you will probably think I am being far too picky, because I said the last Serious Pig crisp I reviewed (the dill pickle flavour) didn’t have enough flavour, and here I am moaning that this crisp has too much flavour. Never satisfied, eh? 

Also these crisps are quite big, which is weird, because the dill pickle crisps were quite small.

What a shame though. A missed opportunity. Could do better. See me after class.

KP Dry Roasted Peanuts

I thought I would try probably the most well known peanut company in the UK: KP.

And what do I think? Actually, I’m wondering if I ever liked Dry Roasted Peanuts in the first place. Did I used to like them? I can’t really remember. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.

Oh, this is a fine peanutty snack, no doubt about it, but I’m going to be just as picky as I was with the last two Dry Roasted options I have tried recently. And in this case, I think there’s too much dried yeast extract. And thus these nuts are too Marmitey for me. Although I do love Marmite, the flavour of these nuts is just too marmitey.

I am not going to abandon this 250g packet of very nice nuts. I will eat them all, but slowly. And I think perhaps I will attempt a different style of nuts next time.

I must say though, I really do applaud KP’s reseal system. Quite a lot of other companies offer resealable packaging these days, and quite a lot of the resealing just doesn’t work, or hasn’t worked for me. I hope all these resealing systems will work better in the future.

Serious Pig Pickle with Dill flavour crisps

I rather like the flavour of dill pickles but I don’t terribly like the texture. Tiny little cornichons are fine, but the big pickles not so much. So you might suppose that these pickle with dill flavour crisps would be just right for me.

Here we have nice crisps, perhaps a little small, skin on which is always a plus, nice crunch, all in all quite a good crisp. But the taste! Where is the punchy taste of dill pickle? I really think the people at Serious Pig need to add a lot more flavour to warrant the pickle with dill flavour label.

Not bad but a little disappointing on the flavour front. There really is not enough pickley pop. I’m a bit sad.

Johnny Cashew, Honey Seasalt

This 100g packet of cashew nuts from Johnny Cashew tells us something I genuinely didn’t know: cashew nuts grown in Africa are exported to Asia to be shelled. Where in Africa? I don’t know. And where in Asia? No sorry, I don’t know that either. 

But in any case, why?

Does this sound a bit like the C19th gold miners in California sending their dirty clothes off by sailing ship to Hawaii to be laundered? I mean seriously, does the technology to remove the cashew shells from the cashew nuts not exist in any African country in the 21st century?

Well, yes, apparently if it didn’t before, it does now. Because Johnny Cashew, the company, boasts that it has (gasp!) bypassed the long 12,000 km trip to Asia and shelled its nuts in Africa. Which we can only suppose must be a good thing (hurrah!).

Very tasty. I do enjoy a cashew nut. And the honey sea salt flavour is pretty good. Very easy to eat. I finished the packet with no trouble at all, and put a lot of effort into poking my finger into all the corners so as not to waste any tasty flavour dust. I can’t remember where I found these nuts but I would definitely be happy to try another packet. Seek them out nut fans.

And have I any explanation for paragraph 2 being inset? No. No, no idea at all. I tried hard to do something about it but with no success. I do not know how this happened. Computer programmes have minds of their own.

M&S British Hand Cooked Hot Maple Pigs in Blankets Crisps

 

Oh no! Two crispy snacks in a row that I really don’t like.

But not to worry crisp fans, just the other day I watched Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester eat two bowls of these Hot Maple Pigs in Blankets crisps. I managed one. One crisp. 

I don’t like the smell and I don’t like the taste. I think there are just too many flavours battling for supremacy, and really and truly I prefer simpler flavours. 

I’m not sure I would want to eat pigs in blankets with hot maple syrup even before they became a crisp flavour. I don’t really like pigs in blankets. Even without hot maple syrup, chilli, and oak smoked sugar. What is this conspiracy to flavour absolutely everything with smoked salt or smoked sugar these days?

Put your trust in Cliffs of Moher and ignore my pickiness. In any case, as ever, try for yourselves.

Edited to add: much to my surprise I recently discovered that in the United States the recipe for pigs in blankets appears to be mini hot dog sausage wrapped in an enriched dough and baked. In the UK they are cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon. A totally different recipe. This crisp is from the UK.

The Original Chicken Crackling with the Taste of Sunday Roast

 

I’m not entirely certain who makes this chicken skin product. Maybe Little Bobby Jebb Foods. Apparently it is cooked chicken skin crackling, with a rosemary and thyme seasoning. It’s high in protein (isn’t everything these days?) and low in sugar, and contains no seed oils. Is this a good thing?

I love the chicken logo. It’s charming.

But. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Not for me. 

When I actively dislike a crispy snack I am always conscious that it’s only my opinion. And I feel this more acutely when it’s a product from what looks like a small company. After all, nobody makes and sells something nasty on purpose. So you might like this crispy chicken skin. I don’t.

I didn’t like the smell and I didn’t like the taste which is ridiculously salty. And I write as someone likely to sprinkle bacon with extra salt.

Sorry.