Carrefour Boules à la Tomate

I wasn’t at all sure about this crispy snack. I mean, it’s a maize puff with added peanut so it should be a bit like these Peanut Flips but it really isn’t. Because it has added extra tomato flavour. Is this a good idea? 

I’m not sure. I think this peanut and tomato combo is a little odd.

This crispy snack has a very off putting smell (more snacks do than you might suppose) and the taste is.... like bolognaise sauce with extra added lemon, or chocolate. I know! Weird eh? The bite is lovely and light but the flavour dust is a sinister dark red which doesn’t look too good on your fingers.

I think I probably won’t be finishing this packet. 

Carrefour Petites Crêpes Fourées Goût Bacon

Another own brand crispy snack from Carrefour, another French (slash Belgian) snack flavoured with bacon. Which is always a bit of a surprise. Yes, in case you hadn't noticed, bacon is apparently French for bacon. I have actually seen proper chefs talking about “le bacon” on French tv.

And there really is bacon in this tasty apéro snack so of course it’s not suitable for vegetarians. Although actually, the creamy bacony stuffing is a bit too tasty for me, but there you are. I’m not sure I like it that much.

And there’s another problem for me. I really don’t like this little miniature stuffed “crepe”. For some reason the shape disgusts me. Now, I’m sure this is just me being weird. But it does stop me feeling I can recommend them to you. Make no mistake; I thought the picture on the packet looked like a tasty snack. It’s just when I started to taste them. I think they’re too small. Too odd.

Carrefour Crêpettes Fourrage au Roquefort, is also a Carrefour own brand product as you can see, and looks very similar (but weirdly with a rather different name) and I have to admit I really couldn’t fancy the shape/size/style of that snack either.

Odd. And you know what? For the first time in a long time I didn’t want to finish the packet.

What a pity.

Carrefour Crêpettes Fourrage au Roquefort

Here's an own brand crispy snack from massive French supermarket Carrefour. It's a fine and crispy pastry (sort of) wrap with squashy Roquefort cheese stuffing. And it reminds me of the 1970s favourite Findus Crispy Pancakes which are now made by Birds Eye. You bought a packet of small frozen crispy pancakes and whipped one or two out of the freezer in case of emergency, then struggled to eat them because, once fried or grilled, the stuffing was as boiling as boiling could be. Naff, and I'm sure not at all healthy, these easily cooked 70s snacks were something even my brother could cook up in the school holidays if he wanted something more sustaining than breakfast cereal while my mother was at work.

Of course, this little snack is miles smaller, and you don't have to cook it. More perhaps like a miniature spring roll. But there is a sort of a link with the cheesy pancakes which the Chef identified quite independently. So not just me for a change.

Carrefour Gaufrettes á la Ciboulette et á l’Ail (footballs)

As you probably remember I am mad for cheese footballs. For some reason, practically everyone I know despises them and/or refuses to even try them. And one person went to the trouble of leaving a very poor review on this very blog, practically Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells, to say how horrible they are.

Don’t pay any attention. I fully admit that the squishy stuff you get inside the little waffle is nothing like real cheese, but that’s not the point. And in this case the squishy stuffing is flavoured with chives and garlic which makes them a little bit different.

In fact, the difference means that there’s a whole lot more taste than in the cheesy versions, which in turn means you (this means me) can’t eat so many little footballs at once. Which means the little silver baggy you get in the cardboard box lasts longer.

I liked this new to me taste very much. But to be honest I love the cheesy version so much that I wasn’t that sure about this different version.

As ever, the footballs look exactly as they do on the box so I didn’t take a photo. Although that could be because I ate the whole packet rather quickly despite what I wrote earlier. But believe me, they do look the same as the illustration on the packet.

Carrefour Mini Choux Goût Chèvre et Poivre

I wasn't sure if I had tried this crispy snack before... but apparently not. Or at least if I have, I called it something else. The Chef picked up a couple of boxes of crispy snacks for me the last time he drove through France. The ones the French call aperitifs. I really like this style of snack a lot. I learned to my cost that the reluctant taste testers are very suspicious. And quite often won't even attempt these snacks (they don't care for goats cheese).

But I retired from work recently. I miss most of the taste testers a lot. But hey! I don't have to consider whether they are going to like things or not. I shall probably post a lot less now. Because it isn't good for you to eat too many crisps and crispy snacks. If you divide 60g between 10 people it can't hurt... but if you eat the whole packet each time it won't do you any good at all.

Anyway, this is a lovely snack. The mini "choux" pastry exterior is crunchy quite unlike real choux pastry, but it tastes right. And the lovely soft gloopy goat cheese and pepper filling tastes great. I loved it but I can think of several people who wouldn't like it at all. I say yum yum. But you need to make your own mind up.

