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.

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.

Cambrook Dry Roasted Peanuts

Back in September I posted a review of some M&S Dry Roasted Peanuts, which I complained tasted too smoky for me. So here’s another packet of Dry Roasted Peanuts, this time from a company I don’t really know, Cambrook.

My beef last time was with the smoked salt. This new packet is also made with smoked salt, but rather less of it in the recipe I feel. This time I think there’s a bit too much cinnamon. Please don’t say I’m picky. I’m just telling you what I think. 

This packaging has a clear panel so you can see the product before you buy. I suppose it saves on design costs. But it doesn’t work too well when the Taste Tester (me) scoffs down all the nuts before remembering that she should have taken a photograph. Well, if you are reading this you probably have a fair idea what a peanut looks like. But sorry.

Not nasty, not at all, just not really to my taste. I’m not mad about cinnamon. But I ate them perfectly happily. The peanuts themselves are a little smaller than I would like.

Call me weird if you like, and I know you will, but every time I eat peanuts from a small packet I remember Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle, when she’s on the plane to Seattle eating a packet of airplane nuts. Not that I look anything like her. It’s just the shape your (my) hand makes when you pull another peanut out of the little bag.

I really must try a few more different varieties of Dry Roasted Peanuts to see which ones I like best. I’m quite surprised that I haven’t taste tested more of them before. 

Serious Pig Snackingham Classic

‘Snackingham. It’s not a village in HAMpshire!’ says the packet.

No, it’s tender slices of air-dried British pork infused with a blend of garlic, caraway seeds and just a hint of white pepper. And very nice too.

And while I don’t know where this product is actually made, possibly Kent, the company is based in London.

Delicious! Very tasty indeed, and hard to stop eating. Great with a glass of white wine.

It looks a little like slices of a salami style sausage, but the taste reminds me more of the Swiss delicacy viande sechée (which of course is actually made with beef).

OK, I admit, this is not a crispy snack. But it’s a snack. And so good that I would be remiss in my mission to alert my readers to new snacks if I didn’t include this one. Just 17g in this little packet, which makes it look like a crispy snack which it still isn’t, but definitely recommended.

I would buy this product from Serious Pig again. In fact I have. If you eat pork, maybe you should too.

Highly recommended.

Boundless Gut Happy Snacking Smoky Bacon Flavour

Well, this is a tasty crispy snack. 

To be honest, I am not usually mad keen on Smoky Bacon flavour which can often be a bit overpowering, but this crispy snack has a gentle flavour that I really appreciate. Very nice indeed. 

And, quite interesting, not at all what I was expecting, 46% of this crispy snack is made with sprouted sorghum. What even is sprouted sorghum? (Apparently it’s high in cyanide!) Other ingredients include pea flour and maize flour. But whatever this crispy snack is made from it’s definitely tasty and has a very nice texture.

I am not at all sure what makes this snack so good for my gut. Maybe the sorghum? I don’t know.

But yes, I would buy this again. It would be interesting to try another flavour from Boundless, and see how that works.

But where to buy it? I got this from the drinks trolley on my GWR train from Stroud to London and I have no clue where else it might be sold. If you can find it not on a train, I think you will enjoy it.

Vegan approved. And pretty packaging.