Migros Party Jungle Pretzels Gesalzen

Here we have a selection of salty, slightly pretzely-tasting jungle animals from the Migros supermarket in Sierra, in Switzerland. They come in a tall narrow packet. And this crispy snack is everything we have been waiting for. 

You know you wanted salty pretzel-tasting lion shapes, didn’t you? Lions and elephants and tortoises and hippos and monkeys, and er, koalas. Maybe you hadn’t thought about it before now, but guess what? Now you know there is a hippo-shaped crispy snack out there, do you fancy trying it? Of course you do*.

I have no idea who decided on these animals. Someone in Switzerland I imagine. To be honest, if it were up to me I would have gone with the full African theme and chosen something else instead of the koala. Goodness knows, Africa is full of wonderful wildlife. Why not a crocodile, or a rhino? Maybe a giraffe or an okapi, perhaps an aardvark? Aardvarks are super cute. Or a kudu? A shoebill stork? Like I said, Africa has lots of wonderful wildlife. Or, you know, what about branching out and having one in the shape of the African continent?

Anyway, never mind the choice of shapes, this is a tasty selection of little biscuit bites, slightly tasting of pretzels but mostly of salt, and very moreish. It’s quite hard to stop snacking when you’re not sure which animal will come out of the packet next. And if the shape is a bit broken, well, they taste just as good.

I only let the Chef eat a few but he definitely approved.

I’m thinking of an Australian Outback selection of pretzels. Koalas, obviously. Kangaroos, wombats, platypus, echidna, and perhaps a numbat (numbats are great), or a saltwater crocodile. There we go, a whole nother product. The Jungle Pretzels could be rebranded as African Savannah Pretzels. But I am getting picky. I have probably watched too many BBC wildlife shows. (NB Australia would be a great shape for a snack. I know because I have an Australia shaped cookie cutter. It makes a good scone. So does the wombat shape.)

Recommended for people who like pretzels or salt or crispy snacks.

*possibly only available in Switzerland, or maybe France if you are lucky.

Here’s a numbat. You can see I found him on Instagram.

Migros Party Mini Turtles Gesalzen

The Chef and I recently shopped at a motorway service station in Switzerland, at Bavois. It’s the first in Switzerland if you arrive from France through the Jura. Anyway, we found a very nice packet of salami (direct from the farmer by the looks of things), an extremely good bottle of local wine, and this packet of turtle shaped crispy snacks. If only one could shop so well in service stations in Britain.

At first crunch I thought this was going to be rather a dull snack. I mean, the only flavour is salt. 

But, the more you snack, the tastier these crispy little turtles seem to be. And eventually they seem to be absolutely delicious. In fact, yum yum.

The texture is shiny (if that can be a texture), polished and slightly slippery in your fingers, and the brown side has a sprinkle of salt.

I really liked these turtles. Each one is about the size of a Penny. I’d take a picture for you, but unfortunately I ate them all. If I ever manage to buy another packet I promise to try and remember to take a photo. And I have already tried 2 different branches of Migros but so far no luck.

Bought another packet. Ate the lot. Sorry.

Co-op Naturaplan Chips Herbes des Alpes

Made for the Co-op by Swiss crisp giant Zweifel; this packet of gluten free, suitable for vegans crisps looks about as healthy as a packet of crisps can get. Unless you bake them instead of frying which obviously means it’s not a proper crisp.

For myself, these crisps seem extremely herby; there’s a bit too much taste. The Chef , on the other hand, thinks there isn’t enough flavour. Apparently you can’t please everyone. A good thin crisp with a light crunch.

Zweifel Kezz Kessel-Chips Original Paprika

A very nice crisp from Swiss crisp giant Zweifel. Usually their crisps are fine cut with a gentle crunch. These are thick and crunchy (coupées de façon rustique) with the skin left on. 

The Swiss take on kettle cooking and do a pretty good job.

Co-op Naturaplan Bio Chips Ail des Ours

Here we are in Switzerland again, and it’s the season for wild garlic (ail des ours, bärlauch, aglio orsino). So we have tagliatelle flavoured with wild garlic, ravioli stuffed with mascarpone and wild garlic, and in a couple of months there will be cheese flavoured with wild garlic.