Carrefour have branches all over France, and I'm sure I've been to one in Mallorca too. I guess they also operate in Belgium and the Netherlands. Minisoezen anyone?

Carrefour Mini Flûtes Pure Beurre Au Parmesan et a l'Ail

Reluctant taste tester from the New Forest tells me that cheesy twists or flutes (or cheese straws) are her vey favourite crispy snack. And this mini flute seemed to pass her personal taste test with flying colours.

To be honest, I can't really find anything wrong with a crispy snack that has a lovely bite, a flaky texture and a great cheesy taste. And in this case, added parmesan and garlic. Really and truly, what's not to like?

A mini flûte seems to be better even than a large (or regular size) because you only need to bite them once; or you can stuff them into your mouth whole if you're feeling greedy. Whichever, this means fewer crumbs. Because a good quality cheese straw style of snack will likely crumble and if you are like me you will end off with crumbs down your front.

I found this tasty snack at the Carrefour supermarket outside Reims in France. There's an aisle of little boxes like this one filled with an exciting array of crispy snacks. Far more than you normally find in a British supermarket. There's also a large selection of potato crisps but if you happen to be in a large French supermarket I think you'll find it worth your while checking out the little boxes of crispy snacks.

Made in Switzerland not France.

Carrefour Cracker met Gouda

This crispy snack is called “crackers” I don’t know why. Because on the back of the box it's called a biscuit in French, and actually, in English I would call it a crispy snack, or indeed a cheesy biscuit. It's more of a sort of a biscuit bite than a cracker bite

It's a crunch cheesy bite and very tasty with it. I liked this little box of gouda crackers very much indeed.

Carrefour is of course a French supermarket, with ties to the Netherlands (and Mallorca if nowhere else in Spain), hence the two language labelling.

I can't always tell the difference between cheddar and gouda or emmental once they have been incorporated into a crispy snack (in real life of course it's different).

Carrefour Gaufrettes au Fromage (footballs)

OK, so this is confusing. Carrefour, a great big French supermarket, has produced two different products called Gaufrettes au Fromage. I have taken the liberty of renaming one we have already tried "squares", and I will name this one footballs.

Because one of them is square, and one of them is ball-shaped.

I just love cheese footballs. I really do. They are one of my absolute favourites. And I was pleased to try this French version which I probably picked up at the big Carrefour outside Reims. And if you too like cheese footballs this cardboard box of snacks will please you.

But.... here are two weird things.

Cliffs of Moher taste tester won't try this crispy snack. She says they (they?) don't have them in Ireland and she's not going to start trying them now. Maybe, she temporised, Lidl or Aldi sell this style of snack, but nobody shops at Lidl or Aldi because the Irish don't trust them. OK then.

And, then we have Architectural taste tester, who we have known for a while, but she doesn't comment much. She tried this globe-shaped snack as though she had never seen it before. She savoured it in a suspicious "I don't know what to expect here" sort of a way. She tells me that she had expected it to be sweet and not cheesy. Weird!

Has she never seen the fabulous British cheese footballs which I first wrote about in 2013? Apparently not. However, she really enjoyed this crispy snack, and ate quite a number of crispy little footballs.

Carrefour Crackers Goût Pizza

Another, yet another apéritif snack found in France, this one fashioned into the semblance of a miniature pizza.

Once again it's not what I could call a cracker; it's more of a crispy snack if you ask me. But never mind how you describe it, it's pretty tasty. At first glance it's a bit really? but in fact the pizza-ness works rather well.

The reluctant taste testers and I were impressed and snacked enthusiastically.

Yum yum.

Carrefour Gaufrettes aux Fromages (squares)

I thought this own brand wafer aperitif snack was delicious. I really liked the cheesiness and the light crispy crunch.

Imagine my surprise when the reluctant taste testers couldn’t bring themselves to like it. The trouble is, that we have historically enjoyed sweet wafers in this country. Strawberry or vanilla flavour, often a treat at children’ parties. So, when served a pile of little wafers, the taste testers were totally unprepared for the cheesy flavour. And took against this crispy snack. (Yes, see Carrefour Gaufrettes Croque Monsieur for a weirdly similar reaction)

Goodness knows why. I mean, I have offered them all sorts of crazy flavours in the past. But in crisp form. Maybe it’s Ok to have weird crisps but not weird wafers. Although I wouldn’t call cheese weird it certainly isn’t the same as strawberry.

I wonder, are French children brought up on pink strawberry flavour wafers? If so, how do they overcome their expectations?

