Jacob’s Tuc Sandwich Cream Cheese & Chive flavour

I was very pleased to find this packet of Cream Cheese & Chive flavour Tuc when I last made an online order from my favourite supermarket. 

I have tried Sour Cream & Onion flavour Tuc and enjoyed them immensely. In this case I found them in Switzerland, check my enthusiast review, but they are (were) also available in France. I never really thought this flavour would be available in England (or any other part of the UK come to that), but here we have a very similar looking flavour. But not similar enough.

And are these UK Tuc sandwiches as tasty as the French version? Am I as excited about this flavour? 

Oh dear. Sadly not. Oh, they are fine in their own way, and the Tuc biscuits themselves are as tasty as they always are, but I cannot detect a trace of chives in the creamy squidgy filling. I ate the entire packet. But I am disappointed. 

If you have not tried the continental version of this flavour, well after all, chives are a member of the onion family, you might enjoy this crispy snack.

Have you noticed the serving suggestion? Just pile one biscuit on top of another. Presumably on something green.

In other news, I am sorry to see that longstanding British company (but started in Ireland) Jacob’s, supplier of Cheddars and Twiglets to generations of crispy snack fans, and owned by United Biscuits, has been bought by some company called Pladis. In Britain at least. I think. Company ownership these days is so complicated I’m surprised anyone can keep track of who owns what. 

Griffin’s Munchos Spicy Tomato

 

This is a little bit different. It’s an extruded wheat based (wheat pellets apparently, which doesn’t sound particularly tasty but there we are) crispy snack that allegedly tastes of spicy tomato. 

Well, it doesn’t taste of tomato and it isn’t spicy. Do New Zealanders have a lower tolerance for spicy foods than some people? I can’t know, never having been there, but I can tell you that this crispy snack is definitely not spicy.

I’m not saying I didn’t like them. I do. When I opened the bag there was a strong smell of freshly fried chips (French fries people) together with what smelled like a hint of vinegar. A very alluring smell for a snack. 

On the packet it says Can’t Stop the Munchies. I was dubious but that’s absolutely right. I naughtily ate nearly the entire packet in one sitting. Delicious! But not behaviour I recommend. I’m not suggesting that this snack has suddenly become a huge favourite, but should I ever visit New Zealand I would certainly grab a bag off a supermarket shelf.

I returned to the packet a couple of days later. Just as good. A faint taste of salt and vinegar. Lovely light crunch. And an interesting texture. Almost like several layers of very tiny bubble wrap, and translucent. And each individual munchie you pick up leaves tasty little shard-like crumbs, almost like snowflakes, on your fingers. There’s lots of finger liking with this crispy snack. 

I really do rather like them and what a relief! I was beginning to wonder if I still enjoyed crispy snacks of any kind.

Walkers English Bangers & Mash

 

This is the only World Cup tie in crisp that I have found this year. There nearly always seems to be a World Cup tie in. Not for the Olympics which seems to feature hundreds of sports, with more added every time, but for football which I think is one of the most boring sports in the world (just my personal opinion). Are crisps only eaten by football fans?

Anyway, yes I am aware the tournament is over, and that Spain won. Well done Spain! But I didn’t find these crisps until it was all over. And then I had to buy a multi pack.

So, what do we have here? English Bangers &Mash; oh, excuse me, the flavour is inspired by bangers and mash. Hmm…I’m not sure. The aroma is of something that might be sausage (bangers), but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of the mash. 

Graffiti Artist taste tester tried a packet. He said he quite liked them. But his reaction was really tepid rather than enthusiastic.

I gather from the internet that I might also have bought Spanish Queso Wavy crisps, Portuguese Chorizo &Onion, or Wotsits Golden Balls Smokin’ Cheese. Only I haven’t seen any of these and I don’t propose to buy them off eBay. But you could if you wanted to. Probably for a limited time only.

You all know what Walkers crisps are like. Usually very reliable. I’m not sure this is one of their best offerings. I didn’t like them.

PS Unbelievable but true, my silly crispy snack blog which I only began because the weather on our summer holiday was very wet, has hit over one million views. 

Bluebird Rashuns Cheesy Bacon Attack

So I have a great big 190g bag of Cheesy Bacon Attack (interesting name for a flavour) Rashuns. Rashuns is also a strange name for a kind of crispy snack. Unless you’re used to it of course. I really didn’t want a party bag but beggars can’t be choosers.

