Jimmy's Sweet Chili Cheese Popcorn with Tabasco Brand Seasoning

Last week I went with the reluctant taste testers to Buckingham Palace, Fortnum & Mason and one or two other places in the Green Park area. And in the basement grocery department of Fortnums I discovered this popcorn which turned out to be Dutch.

You've got to buy a souvenir of a good day out haven't you? The tall taste tester bought a Buckingham Palace magnet for the fridge at work, and I bought a packet of popcorn. That's how life works.

So this lovely green packet of popcorn has some fluffy popped kernels that are more orangey (I think those are the chili cheesy bits) and some that are paler in colour and seem to taste sweeter. Although some are more mixed up. Helpful.

When the reluctant taste testers and I first tucked in we thought the taste was a bit pale, not really strong enough to warrant the great big Tabasco logo on the packaging. But the more you eat the tastier they get. And before you know it, a whole bowlful has been eaten.

So we found we enjoyed this popcorn more than we thought we were going to. Pretty good.

But we were a bit puzzled. This is a popcorn made in the Netherlands by a company called Jimmy's (not terribly Dutch sending somehow), using the Tabasco brand seasoning which is made on Avery Island, Louisiana (and has been since 1868). And I bought the packet in that most quintessentially English shop, Fortnum & Mason (opened in 1707). Wow. Well, you know the crispy snack market is international. This is just a very good example of that. And there's a lot of history involved here.

And you might like some fabulous gates which illustrate our day out.