Don’t pay any attention to the reluctant taste testers.

Supermarket own brand of course, but none the worse for that.

Carrefour Tuiles Goût Hot Dog

Goût Hot Dog? In the olden days (ooh, about 5 years ago, maybe 10) it would have been  Goût Chien-Chaud although a website tells me this is Canadian French so only used in Quebec. However, that doesn't apply as this flavour is firmly "Hot Dog".

Still a Student taste tester (she's new) went to France and very kindly brought back this tube of faux Pringles from Carrefour for the reluctant taste testers and me. Especially kind as she doesn't know me very well and I keeping piling piles of mystery filing on her desk.

Well, you all know what Pringles look like and feel like, and basically what you have here is a tube of own brand "Pringles" from Carrefour which is a French supermarket. The branches I've been to are gigantic and sell masses of crispy snacks so well done Still a Student for buying something we had not tried.

I've never had a hot dog. Which I announced this morning is a foolhardy fashion; it's likely that Dutch taste tester and Slightly Red Haired Bristolian may drag me off for a hot dog some time very soon to correct this aberration.... anyway, I've not had a hot dog, but of course I've eaten hot dog style sausages. What we used to call frankfurters. And didn't they used to come in tins? 

Some friends may wish to point out that they have seen me eat a sausage inna bun. Yes, I'll admit to that, and very nice too. But I've never ordered a hot dog from someone selling frankfurter sausages in long buns with squeezy things of bright yellow mustard on hand to provide the decoration.

So I'm not sure these crisps taste of frankfurter. It's a pleasant taste, sort of gentle barbecue and was pronounced very moreish by both Tall taste tester and Slightly Red Haired Bristolian. Most of the tube had been eaten by the time I left to go home but I snaffled a few broken bits at the bottom for the Chef to try. And he thought they were quite pleasant. High praise from the Chef who doesn't really like Pringles. 

Top quality crisp shopping from Still a Student taste tester. I'm sure she'll go on to greater things in the future. Oh and by the way, I started writing this blog almost exactly 4 years ago and this is post number 752. How did that happen?

A Visit to Reims in 2016 (France)

In fact despite me begging the Chef to stop in Reims because I long to visit the cathedral, we actually stop at Tinqueux which is a suburb of Reims. And 2 minutes walk from the very comfortable Novotel there is a giant Carrefour supermarché. And we pass through Tinqueux at least 4 times a year.

I love it. I enjoy shopping a lot and all the more if I don't actually need to buy anything. And frankly I don't need to buy crisps or crispy snacks. I just do.

Check out the huge array of crisps. I am certain the crisp market in France has got noticeably larger in the last 4 years, and certainly the range of crispy snacks was larger last year than in previous years.

I can see Pringles here, and the Carrefour own brand version, about 12 different flavours by the look of it. Also tubs of hula hoops which in the UK come in packets not tubs. And then to the left of the Pringles we move into the Biscuit apéritif section where the products are usually packaged in boxes.

I have scrutinised this photograph very carefully and have determined that there are 13 different Lay's flavours on the shelf; Poulet Rôti (roast chicken), Fromage (cheese), Cheese & Onion (yes, that's French for cheese & onion), Jambon Braisé (braised ham), Paprika, Bolognaise, Spicy (French for spicy), Barbecue, Moutarde Pickles (French for mustard and pickles, a very weird but rather fabulous flavour if you ask me but I have only tried the Bret's version), Saveur Giant (bonkersly this appears to be French for cheeseburger flavour these days), Salt & Vinegar (you guessed, French for salt & vinegar), á l'Ancienne which is a sort of old fashioned style of crisp the French seem to be very fond of, and Deep Ridge Barbecue. Phew. 

Lay's crisps of course are not available in the UK. We have Walkers instead with a rather different selection of flavours. We have Cheese & Onion but not cheese flavour. Salt & Vinegar but not Spicy or Moutarde Pickles. As for Saveur Giant! I have tried a number of these so I'll put some links in for you.

We also have Market Deli crisps in the photograph (2 flavours on the shelf), and Kettle Chips (2 flavours) and Tyrrell's. I wonder what the difference is between Sea Salt & Black Pepper and Sea Salt & Crushed Black Pepper? (4 flavours).

Then there are the French crisps. Vico Grillade aux herbes. I haven't tried this flavour and it sounds rather good. I haven't tried á l'Ancienne either but I can live with that because I think it's a rather dull kind of crisp. There are 3 kinds of Carrefour own brand crisps and then the Bret's crisps. Bret's crisps come from Brittany and feature flavours that are a little bit different; Chèvre (technically goat, but in this case probably goat's cheese), and au Comté which is a very nice French cheese and Chocolat Piment (chilli chocolate).