This is another product from beloved New Zealand brand Bluebird. Who oddly decorate their packaging with penguins not bluebirds.

This extruded corn snack is a very odd shape. I thought at first it might be penguin footprints, but now I’m not so sure. So let’s class this as an unidentified shape. And I bet you already guessed it’s one of those snacks that aggressively gums itself to your teeth, and there’s apparently nothing you can do about it.

And what does it taste of? It’s a smokey bacon flavour but I don’t really detect any cheesiness. 

Not bad. I ate most of the packet by myself. But that’s because I live on my own.

Arnott’s Shapes Originals Chicken Crimpy

Chicken Crimpy seems a weird choice of name for a flavour, but maybe in Australia or New Zealand it makes more sense than it does here in North London.

This crispy snack is more of a cracker or a sort of cheese biscuit than anything else. Definitely not a crisp or chip. It’s an interesting oval, unusual, with a pretty scalloped edge. And it sort of tastes of chicken stock cubes.

Stock cubes? Yes, sort of. And just like my stock cubes, these crunchy crackers are made with chicken powder. So definitely not suitable for vegetarians.

These biscuitty crackers are quite tasty. The crunch is a bit hard, but not too hard, and I rather enjoyed them. I wonder if they would work well with a smear of unsalted butter? Or maybe some hummus.

As you can see these crackers come in a cardboard box, and then there’s a silver baggie inside. I am not convinced you can see the flavour.

Butterkist Sweet & Salty Microwave Popcorn

 I made a mistake.

I went to the local shop that sells the most interesting selection of snacks, and I fancied microwave popcorn. Did they sell it? Yes they did. And there it was on the shelf. I used to love microwave popcorn; nothing wrong with the cold stuff that comes in a bag, but the microwave kind is a different beast.

So after looking at the selection I grabbed a box. 

I grabbed the wrong box. In recent years my tastes have changed and while once upon a time I probably would have very much enjoyed the Sweet & Salty flavour, it’s not for me these days. Just too sweet. But absolutely nothing wrong with the popcorn itself.

Except that time when I allowed the microwaveable bag to open too far while the corn was popping, and then it gets stuck against the sides of the microwave instead of going around and around. And then it starts to burn. I should have tried to stop that.

Anyway, not for me. Maybe for you.

Serious Pig Giant Corn Scratchings

 

I was seduced by the effusive comments on the Serious Pig website. This giant corn snack is a vegetarian substitute for pork scratchings. Everyone seems to love it so I bought a small 35g packet.

Nope. Sorry. Not for me. Too hard. I don’t like the taste and I don’t like the smell. 

Do you think I should give up reviewing crispy snacks? I don’t seem to like very much of anything these days. 

Vegetarian though.

Cheetos Ketchup Flavoured

Here’s yet another example of a maize based crispy snack. These ones are shaped like quite chunky chips. But whatever the shape, this style of snack will always gum itself to the roof of your mouth and the sides of your teeth. It’s not an elegant snack, not recommended for a first date.

Now the flavour here is supposed to be ketchup which can be a brilliant flavour, but honestly it’s a little too fugitive in this case.

So it’s a pleasant crispy snack that doesn’t taste of very much. In a good way.

Serious Pig Snackingham Chorizo

You may recall that I have tried Serious Pig products before. Their Snackingham Classic is delicious. So I thought I might try the Snackingham Chorizo.

Still in a small 17g packet, still made with outdoor reared British pork. But this time with smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. And what do you get? A smoky flavour which is very nice, but I think I still prefer the Classic.

Also still not a crispy snack but slices of air dried pork.

Co-op Limited Edition Dill-icious Dill Pickle Flavour Crisps

This is a wonderful crinkle cut crisp with a great bite and lots of good crinkles for the flavour dust to stick to.

Unfortunately the flavour is all wrong. I really enjoy dill pickle as a flavour, I love dill. But these crisps are far too vinegary for my taste. Far too vinegary. And I don’t like the way they smell. What a shame. And disappointing because Co-op crisps are usually very good.

Pretty packaging though.

The Fine Cheese Company Lemon, Sea Salt and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Crackers

 

Yes, OK, I admit it. This product from The Fine Cheese Company in Bath is not really a crispy snack. As it says on the packaging, it’s a cracker. To go with your cream cheese or goats cheese or whatever else you fancy. But this is my blog and I like the packaging design.

