Chio Xtreme Wasabi

The Vinyl Collector (Dutch taste tester's husband - keep up!) went to Prague on business the other day and very sweetly brought back a packet of crisps for the reluctant taste testers to try. Extra generous when you think he has only met us once, if at all.

Slightly unfortunate that Dutch taste tester hasn't told him I don't like wasabi. But I don't imagine they discuss me much at home. And I am sorry to say I spat my first (and last) crisp out. Ugh! What is it that the whole world but me sees in wasabi?

But worry not that this effort was wasted because most of the reluctant taste testers like wasabi a lot. And indeed, Tall Elegant taste tester was effusive in her praise, and Tall taste tester opined that these crisps were pretty much the best ever. Despite being green.

So good reviews all round. Except from me. Oh, and the Chef said he tried "the xtreme (no kidding) wasabithings and they are without doubt one of the most evil tasting snacks ever" so he didn't fancy them either.

Strange stuff, taste. So says the Chef. And of course he's right.

If you like wasabi you should seek them out. But you may have to visit Hungary, the Czech Republic,  or Slovakia to find them.

The extremely green packaging gives the somewhat misleading impression that these crisps are all bubbly. Like mint Aero. But they aren't. They're just potato crisps.

Jax Coco Toasted Coconut Chips with Chilli & Lime, and with Wasabi

Tall elegant taste tester, currently at home with a horrible cold poor thing, bought those two packets while I was away in Switzerland. She asked if I would like to write these up and I said no. Because you have to draw the line somewhere.

But here I am anyway. Despite the fact that I deeply dislike coconut. And these coconut chips (not surprisingly) smell strongly of coconut. The chilli & lime flavour chips are darker and small very strongly of lime, the wasabi flavour chips are paler. You'll not be surprised to learn I have not attempted a taste test.

These toasted coconut chips are all natural, not fried, gluten free, 100% vegan, and with no preservatives, no artificial colour or flavouring. Sounds good.

I gather that both of these flavours are pretty hot. So if you like your coconut, and you like heat, maybe this is a snack for you.

Very nice resealable packaging. A lot of crisp packets could do with this technology.

Yamayoshi Potato Chips Wasabi (Wasabee)

Tall Elegant taste tester fancied sushi so she too made her way to the local Japanese shop. Actually, I think she was seduced by the idea of wasabi Kit Kats which apparently are big in Japan. Imagine, she had no idea that while in the UK we have about... two (if you're lucky) Kit Kat flavours, in Japan they have loads of fascinating options.

Anyway, no luck on the Kit Kat front, so she bought lunch (mostly salmon I believe) and some crisps. Wasabi crisps. Extremely wasabi crisps.

Now I don't like wasabi. Before I ever tried it I had a feeling it would not be for me. Someone said not to worry because it's like a combination of horseradish and mustard. Is it though? Well unfortunately for me I don't like horseradish and I'm not very keen on mustard either. So I'm not a wasabi fan.

But everyone else in the office seems mad for wasabi. And these crisps were very popular with the reluctant taste testers. Even though we only started this packet after lunch it was all eaten up in no time.

I gather that these crisps have a very fresh, very genuine wasabi taste and are to be recommended. 

M&S Wasabi Popcorn

Do you know, I completely forgot to write up this popcorn. Yes, I scanned the packet, and yes, I started a post. But did I write anything? Apparently not. Can I remember anything about it? No.

So I am posting this simply because of the packaging. I always liked the Summer of Flavour logo but somehow the design of this bag looks strangely out of date. Even though it is only a year old.

As this was a Summer of Flavour bag the popcorn dates from summer 2014. Which just goes to show how long I can leave a draft blog post lying around.

Ten Acre Ambrose Popperley's Wasabi Popcorn

Noble friend produced another packet of Ten Acre popcorn from the local kosher deli. She must be their best customer. She had said she would buy the Wasabi flavour - and so she did.

Ten Acre has many flavours and they all come in beautifully designed packaging. Look at this rich green. Wonderful eh? And quite unusual in the world of crispy snacks.

Although. I have to say I was not mad about this popcorn flavour. I kept spotting the tall taste tester going back for more, and I'm sure others were also snacking quite enthusiastically, but I couldn't fancy it myself. Which is a shame.

When I opened the packet, the waft of Wasabi that leapt out was really quite off-putting. I don't know why. We've tried a number of Wasabi flavours lately so why?

Well, it could be that this Wasabi flavour doesn't appear to feature any actual wasabi. We've tried Wasabi popcorn recently made with genuine wasabi and made with horseradish. This flavour seems to be made, amongst other things (like rice flour - and what does that taste of we ask? ), of mustard. And I really don't like mustard as a main flavour. Or it could just be that I didn't fancy it.

So there we are. Not for me, but everyone else in the taste testing team seemed happy to put in a little snacking time.

And once again I'm a little dissatisfied with the green of this scan. The packet is a much prettier richer green than this. So search out this flavour popcorn for yourself, and see if you think I'm wrong about the taste.

Portlebay Popcorn Wasabi & Sweet Ginger

This scary-looking packet of popcorn was pounced on by noble friend when she went to Kenwood House in North London to see their lovely display of rhododendrons. Which was kind and thoughtful of her.

The reluctant taste testers and I looked at the packet in stunned amazement. What sort of a frightening taste would this popcorn have?

Pop sushi! says the packet. But it looks nothing like the bowl of sushi by Utagawa Hiroshige (I cropped his original a bit I'm afraid). After all... it is popcorn.

Actually this popcorn was nothing like as alarming as we thought. Some of it tasted of ginger, and some of wasabai (although more likely horseradish as most of the 'wasabi' in this country is in fact horseradish) with a good hit of heat. And some of it a bit plainer in taste.

I've had Portlebay Popcorn before. I found their Crispy Bacon & Maple Syrup in East Finchley and loved it so much I ate a whole packet all by myself. But I'm not sure if I would have bought this flavour.

Another lesson in not judging a book (or indeed a packet of popcorn) by its cover.

Much to our surprise we rather liked this popcorn. And despite there not being very many people in the office we finished this (smartly designed) packet without any trouble.

So give it a go. Because I find this is the crispy snack flavour du jour.

And here are some of the rhododendrons at Kenwood. They really are looking fantastic this year and as we visited after work, and on a day when the weather was slightly dodgy, there was hardly anyone there. Very nice to see the gardens looking lovely and with almost no other visitors. Except other people photographing the rhododendrons. Like us.