If you stand back, or in my case sit down, and list all the crisps in this photograph which is obviously not all the crisps in the store, it adds up to a vast number of crisps and crispy snacks. Huge numbers of crisps and snacks in dozens hundreds of flavours are manufactured all over the world. Tall taste tester suggested the other day that I should write a book about crisps but I think this is it. I have posted 741 different crisps and articles about crisps and photographs of crisp packets and reviews taken from magazines and newspapers. 741!! I guess I didn't look at the numbers recently. That's amazing. But it still doesn't qualify me as an expert when there are so many crispy snacks out there.

Here's what I bought at Carrefour in August 2016. See the Lay's Saveur Giant at the front? Oh dear. What a grumpy review I wrote abut that crisp.

Carrefour Croustillants à la Cacahuète

A little bit like a Nik Nak (in shape), a little bit Bamba Peanut Snack (in taste), this crispy own brand snack from the Carrefour outside Reims is a whole lot peanutty.

Los of peanut taste, a slightly dull crunch and they do stick to your teeth rather. But they are quite moreish. So if you like peanut flavour (a lot of people do) you may find this a very tasty snack.

The reluctant taste testers made no mistake over this flavour and ate quite a lot of these knobbly little sticks. Well... I can't think of a better way of describing them. And then the chef ate what was left over. He doesn't always.

I rather like the orange/magenta combo on the packaging.

Carrefour Fantômes Saveur Jambon Fromage

You discover me today feeling very fat and rather guilty. Because I ate about three quarters of this 75g packet of fantômes all by myself. And fantômes are light and airy which of course means they weigh very little indeed so you get loads and loads in each packet. 

I've got to say I was a bit dubious about this crispy snack. I mean, the pink packaging didn't exactly fetch me. But I've said it before, and will no doubt say it again, don't judge a crispy snack by its packet.

Because this French snack is very tasty indeed. Very very tasty. I set out a bowlful and Dutch Taste tester and Tall Elegant taste tester were quick to say how much they approved. It seems everyone else approved too as the bowl was emptied by mid-morning. And never got refilled because I was too busy eating. The Chef didn't get any at all.

Lovely light bubbly texture with a perfect crunch, great ham and cheese flavour and a friendly ghost shape.

Definitely a five star crispy snack. Fabulous.

Are you going to be anywhere near a Carrefour anytime soon? Grab a bag and try these out for yourself.

Carrefour Crackers

Weirdly this crispy snack is sold on the same shelf as the salted crackers, and the sesame or bacon or pizza flavour crackers, but it doesn't have a flavour. Or… not an advertised flavour.

And to be honest I only bought it because the crackers are shaped like lions and elephants, crocodiles and hippos, tortoises and um…. what is that that says "gloups!!" exactly? It's hard to say when half your animal is hidden behind important calorie information. And do you know of any animal that says "gloups"? Even in French?

There is a fish-shaped cracker but I'm not convinced fish say anything very much.

These are nice little crispy biscuits, very lightly salted. They don't taste of much but somehow are very appealing and you probably will end up having another. And very likely revert to childhood and bite the head off first. The lion cracker is particularly well designed for this activity!

Do you suppose these are anything like the animal crackers Shirley Temple sang about in her soup?

Carrefour Crackers Emmental

And yet another little crispy biscuit from the supermarket outside Reims. Really, the French appetite for little crispy snacks must be enormous! And don't you think they're a very odd shape? These little crispy snacks rather remind me of the London 2012 logo. OK, just me then.

Another deliciously lightly salted, lightly cheesy crispy crunchy cracker-type snack. Very nice. Some machine has gone to a lot of trouble to scatter grated emmental cheese over the top of these oddly shaped crackers and they are all the prettier for it. But not a whole lot cheesier.

However, this is rather a nice snack (one of so many available in France these days) and the reluctant taste testers and I enjoyed them.

You know, it's a lot more difficult to write interesting stuff about crispy snacks that are rather nice. They aren't horrible so you can't be scathing and mean. They aren't superb so you can't go into raptures. They're just... rather nice. Yes, I'd finish this little box of slightly cheesy snacks. So would most of the taste testers. Might be a little more exciting with a glass of wine but I wouldn't bet on it. 

Carrefour is a giant supermarket chain with branches all over France, possibly in Belgium? I've not been to Belgium (through it on the train in the middle of the night in 1979ish but I was asleep), and I'm sure there was a big branch on Mallorca. Anyway they seem to be working really hard on their crispy snacks. Good for them. Can't wait for my next visit!