I’m not sure you can tell that these crackers have been made with extra virgin olive oil, but you can definitely tell they’re made with lemons. Very lemony. A bit more lemony than I was expecting to be honest. Perhaps the extra virgin makes a difference. It’s hard to tell. Maybe it’s one of those ingredients that you notice if it’s not there. And of course everything needs salt.

These crackers are very thin but with a serious crunch, so they hold up better to buttering, or cheesing, than some much better known crackers. 

The only problem is that I don’t like them very much. And I don’t have any reluctant taste testers staying just now to offer a different opinion.

Tokapi Snacks Gaufrettes Fromage

You all must know that I am devoted to Cheese Footballs, so you can imagine I was very interested to try a new to me version.

I have never seen the brand Tokapi before so I had to look them up online. Apparently they sell nuts, tins of cocktail sausages, those bacon strip crispy snacks the French mysteriously call snack’s, mini crêpes, all sorts of snacks suitable for the all important l’heure d’apéro.

So, on to the new cheese footballs. At first sight they look pretty much identical to the UK cheese footballs. Not very surprising perhaps, because if they didn’t look the same they would be a poor excuse for a cheese football. Which suddenly makes me wonder, why don’t we have cheese rugby balls? 

Anyway, the soft squishy totally fake not actually cheese at all filling is less sweet than the UK version, and all the better for it. The crispy wafer shell is very similar, but seems to be a little bit acrid. Interesting. 

I have tried other brands of cheese footballs from France before and they seem to be available all the year round. Which is very welcome if you are suffering withdrawal symptoms while you’re on your summer holiday. And, they come in different flavours too.

DJ&A Shitake Mushroom Crisps Gravy Flavour

Well, this is one of the weirder crispy snacks I have attempted. 

I am quite surprised.

Honestly, I am not exactly sure what I was expecting. But it wasn’t this.

I picked up this packet of shitake mushroom crisps on a whim. I walked past them in the shop, thought why not, and picked them up. For better or worse. And then I noticed the dread words “gravy flavour”.

Before I opened the packet I think I was expecting finely chopped mushrooms, as if they were crisps. And then I thought maybe there would be a gravy sauce. I don’t know why. And quite obviously I hadn’t bothered to look at the photograph on the front of the packet carefully enough.

I didn’t squidge the packet but if I had I would have realised the gravy sauce wasn’t going to happen and it basically turned out to be a lot of flavour dust. A lot of flavour dust. But seriously, what flavour even is gravy? 

And the mushrooms? Whole mushrooms apparently freeze dried into incredibly crispy crunchy crackly mushrooms. Have you ever tried Edinburgh rock? A bit like that. Or maybe a little like the consistency of chalk. Sort of. Too weird. A whole freeze dried mushroom is, as I said, not what I was expecting. Honestly, I’m not even sure I noticed any flavour.

I tried this weird snack with Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester and she didn’t really fancy it either.

Jacob’s Bites Mature Cheddar & Caramelised Onion Flavour

Well here we go. I thought these sounded good. On opening the silver baggie the initial aroma was rather good. The first taste was also rather good. But the more I tried it the more the taste wasn’t quite right for me. Too… oniony? Too much taste? Too much something. And the texture wasn’t quite right. Not to mention lots of ingredients (Sodium Metabisulphite anyone?) that I could do without.

I asked Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester what she thought. She wasn’t a fan. The taste wasn’t right and what’s more, the texture wasn’t right for her either. Her verdict was “No”.

However, Family Vegetarian rather liked them. Graffiti Artist Taste Tester wasn’t averse. But honestly I think Family Vegetarian would have finished the whole packet if dinner wasn’t going to be ready in 10 minutes. So, as ever, you have to try these things for yourself.

The Family Vegetarian was quite enthusiastic. She ate quite a few, and I’m sure she would have eaten more of these crispy snacks if she hadn’t known I was cooking a large dinner which was in the oven as we taste tested. I think even the Graffiti Artist liked this not very crispy snack more than I did.

This snack comes in a silver baggie inside a cardboard box. So at least part of the packaging is readily recyclable.

Forest Feast Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Where did I pick up this fancy packet of nuts? I can’t remember. Oh wait, it might have been Sainsburys. But I thought it looked as though it might be rather good.