And for the first time we have found really delicious potato crisps flavoured with wild garlic. 

In the Swiss tradition these delicately flavoured crisps from the (Swiss) Co-op are very fine cut with a gentle crunch. And very nice too. We bought another 140g packet. Yum yum. Although I am quite disappointed to learn from the list of ingredients that most of the wild garlic flavour appears to come from actual garlic. Yup; disappointing. Ah well. Still very tasty.

Zweifel Poulet au Panier

How interesting. Chicken in a basket flavour crisps. That’s a bit 1970s isn’t it? It certainly was a popular dish in swanky pubs back then, and then disappeared to be replaced by fancier, more modern, probably Asian inspired, maybe “fusion” cooking. At least in the U.K. Here’s a recent article from The Guardian. Perhaps not in Switzerland though, because here we have a new flavour from Swiss crisp giant Zweifel. 

I don’t think I ever had chicken in a basket in the 1970s. I was at school and we didn’t have much money to spare for visiting restaurants or pubs. So I looked up a recipe, and here’s one from Tom Kerridge. I really had not appreciated how heavily seasoned a chicken would have to be to qualify for the basket.

This crisp from Zweifel is small and finely cut in their usual style, and very strongly seasoned. I quite like the taste but it’s very strong. Too strong for me. And with onions, yeast extract, paprika, garlic, rosemary, thyme, pepper, sugar and salt on the list of ingredients there is plenty of taste to choose from.

The Chef liked them better than I did. To be honest I really prefer a simpler flavour.

Co-op Qualité & Prix Snac! Bretzel Salés

Recently the Chef and I tried a small pretzel from the Co-op in Switzerland. It was very good indeed (especially impressive as I have a history of not really enjoying pretzels), but somehow we couldn’t get another packet so we thought we would try a packet of these instead.

Well, I don’t know why, but this version isn’t as nice as the first we tried. Slightly (only slightly) larger, with slightly fewer little chunks of salt (the best bit if you ask me), and a slightly doughier taste. It’s not bad but I suspect it’s the budget version. And not bio. But with a slightly more complex knotty design than the bio version. And it also comes in a much larger packet.

Quite nice. But not as nice as the first packet of pretzels we tried. The Chef agrees. Of course, these not being as nice as the bio pretzels doesn’t stop us eating them, especially with a bit of butter.

Zweifel Waves French Fries Sauce

I think this new crisp flavour from Swiss crisp giant Zweifel is a version of the Dutch Joppie sauce that all Dutch and Belgian snack fans add to their chips (French fries). This sauce has morphed into a successful crispy snack flavour in The Netherlands, and apparently now Switzerland. And therefore, here we are.

I do not know if the Swiss put a sauce like this on their chips. I have never come across it in Swiss Romande and I suspect that it’s more likely the German speaking Swiss would do this and Zweifel is a company based in the German speaking area so... The Netherlands, and particularly Belgium, are not that far from the north of Switzerland and one should also consider the large numbers of Belgian and Dutch tourists who travel to, and through, this part of Switzerland every year. So, perhaps this flavour has been created as a tribute to their influence.

I find this flavour quite tasty but to be honest I am not crazy about the taste. It’s a sharp, pickley, mustardy taste (although apparently no mustard in the recipe) which isn’t really me. The Chef likes it better than me and says he could eat the whole packet. But I am saving some for Noble Friend, who I think will enjoy this Swiss crisp very much.

I think this crinkle cut crisp has a softer flavour than the Dutch version (see the link above) and the crisps themselves have a very satisfying crunch so I do recommend you try them if you can even though they aren’t really for me. Probably only available in Switzerland though.

PS Noble Friend tells me she thinks this crisp has a more subtle flavour than the Dutch original she loves so much, and is a little more salty. But nevertheless she thinks it’s very delicious.

Co-op Naturaplan Mini Bretzel

You might think there’s nothing very exciting about a mini pretzel. Perhaps not. But a small pretzel, just exactly the right size? With the right crunch and exactly the right amount of salt? You really can’t go wrong.