Carrefour Crackers Gout Pizza

I must say that the reluctant taste testers and I really enjoyed this crispy snack, but we wouldn't call it a cracker. Crackers are flat aren't they? Crackers are for loading up with cheese or a dip. This is a tasty morsel of crunchy deliciousness but not a cracker.

But enough nitpicking about nomenclature. This is a very tasty crispy snack with a just-right crunch and a pretty good pizza taste. A little bit cheesy, quite a lot herby, the streusel style topping is very nice indeed. 

Along with all the reluctant taste testers I liked this snack from French supermarket Carrefour a lot. Delicious. 

Carrefour Tube Goût Fromage

This is a nice little crispy snack from Carrefour outside Rheims. Funny little tube shapes of extruded maize tasting of nothing but cheese.

Nice crunch, pleasant aroma and good cheesy taste. This is another crispy snack shape that I've not seen in the UK, and I don't remember seeing it anywhere other than at Carrefour. But, the tubiness (that's not tubbiness crisp fans) of these tubular snacks is... not very tubey. Sadly all the tubes are a little bit squished. Which is a pity.

However, that does not affect the taste.

The Chef and I quite liked these, and when I imported the second half of the packet into the office Tech taste tester was pleased to approve. You can't go wrong with a good cheesy taste he opined (that's what journalists write isn't it?).

Yes, quite a tasty little crispy snack. And I don't know why we don't get this sort of shaped snack in the UK. I can't help feeling people would buy them.

Carrefour Petites Crêpes Fourrées Au Comté et Saveur noix

This is a pretty little crispy snack from Carrefour. Another style of snack I don't think I have seen before.

Tiny little parcels (not much crêpe about these really) about the size of the middle joint of your forefinger, stuffed with what the French description calls une preparation, basically a soft squishy mix. Not unlike the soft squishy mix you find in a KP Cheese Football. Only a bit posher. Well, considerably posher to be honest.

There were several different flavours on the shelf and I picked this Comté cheese and nut flavour pretty much at random. It's hard to concentrate properly when you hit a giant supermarket with the sole purpose of buying crisps, and don't have much time to spare, and you're trying to remember what you've tried before and what you haven't (somehow the printed crib sheet I took with me stayed in my coat pocket), and there are inexplicably other people trying to buy crisps too. It's ghastly!

I'm not sure I chose right. This flavour is OK but I think Carrefour would have done better to just use Comté cheese and leave the nut flavour for another time. Comté is a flavoursome cheese and does not need to be messed with to make it tasty.

However, I don't want you to run away with the idea that these little cheesy parcels are nasty. Because they're not. And they are quite posh. It's a drinks party nibble not a snack for a night out with the lads.

And for your delectation and delight here's another view out of the window here. The sky is blue, the sun is shining and it's snowing lightly. The Chef (as I write) is up the mountain disporting himself on his skis. And for those of you interested in geography, that's Italy behind those peaks.

And this is a big closeup of the same view taken with the Chef's fancy camera.

Carrefour Croustillantes Goût Bolognaise

Road trip!

Sounds a lot of fun doesn't it? And it usually is. Sadly for us this time we had horrible weather. Lots of rain, quite heavy at times, and much spray when overtaking heavy lorries on the motorway. No fun at all for the poor Chef who has to drive the entire journey. I gave up driving because I couldn't cope with all those other crazy people on the road. You just never know what they will do next.

Quite apart from the rain, we had to turn round three times to avoid an accident in the Jura, and then we were running rather late so got caught up in the Friday evening traffic escaping Geneva and Lausanne for the weekend.

But here we are. And look at all this lovely snow! I was here in March last year, out in the garden in a T shirt to prune the hazel hedge. No chance of that just now. The hedge is covered in catkins but also in snow. Lots of snow.

And today we tried these Bolognaise flavour crisps from Carrefour.

Looking at the shelves in a big Carrefour outside Rheims it looks as though they are making a big effort to produce all sorts of own-brand crisps and crispy snacks. And this is their version of a Bolognaise flavour crisp.

OK. It's not a bad crisp. But not too fabulous either. Some of the crisps are quite highly coloured, presumably with Bolognaise flavouring, and some are not. All have a good crunch, but the flavour is somehow not quite what I was expecting.

The Chef is no help at all. He says they seem OK but he would have to compare the taste with the spaghetti Bolognaise on the menu up the mountain. Well, that's not very helpful is it?

There is a small child staying at the flat next door. He has trampled their snow like anything. The snow in our garden, however, is pristine and fabulous. And, as I look out of the window just now, all sparkling and wonderful. Jut like snow hardly ever is in London.