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. 

Tayto ChicKatees ChicKen (Republic of Ireland)

I know I have discussed this chicken flavour maize puff snack with Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester because I was so stunned to discover a maize puff that didn’t taste of cheese. I distinctly remember standing beside her desk one lunchtime at work and saying, “Chicken? Who on earth thought of that?

Well, apparently Irish crisp giants Tayto thought of chicken flavour, so here we are with a bright blue packet covered in slightly hysterical cartoon chickens. Obviously.

Feelin’ peckish? asks the packet, inside this bag are Mr Tayto’s delicious ChicKatees prime for a kickin’. What are you waiting for? Don’t just sit there reading the back of this packet, dive on in there and show those chickens who’s boss! Why a capital K in the middle of the word I don’t know.

Well, yes. Hmm. It’s a typical maize based snack. Or is it? The traditional Cheesy Wotsits style snack is cheesy. The Danish crispy snack Kims Ostepops which the reluctant taste testers learned to love after a single bite is cheesy. The ever fabulous M&S Cheese Tasters which, obviously is a cheesy snack.

Or, yes OK, the rather different Tesco Sausage Roll flavour... but that was a Christmas special so you could argue it doesn’t really count. Oh, er, and Cheetos Spirals Cheese & Tomato Ketchup from Poland. Oh alright then. I have argued myself out of my own argument. But do admit that chicken flavour is a little out of the ordinary for a maize puff snack.

Slightly unfortunate: it’s not a very chickeny taste. After a bit of practice you can convince yourself it’s a chicken flavour, but it isn’t very strong. I thought the most chickeny bit was the left over flavour dust at the bottom of the packet. Do not neglect the flavour dust.

It’s quite tasty as snacks go though, and the Chef and I had no trouble snacking down this little packet in double quick time.

Tesco Sausage Roll Flavour Puffs

Goodness me! What giant 250g packet of crispy snacks! Which is an enormous amount when you consider that each of these little maize puffs hardly weighs anything at all. I would hesitate to buy such a large packet of a snack I knew I liked so I did boggle a bit at the size, but who could really resist trying Sausage Roll flavour?

Of course you know you all know that little maize puffs like this are usually cheesy puffs; think the fabulous Cheese Tasters from M&S for example. Although there is the well-known Israeli peanut snack from Bamba. So this sudden departure into sausage roll as a flavour was a bit of a surprise.

And obviously had to be taste tested.

So I put this crispy snack to the Ski Instructor and Tractor Fan taste testers. Neither of them could hazard a guess at the flavour but they ate quite a lot of them. I never expect my taste testers to eat any snack if they don’t like the taste, and little maize puffs are not to everyone’s taste, so I count this as a handsome endorsement.

Subsequently I asked Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester to try. Amazingly she guessed the flavour correctly at once. She reckoned she could detect the taste of sausage roll pastry as well as the sausagey stuffing. And I think she's right.

The snack is rather dry, and it does gum itself to your teeth in a remarkable fashion, but it is a very clever flavour.  Who can say, though, if it will be a success? Tractor Fan was all set to rush off to Tesco in pursuit of another packet, but I wonder if most UK crispy snack consumers will be baffled at the thought of a cheesy puff that doesn't taste of cheese? Most people are very conservative and don't like  anything different. Change is hard.

Well, it'll be interesting to see if this crispy snack is around in a year's time. I hope so.

Bobby's Burger Bites

Now, I was very anxious to try this crispy snack because the flavour is "classic cheeseburger". At least that's what the packet says. And Graffiti Artist taste tester who first recommended me to try Bobby's snacks, particularly spoke of this flavour.

So I asked the Bobby's website where my nearest stockist was and in no time at all I received an email giving me a list of shops. The nearest wasn't too far by car (which was lucky because it would have been 2 buses and a longish walk by public transport, maybe 3 buses).

Obviously any crispy snack that claims to be cheeseburger flavour arouses my interest.

The reluctant taste testers were excited to try another snack from Bobby's (me too). We've tried several of their crispy snacks and been impressed. So imagine our disappointment when we found these Burger Bites didn't have the fantastic texture and bite we were hoping for. And worse, they don't really taste of cheeseburgers. Oh yes, and they really don't look anything like the image on the packet.

I can't help wondering if I didn't obsess over cheeseburger flavour (see the name of this blog!), and if we hadn't been so super-impressed with previous Bobby's offerings, the reluctant taste testers and I might have been less disappointed.

If you spot a packet please do try them with an open mind.