The nuts themselves are large and look to be good quality. But I thought there was an awful lot of added flavour dust, and not much taste of nut. I asked the Family Vegetarian what she thought, and she absolutely agreed with me. She said that nuts have quite a delicate taste and she thought they were quite overshadowed by the strong taste of pepper. 

I also asked Graffiti Artist Taste Tester. He said he wasn’t that keen on nuts and didn’t really want to try… but he did try. And here’s why you always have to try for yourself: he quite liked these nuts. How could we predict that?

This packet is a mix of “Jumbo Peanuts, Colossal Cashews, Almonds, Pecans and Macadamias”. And this packet is brought to you by Kestrel Foods based in Northern Ireland.

My verdict? Too much pepper.

Made for Drink Baron Bigod Cheese & Onion

This flavour of Made for Drink (premium bar snacks) crisps was created in partnership with English Heritage. I visited my local English Heritage property recently by myself, pottered around the garden and landscape for a while, and then I fancied a drink and a snack.

I found these crisps. Cheese and Onion flavour. Made with fancy Baron Bigod cheese (a British artisan cheese made by Fen Farm Dairy). And very nice too. Properly cheese and oniony.

Unfortunately I don’t remember these crisps very well because I was grumpy that my bank card was rejected* at the café till. It was rejected again at the garden shop, for no reason that I could think of, but that rather overshadowed my visit. I might try the Dorset Sea Salt next time. Not the Truffle because truffle is disgusting. 

*I called my bank and they said they only allow £300 of contactless payments before you have to use your PIN number again. They do not tell you this. This information is not on the letter that comes with your new PIN. The man I spoke to admitted that a lot of customers get in touch because they had their cards deactivated too. And they didn’t know about the £300 limit any more than I did. Apparently this information is in the terms and conditions. But where are they? 

Anyway, nice crisps.

Jacob’s Mini Cheddars Frank’s Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce

Pay attention if you like spicy snacks. This is a limited edition offering from Jacob’s. Although, obviously I don’t know when the time limit began or when it will finish. 

Hot! A bit of a surprise to a regular Mini Cheddar fan.

Yes, these are basically the ordinary everyday Mini Cheddars that you know and love (always a good bet if you fancy a little biscuitty, crunchy, cheesy snack), but invigorated with the exciting addition of Frank’s Red Hot sauce (since 1920). 

Yum. Definitely yum. Not for you if you don’t like spicy, and honestly I didn’t used to, I really didn’t. But your palate evolves if you give it a chance, and perhaps you might like to start here.

But if you do fancy a red hot taste of cayenne pepper sauce, seek them out and try them while you can. I very much enjoyed this 150g packet and eked them out for a week, not wanting to snack them down too quickly.

Walkers Quavers Red Leicester

I,  and more than 4,000 other people, were extremely offended by an Instagram post recently where a family of Americans thundered round a UK supermarket and basically mocked everything in the shop for being “wrong”. Because everything was a UK product or a UK flavour… well, of course: they were in the UK. The family had much to say about Walkers having the wrong name (because they aren’t called Lay’s in the UK) and criticising the flavours for being wrong. Doh! Products in different countries have different names and different flavours. Imagine that.

So I hope if any readers visit an American (German/Icelandic/Peruvian/Korean) supermarket any time soon they will be polite enough to notice that the products are different, and not wrong.

And here’s a snack from Walkers who are, yes we admit it, owned by Lay’s: Quavers. A much loved snack in the UK. Yes, I think we are probably all prepared to admit that they are made of 100% expanded polystyrene (not actually), but basically the main ingredient, potato starch, has been manipulated into a crispy snack that pops on the tongue and might just as well be polystyrene (not really). So they’re definitely not a crisp. Or chip. Look, don’t @ me.

Although Quavers claims to be a cheesy snack, and does have a nice crunch, and a lovely pop, they really only taste of pretend ultra processed not really cheese. Not to worry, I like them very much despite this. And they’ve been going for quite some time so I guess a lot of other people like them too.

Anyway, I saw a packet of Red Leicester Quavers the other day, so I thought why not. A bit more cheesy than the original flavour I think. Rather tasty. 

I would definitely eat another packet of these.

NB Don’t forget Leicester is pronounced Lester.

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?