What more can I say? The thing is, it’s a whole lot more difficult to write at length about a crispy snack you liked and enjoyed than about one you didn’t like. Naturally if you really disliked whatever it was, there’s always lots to say. So just imagine me sitting on the sofa idly watching a 2009 stage of the Tour de France on Swiss TV with the sound turned off (don’t ask), snacking my way through half a packet of these surprisingly morish little pretzels.

Zweifel Kezz Kessel-Chips Salt

Wow! What an amazing crisp this is.

Extra crunchy (as advertised on the packet), and with a very nice simple salty taste. I have seen ads on Swiss TV telling me this crisp merits 11/10 or even 12/10 on a scale of 1-10 (probably). The Chef, who has paid more attention than I have, is unable to tell me whether this score relates to taste or crunchiness, or both. It doesn’t matter. Searching for the ad online gave 4 results for Zweifel crisps followed by dozens of results showing Prince William enjoying a pint of cider and a plate of chips in his local pub. That’s French fries for North American readers but obviously in Norfolk where the Cambridges live they definitely call them chips. Possibly Prince William was demonstrating that it’s possible to visit a post-lockdown pub without getting completely smashed and beating up a police officer. But it’s a shame William is unlikely to taste this crisp any time soon. Maybe the next time he goes skiing though.

Kessel-chips are kettle cooked crisps which is usually crisp-speak for cooked in small batches, and often means a good crunch. In this case you get a very good crunch. Thicker cut than the regular Zweifel crisps and with the skin left on (de façon rustique), sans lactose, sans gluten and suitable for vegans. 

I knew this crisp would work well with a dip and we were lucky enough to find a very acceptable garlic and herb dip at a large branch of the Co-op. Yum yum. But honestly? This crisp is fab on its own. It’s a really authentic and delicious crisp. Definitely yum yum: very nice indeed.

And the Chef has already bought another packet.

Kambly Apérifeuilles Nature (+ recipe for Sour Cream & Chive Dip)

And here’s another apéro snack from Kambly, and as usual it comes in a silver baggie inside a cardboard box. It looked nice on the packet but when the Chef and I first tried this crispy snack we thought we’d made a mistake. It’s a bit dull.

Sometimes nature indicates a ready salted sort of flavour. Sometimes it’s more of a nothing. And despite the good crunch this crispy snack could do with a bit of assistance.

In the U.K. I would usually make tracks for the nearest supermarket and reach for a sour cream and chive dip. Sadly, here we are in beautiful Switzerland, social distancing in the time of Coronavirus, and although we can shop for food the bad news is that tasty dips are a bit thin on the ground. We have never seen a dip intended to be eaten with a crispy snack in Switzerland. Odd eh? Especially as the Swiss are quite keen on crispy snacks.

So not wanting to waste this leaf-shaped snack I looked online and decided to make my own dip.

There are a load of dip recipes available online. Some are as basic as chop a bunch of chives and mix into sour cream. Others are considerably more complicated and lots include mayonnaise which isn’t the same here as it is at home. So I did a little reading and a bit of thinking and came up with my own concoction.

2 spoons sour cream (or soured cream)
3 spoons Greek yogurt
A bunch of chives chopped small or snipped with kitchen scissors
A small clove of garlic chopped small
Lemon juice, about a teaspoon
Lemon zest... a little bit: see how much you think
Salt & Pepper to taste
And a teaspoon of sugar

I used a pudding spoon instead of a cup as my basic measure. I wasn’t at all sure this would taste good so I didn’t make too much to start with. This dip tastes ok when it’s freshly made but whole a lot better after a night in the fridge, and better again the next day. None of the recipes I read mentioned that important detail. But this snack plus 2 day old (matured) dip works very well indeed.

The packaging recommends you try this crispy snack with trout mousse or “whipped trout”. Trout is just about my least favourite fish and my friends know I don’t eat any fish (except smoked salmon which is different) for fun. So can you imagine how thrilled I was when a close relation who has known me my entire life gave me a smoked trout roulade for Christmas one year?  But if you are a fish fan perhaps the trout mousse suggestion might work for you.

