Bissli Smokey Wheat Flavoured Snacks

Well now, look at that. Turns out this is my 201st post. Who knew there were quite so many crispy snacks readily available in this crispy crunchy world?

And I'm pretty sure that I haven't scratched the surface.

This 70g bag of crispy snacks from Osem were contributed to the cause by the senior member of the taste testing club.

Kosher (obviously), quite a nice crunch, and they kind of taste of ham and cheese. But the after taste is cardboard.

So it's a sort of fairly tasty cardboard snack. But don't run away with the idea that cardboard is a bad taste. It could be a great deal worse. For example the, er,  fabulous Bissli BBQ snacks which were oh so horrible (in my opinion) that I couldn't bring myself to finish the pack.

Isn't it a bit odd, don't you think, that Bissli should produced 2 crispy snacks called BBQ and Smokey? Oh well. Who can fathom the thoughts of crisp manufacturers?

So there we are. Not too bad but a bit cardboardy. Despite the cardboardiness we quite liked this crispy snack.

Bissli Pizza Flavoured Wheat Snacks

I never thought I'd write this of a Bissli snack, but these are extremely good. Previous attempts at trying Bissli snacks started with me refusing to eat more than one out of a packet and throwing the rest away. Now I'm saying these are yummy. Well, I guess they're doing something right.  Or I'm getting used to them. Or something!

And indeed the reluctant taste testers at work noshed down most of a packet with great enthusiasm and speed. Even Ruth who won't eat Bissli snacks ate several. She likes Bamba crunchy crispy snacks so she's allowed not to like Bissli. Even David who is the harshest of critics when it comes to taste testing asked me where he could buy them. For some reason he had got hold of the idea these pizza flavour wheat snacks are Polish in origin. Not a bit of it. These square crispy snacks are made in Israel by Osem, and of course, are kosher.

A very neat shape. A little bit like a small piece of lego maybe. Nice feel in the mouth. We like the squarey cubey thing going on here. They don't really smell of pizza and they don't really taste of pizza (perhaps a little) but we all liked the taste anyway. Not too wheaty which I felt was a bit of a problem in Bissli's other snacks. Yes, (nods head approvingly) these are OK.

But I see that Bissli are still using the weird cartoon guys to front this crispy snack brand. Is it just me? I'm not sure about the cartoon guys.

Suitable for vegetarians. Kosher - of course. Contains wheat gluten and soy. No preservative, no food colouring. And don't forget to protect from the sun (still strange!). And perhaps a little oddly, I haven't seen this flavour in any of the local kosher shops. These came from the Turkish shop. I'm going back there to check out the rest of their crisp selection.

Bissli Onion Flavour Wheat Snacks

How interesting. I bought this bag of crunchy onion rings some months ago but I put off opening it because one of Osem's Bissli products I have tried tasted really horrible. To me. You might think I was a bit of a masochist buying the bag in the first place... but you  know me: I'll try anything once.

So here we go.  Well. Quite a good crunch and a nice soft onion taste. In fact not bad. Not bad at all.

Here we have 70g of quite large wheaty rings. It's a small packet (good) and the rings are quite big so you don't get very many. The rings are quite ridged on the outside; the packet photo is a pretty good representation of this oniony snack, and the rings are quite bubbly on the inside.

I'd usually take a photo myself but the reluctant taste testers at work liked these so much that I didn't get the chance. I put a bowlful in the kitchen and when I came back there was only one ring left. So I think we can judge these a success.

We felt these were a little bit like Shreddies. "Shreddies and garlic," said one taster who does not normally comment on the crispy snack selection, "Quite nice for a change of crisp". Another taster suggested they were more of a crouton than a crisp. Not a bad reaction.

I like Shreddies as a breakfast cereal although not for every day (simply because they are too tasty), so the wheaty, slightly malty taste overlaid with onion worked quite well for me. Although perhaps not for every day.

No preservatives, no food colouring, suitable for vegetarians. Koshe Parve from (if that's the word) both Rabbi Jacob Moshe Charlap and the Chief Rabbinate Shderot. Could this be two branches of the same thing? I'm very ignorant about the kosher system so I can't answer that. And you have to protect these onion rings from the sun. This seems really odd. How will the sun damage them I wonder?

As ever Osem have used the dynamic duo of slightly bearded red-haired guy with an earing, and nerdy guy with glasses on the Bissli packaging. I still think they are a weird pair to advertise a crispy snack.

Bissli BBQ Flavour Wheat Snacks

Ever hopeful and possibly flying in the face of experience, I thought I'd try another kosher snack.

Here we have the dynamic cartoon duo previously featured on the packaging of Bissli falafel flavour wheat snacks, also promoting the "BBQ" snacks. The nerdy one with the glasses is looking a bit more cheerful, and the red-haired one with the scraggly beard is standing at a different angle so you can't see his earring. I'm still not convinced I would use this couple to advertise my snack but there you are.

So. Here we go. I am opening the packet now. Urrr. I mean seriously urrrr.
I'm not eating these. Yuk yuk yuk. Yuk.

The smell when you open the packet isn't too bad. A little bit dog biscuit. Not too bad.

Look like those pasta twirls don't they? Quite innocent really.

But the taste! It's like my neighbour's barbecue before he even begins to cook anything - at this stage he's run out of the house and is spraying the barbecue with something that looks like petrol. Wait wait! His apple tree is burning down and the garden is filled with clouds of smoke..... Who thought this flavour would be a good idea?

Kosher. Suitable for vegetarians. No preservatives or food colouring. But oh dear. In a major way.

Marks out of 10? No. Very sorry. But no.

Bissli Falafel Flavoured Wheat Snacks

Oh dear.

Perhaps Yom Kippur was not a good day to try another kosher snack. Well serve me right because these are not very nice.

The falafel flavour is just right but there's too much wrong with these to make them enjoyable. 

For a start, they look like fish food.

There is a strong falafel smell when you open the bag, and each, erm, wormy bit tastes quite strongly of falafel but you have to go on adding to the falafel taste. If you don't add to the taste (eg keep on eating) it wears off almost at once and then you just have an ultra crunchy wormy wheaty thing that tastes of nothing at all. At a pinch you could say maybe they taste of shredded wheat but what's the lure in that? There's no flavour dust; nothing much to lick off your fingers - just what you get when you crunch.

They are extremely crunchy. Quite hard - very hard. And really quite odd. Or at any rate, quite odd to someone (me) who has never been presented with stuff that looks like fish food as a savoury snack.

I'm looking hard for something nice to say. Suitable for vegetarians. No preservatives or food colouring (no paprika! Or not on the list of ingredients). Kosher.

And what about the two young men on the packet? There's the nerdy-looking one with glasses and a necklace, and the red-haired one (check out the ear ring) with the scraggly beard. Is this a strange way to advertise your snack? It does seem a little weird.

I've tried to say something nice but Terry says firmly these are pretty foul in every department. So there we are.