Arnott’s Shapes Originals Pizza Flavour

 

I think I have made a mistake. I shouldn’t have bought this packet of Pizza flavoured Shapes. Pizza is almost never a successful flavour for a crispy snack or a potato crisp. 

I suspect that many people think pizza flavour comes from the mix of tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. And they’re obviously important, but what about the wonderful flavour of just baked crust such as you find in the best Italian pizzerias? I have no truck with thick crust pie style pizza. It’s just not right. 

I think my very favourite pizza ever was in Milan. I have been to Naples, but only for about 20 minutes, and I was rather distracted having to fend off crowds of men whose only words in English appeared to be “do you want to go with me?”. They weren’t interested in me, but my companion was blonde and blue eyed and better endowed with curves than I was. So I didn’t actually get anything to eat in Naples, but the pizzeria we ate at in Milan is one of a chain that started in Naples.

Anyway, this little biscuitty snack tastes nothing much like pizza. There is a lot of seasoning mix on nearly all the biscuits, on top of a layer of grated cheese by the looks of things. The biscuit has a good bite, and eating them feels more like having a snack than scoffing down a packet of crisps. 

Not bad. Just not much like pizza. Ah well, you can’t have everything.

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.

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.

Nando's Peri-Peri Grooves Sizzling Hot

The reluctant taste testers and I had previously seen crisp packets from Nando's (Spicy Chicken and BBQ) but not actually been allowed to try the crisps. Because Senior taste taster brought in two empty packets. But I think we felt the aroma was pretty good.

Here we have actual crisps, not just a packet to sniff! 

This sizzling hot flavour is quite hot, but not too hot, with an attractive citrus burst before the hot sizzle hits your taste buds. Nice crinkle cut crisps with a good crunch and a lovely rich colour. Plenty of flavour dust. I think the reluctant taste testers thought this a rather nice crispy experience.

Incidentally, Senior taste tester had completely forgotten he'd brought in those packets. He has grander things on his mind.