Kambly Mini-Twist

Here’s a slightly crunchy, very buttery, mini twist of deliciousness. This Swiss crispy snack, which is also available in the EU, is slightly crumbly but not so much you end up with crumbs down your front (often my fate: just imagine). As so often with an apéro type snack it comes inside a silver baggie in a cardboard box.

Enjoy with a glass of wine, or maybe for breakfast?

Once again a crispy snack that seems a bit dull at first and then turns out to be the tastiest thing on the planet. I ate most of the packet (but it took me at least a week) before I remembered to take a photo.

Kambly ApériSticks Kartoffel & Rosmarin

The Chef and I have tried a couple of Kambly crispy snacks before, but this one is new (neu/nouveau) so we hadn’t seen a packet before.

Potato and rosemary eh? Shades of the late lamented crisps from Marks & Spencer: Reduced Fat Buttered Baked Potato which astonishingly really tasted of buttery baked potatoes.

I am absolutely not convinced you can taste any potato in this snack, and the rosemary is quite gentle but they do taste quite buttery (even though I’m not sure there is any butter in the recipe.). A nice crunch, and a subtle taste is rather undermined by the pale uncooked colour which is a shame because actually this is  not a bad snack. It’s just that we are conditioned to expect a brown colour to indicate a cooked and crunchy snack. And this is cooked and crunchy while remaining pale.

This was the Chef’s main gripe. “A bit pale”, he opined.

Co-op Naturaplan Chips Romarin

Hmmn, interesting, this is a packet of crisps from the Swiss Co-op which turns out to have been made by Swiss crisp giant Zweifel. We all know, even if we don't think about it, that major crisp manufacturers make crisps for the major supermarkets, but you don't usually get the name of said comapny printed on the supermarket packet. But here we do.

So I tried this crisp, most of which are rather small and finely cut (in the style of Zweifel which I like), on Tractor Fan Taste Tester and on the Ski Instructor. The Ski Instructor (who isn't one any more but I don't want to change his name and confuse myself) thought these crisps tasted of chicken. Really? Yes, and what's more Tractor Fan agreed with him without having heard his views first. The Ski Instructor's argument is “why not?” You get packets of crisps labelled chicken that are actually vegetarian, so an alleged vegetable (or herb) flavoured crisp might as well taste of chicken.

The Chef couldn't detect any particular taste at all. But they all ate a fair number. Really quite a lot. With dip and without.

So I don't think it really matters what you think this crisp actually tastes of, let's just say it's a gentle flavour and all four of us rather enjoyed it.

Kambly Les Ficelles aux Tomates & Fines Herbes

Kambly make a lot of lovely Swiss biscuits and crispy snacks too. The reluctant taste testers and I tried this heart shaped snack in 2014 and now I see that Kambly are celebrating their 25th birthday, I thought it was time to try another (we also have Kambly biscuits quite regularly but that’s not we’re here for).

Les Ficelles, basically a Swiss version of cheese straws, come in 6 different flavours. I looked on the website, which a bit strangely is in English (the Swiss have 3 main languages to choose from, a couple of lesser used languages, and a whole array of patois associated with local valleys or individual cities. And then quite a lot of people speak English... but not the ones you'd expect like the waiters in the station buffet at Basle railway station for example). Anyway, lots of information on the website including other products and recipes. Kohlrabi soup anyone? I've never eaten kohlrabi but apparently it’s an ideal accompaniment if you fancy a cheese straw or two.

I’m not sure I am really convinced by this crispy snack. For a start, and we all know this shouldn’t make a difference (but it does) most of the cheesy twists were broken when we opened the packet. This could have happened on the flight home from Switzerland but I’m not sure.

Then the tomato and herb flavour isn’t the most tomatoey ever. It’s OK but... The worst thing is that this snack is very dry. It feels a bit mass produced; which of course it is. But I’m sure I’ve tasted
similar cheese straw style snacks which feel a lot more homemade, where you can taste the butter, and they’re less crunchy and more flaky.

Having said that, it’s not a bad snack and I don't want to be too nasty about it. I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself eating more than you expected.

