Perach Rice Crisps in Zaatar & Olive Oil

Mmn..... not really sure about these. But you know, it's an adventure and sometimes you just have to try stuff. And sometimes even though it comes in a really dreadful looking bag and has a terrible naff name, sometimes it tastes great.

And sometimes the bag looks rather smart but the contents don't live up to it.

These kosher snacks are made in Israel under the supervision of the Rishon Lezion Rabbinate. I never knew there was a place in Israel called Rishon Lezion (also called Rishon LeZion or Rishon LeTsiyon and founded in 1882) but that's obviously my fact for today. Not fried, no preservatives, no food colours, no MSG and no trans fats. Excellent. Unfortunately I don't really like them very much.

The basic snack is a sort of puffed rice biscuity snack thing and has a good crunch to it. I can't detect any sort of taste from that. But it turns out that I don't like the taste of zaatar. And in a zaatar tasting crisp that's a major flaw. In me. I daresay anyone who likes zaatar would be very happy with these.

The bag doesn't say exactly what combination of herbs goes into this version of zaatar. I read that it can be made of several different herbs; it seems that any combination of oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil thyme, savoury (or possibly hyssop?) and sesame may be used. Possibly sumac too. It's all a bit complicated. And these crispy things are also flavoured with rosemary.

I think there is just too much herbiness going on for me. The smell is like too many dried herbs, possibly a little bit past their sell-by date, and the taste is pretty much the same. If I concentrate hard I think I can detect a hint of olive oil but the herbs are so strong I'm not sure.

And I'm not really sure about the look either. You've got the creamy whiteness of the rice crisp with the zaatar herbs on top. Which makes the crisps look kind of grubby.

So I'm very sorry but I don't like these and I'm not going to eat any more.

Not horrible. Definitely not horrible. I just don't like the flavour. I wonder if Perach do other flavours?