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.

Casino Boules Goût Fromage

I did hope that this little crispy, croustillante, snack would have a squishy cheesy middle. But sadly not.

Basically what we have here is a small ball-shaped version of a Cheesy Whotsit. Only not quite so tasty.

Not a bad little cheesy snack; crunchy, cheesy, easy to pop into your mouth. Quite tasty too. Rather good with a glass of something chilled I expect, and indeed the packet does suggest serving Boules to your friends with an aperitif.

But this is nothing like so fabulous as the all time best ever (in my opinion) M&S Full On Cheese Tasters. Which is basically a clone of the original Cheesy Whotsit but even tastier (in fact, it's so good I have decided to add it to my list of very favourite crispy snacks).

However, we mustn't forget that this is an own-brand snack; produced by French supermarket chain Casino. And own-brand snacks are sometimes not everything one would hope for. Of course I found it at a motorway service station, where Casino runs the shop.

The serving suggestion is a little odd; who serves a crispy snack in martini glass? Perhaps more to the point, who needs a serving suggestion for a crispy snack?

Not bad at all. Just not tremendously special.

And I'm also posting this picture of a wall in the Swiss town of Thun. Not for any good reason, but because my computer chose it completely at random and offered it as a substitute for the pack shot. Computers, eh? But it is a rather fabulous wall in the old part of Thun where the shops are built in a sort of double decker arrangement; upstairs and down. I love the geranium plant poking out of the tiny window.