Zweifel Filu Paprika

Quite simply one of the tastiest crispy snacks the Chef and I have tasted in a long long time. And Cliffs of Moher taste tester agrees with us.

Yum yum yum.

This is just as tasty and just as crispy, and just as good as Filu Original... only better. Better? Yes, indeed. This is a truly fabulous crispy snack.

Of course if you don't enjoy this sort of puffed potato starch snack it won't really be for you, but we think it's pretty good. Not much else to say really.

Highly recommended but sadly probably only available in Switzerland. So book your holiday now!

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.

Zweifel Filu Original

I nearly didn’t pick up this packet of crisps in the Co-op in Switzerland because it does look as though it’s aimed at children, and I sometimes find children’s crisps not so nice (maybe a bit lacking in flavour). But luckily we did buy the packet (to bring home for the reluctant taste testers to try), took it home to the flat, looked at it.... and then the Chef and I pretty much ate the whole packet all at once. Yum!

So we bought another packet which survived the flight home (handy hint: prick a little hole in the packet so it doesn’t burst on the plane and then pack it inside a ziplock bag expelling as much air as possible. I always carry a 3 litre bag in my luggage) and the reluctant taste testers fell upon them enthusiastically.

This crispy snack has the same sort of texture and bite as a Pom Bear, and a slightly weird owl shape. I know owls have been super popular on the design front recently. Well I couldn’t avoid noticing all the owl vases and lamps and ornaments and whatnot on sale from every single catalogue and website, many of the owls a similar un-owl-like design as the snack. So perhaps that’s the inspiration behind this.

What a great snack though! They don’t taste of very much, although there is a bit of curry in the recipe, but you probably already know the “not very much” is no bad thing. Too much taste can be as bad as a taste you don’t fancy. But not much taste of nothing in particular (it’s hard to describe) can be simply delicious.

Yum yum!

Update April 2024: I couldn’t find this crispy snack anywhere in Switzerland for ages, but I could see from the website that it was still being manufactured so must be sold somewhere. Eventually I asked Zweifel who informed me that I could find it at a big branch of Migros in Sierre. And so we made a special visit to Sierre to buy 6 packets of Filu. Which are as delicious as ever.

Zweifel Piri-Piri

Here’s a new (ish) option from Swiss crisp giant Zweifel.

Interesting. Now piri-piri is a hugely popular flavour (why does flavour sound more sweet than savoury?) in the UK. Possibly because of the enormously successful restaurant chain Nando’s. I haven’t been but a quick glance at the menu online tells me that practically everything they sell is flavoured with piri-piri including the puddings. Yes, alright, I’m exaggerating for effect.

But does Switzerland have something similar? Yes, I go to Switzerland quite a lot, but mostly a small village that doesn’t have any place that might offer piri-piri ( which is a word impossible to type on an iPad as the spellcheck clicks in twice each time I try). So I don’t know why Zweifel decided to try this new flavour.

Quite popular with the reluctant taste testers though. Tasty. Hot but not too hot. And you can’t argue with that. And as always the crisps themselves are high quality.

Co-op Fine Foods Vegetable Chips

When the Chef & I were in Switzerland we were invited to supper with a French (actually from Alsace so possibly German) friend and her son who is half Corsican. Both of them spend a lot of time in Switzerland, and both of them spend a lot of time in Peru where they run trekking holidays which I suspect are not for the faint hearted or the dilettante tourist. And I wouldn't be able to cope at all because so much of Peru is very high and I am not at my best at altitude.

If you had asked me to name anyone who wouldn't eat crisps I would have bet on Alsatian friend. And I would have been quite wrong. Because she introduced us to a fine packet of vegetable crisps from the Co-op. And very nice too.

In fact, not just very nice but delicious. Once again I'll remind you that I don't normally buy vegetable crisps as potato crisps keep me plenty busy, but in this case I think I would make an exception. And anyway the Chef liked them so much he went out and bought 2 more packets so we could try them again.

Parsnip (weirdly called panais in French), sweet potato, carrot and beetroot.  And I enjoyed them all. As always a duller crunch than you get from a potato crisp but not too dull, and really, very tasty.