Walkers Baked Wotsits Giants

Really cheesy. Well, not exactly tasting of actual cheese, but definitely tasting of the fabulously fake ‘cheese flavour’ of so many crispy snacks. But don’t take this as a criticism. I love cheese flavour snacks and this is a very good one.

Yes, they are just like the original Cheesy Wotsits, just about three times the size. And they taste the same and are just as moreish (which someone from Ohio once told me is not a word used in the United States - can that really be the case?).

 Very moreish indeed. Very hard to avoid having another one. 

Except… and for me I’m afraid this is a very big except, they really do gum themselves to your teeth like cement. With a regular sized Wotsit you can rid yourself of the squished puffed corn sogginess gummed to your teeth with your tongue. The giant version required much poking and prodding with a searching finger. So that is a bit of an issue for me.

I should have photographed the glossy blue packet before it got all scrumpled up but never mind, you’ve all seen a crisp packet before.

Jacob’s Mini Cheddars Nibblies Double Gloucester & Chive

It’s surprisingly difficult to find who actually owns Jacob’s, the company who own Cheddars and Mini Cheddars, or used to. Jacob’s used to be owned by United Biscuits who have a rubbish website that looks as though it was designed in 1975, but it seems they were bought by a Turkish company called Yildiz Holdings or more likely pladis Global (happiness with every bite). Look, I could have tried harder and spent more time investigating but life it too short.

And why is there almost no information about Mini Cheddars Nibblies online? I was really puzzled. There must be a website I failed to find. They look just exactly the same as any old ordinary Mini Cheddar so…. well, apparently it’s just that they have 30% less fat than other baked Mini Cheddars (which are all baked these days anyway) while looking exactly the same as regular Mini Cheddars. And the text on the packaging telling you this important fact is quite small: perhaps they don’t want you to realise your crispy snack is healthier than you thought? Who knows. 

To be honest, I would prefer my unhealthy crispy snacks to be fried like in the olden days. If you are going to eat unhealthy you want the full fat experience (but make sure you don’t eat too much of it).

Kids! Don’t take my advice on food and nutrition. I am just expressing a personal preference. When I was young we were allowed to eat all sorts and lots of it was bad for us.

Anyway, here we have the healthier Nibblies Mini Cheddar option in Double Gloucester & Chive. Hmmm. I can’t tell that this is the extra healthy option which is a good thing. Same size, same shape, same colour, same texture. Excellent. But honestly, I am not sure this little snack actually tastes of Double Gloucester (would you be able to pick that cheese?), or Chives either. They smell good when you open the packet but what you get to eat doesn’t quite taste like that. What a pity.

Not nasty at all. Just not quite as nice as I would have liked. I will finish the packet and another packet too. You might like the taste better than I do and the Chef thought they were fine but I wonder if they do a cheese version.

Jacob’s Mini Cheddars Nacho Cheese & Jalapeño

 

As you know if you have been following this blog for a while, my iPad knows how to spell jalapeño correctly. And I have learned to appreciate the taste. Mostly from crispy snacks.

My family was a bit slow on the uptake when it came to modern cuisine: my grandfather absolutely refused to eat garlic and only ever ate rice or pasta as a pudding. I honestly don’t know how he managed this because he was brought up in South West France but he was a very determined man. And my grandmother even disapproved of feeding bananas to children. I can’t imagine what they would have thought of Nacho Cheese & Jalapeño flavour Mini Cheddars.

Obviously my mother didn’t get much of a start in life when it came to interesting foods. I think the most exotic thing she ever cooked was Vesta Chow Mein and that came in a cardboard box. I’m not sure she would have been any more enthusiastic about this crispy snack than her parents.

However, when I picked up a multi pack of Mini Cheddars last year it seemed perfect normal to find such a spicy flavour. How things have changed. 

Anyway, rather stupidly I tidied them away and thus forgot to try them. So, slightly out of date, this Nacho Cheese & Jalapeño flavour crunchy little biscuit is rather good. The cheese seems incidental, the chilli packs quite a punch. Very nice.