Chio Oven Jumpys Sea Salt

 

I was quite excited to see another flavour for the fabulous Jumpys. 

Of course the Chef and I first discovered Jumpys in 2013 (so long ago!) and I thought the taste a bit dull. After years of testing: just me and the Chef, or with the Reluctant Taste Testers, I have discovered that the simple flavours work the best. For me anyway, and I think for a lot of other people too.

So what we first tried were a Sunny Paprika flavour (although I have never worked out what makes it sunny), and I think the little kangaroos were fried. Look how picky I was back then! Goodness me. I had no idea at all. Because actually the Sunny Paprika Jumpys are fabulous, not to mention pretty cute (I wonder who ever had the idea for a miniature crunchy kangaroo?), and these oven cooked Sea Salt flavoured Jumpys are much less nice. Oh don’t get me wrong; I did finish the packet but I feel these little kangaroo shaped snacks weren’t as tasty as they might have been.

The crunch is still the same but somehow the sea salt flavour isn’t quite interesting enough. Yes oven cooked with 40% less fat is probably a healthier option, but there’s very little point in healthy if it isn’t tasty. 

Yes. There is little point in a crispy snack if it isn’t tasty. But a healthy crispy kangaroo is more intriguing than fried slices of potatoes. Well m there you are.

Found in Switzerland.

Walkers Oven Baked Fusions Spicy Tomato & Herb

I’ve seen this new crispy snack advertised, so when I spotted a packet naturally I picked them up.

Hmmm... the packet is very richly coloured which made me wonder if the flavour would be very strong. And indeed that is the case. I don’t know if that’s deliberate packaging design from Walkers but somehow it makes sense.

So strong, so herby, is the flavour that I didn’t really like these very much. And Tall taste tester commented adversely on the taste, so I thought that was that.

But no. Cliffs of Moher taste tester said she liked this crispy snack; Slightly Red Haired Bristolian did too; and Jam Maker taste tester was a big fan. Pizza Marguerita she said with enthusiasm. Well, it takes all tastes doesn’t it?

The packet tells me this is a light and crispy potato snack bursting with flavours: they got that right! The trouble is I don’t much care for crispy snacks made from potato flakes. Almost every time a proper potato crisp is better, and what is it with the weird hexagonal shape?

So not for me but I can point you in the direction of some keen fans.

KP Oven Baked Italian Herb Peanuts & Cashews

I really am not at all sure about these nuts. The Chef seems to quite like them but I'm not sure.

The packet shows the nuts all glossy and golden and brown and covered in herby goodness. The nuts in real life are a bit matte and more grey than golden brown. Which is not exactly a great look. But they do have some herbs on.

And the flavour? Er... well to be brutally honest I felt the taste was more sick than Italian herbs. Not nice. After 2 or 3 nuts they start to taste OK, a fairly tasty herbiness. But honestly I thought the initial taste was very unpleasant.

The Chef, however, didn't seem to know what I was talking about. He said they were tasty. And that was that.

I'm really not sure I want my nuts oven baked to lock in flavour. Which apparently is how they cook nuts these days. I have no clue how they used to cook nuts (presumably in a thoroughly unhealthy fashion) but whatever they did it was pretty tasty (and did not include Italian herbs), and I think I really liked it.

Why can't we all learn to eat less of the full fat version? Because the healthier oven baked or whatever is never as nice. And I feel sure that people are encouraged to eat more of the "healthy" version because it is labeled healthy even though the healthy aspect is quite limited.

Seriously, and I do mean seriously, I would far prefer to eat something full fat and bad for me - but carefully, thoughtfully eat less than I I'd really like - than eat more of a so-called healthy version which isn't anything like so nice.

In this case less really is more. And don't let anyone try to persuade you otherwise.

Ital Food Bruschette Maretti Italian Ham Flavour

Another tasty snack from the new and improved local food shop. And they seem to have quite a selection of these Bruschette from Bulgarian (I think) company Ital Food.

Excellent. Because I really liked this crunchy little crispy snack. Quite a lot of breakages in this packet, not sure that's a good sign but maybe it is just this particular packet, but lots of very tasty flavour dust. And I loved the taste. I thought it was very true to the advertised flavour. Italian Ham. Yum. And Dutch taste tester liked this a lot too.

However, Noble Friend and I think it was Tall Elegant taste tester didn't like the taste at all. Noble Friend said the taste was far too strong. And overwhelming.

I expect Noble Friend wouldn't have cared for the aroma either if she had sniffed the bag. I was really impressed; the aroma was the same as the taste. Now, you might say how silly, of course this crispy snack smells the same as it tastes. But not silly at all. It is remarkable how many crispy snacks smell quite unpleasant when you open the packet. Don't try smelling your packet of crisps unsupervised unless you are an experienced taste tester.

I spotted the Chairman taste tester sneaking a tasty morsel from the kitchen as he passed by and worried a little as I know he keeps quite strict kosher. But luckily I am fairly sure this crispy snack is vegetarian. The ingredients are mostly in languages I don't speak and probably never will but there is a little sticky label in tiny type which does not list ham. Just ham flavouring.

A very nice crispy snack. I look forward to trying other flavours. I think the reluctant taste testers do too.

Walkers Crispy Crackers Cheddar Cheese

New! The great taste of Walkers on a cracker. New! Tasty crackers seasoned with the unmistakably delicious taste of Walkers.

Well, there is no denying that these oven baked crispy crackers are tasty. I'm not sure that the taste is unmistakably a Walkers taste, but the packaging doesn't go quite that far. The aroma is cheesy, and the tasty flavour is cheese with a little hint of onion. Or so it seems; there isn't any onion listed as an ingredient but it could perhaps be part of the mysterious "Flavouring". And then at the end you get the salty/sweet taste of the cracker itself.

Lovely thin crackers too. Mostly not even 2mm thick. But this does make them quite fragile and I noticed that even at the top of the packet there were quite a lot of broken pieces. This is obviously a bit of a problem. The broken crackers are  bit sharp; maybe they fight their way out of an ordinary style crisp bag? Maybe that's why the bag has been designed with 4 sturdy seams and a fat gusset.

You can see the broken bits in my photograph but the strange shape of this cracker doesn't show at all well. You can see it on the packet though. Very odd. Call me peculiar if you like but to me they look like little hairdryers. Whatever they look like, it is an odd shape.

Tasty. But it is worth noting that the recipe contains Sulphites and other chemicals like Monocalcium phosphate. Things you don't normally find in a high quality crisp these days.

The Chef reckons these cheesy crackers are a bit bland and not cheesy enough. But he approves of the crunch.

Sadly the little guy throwing his rubbish away responsibly is not a Walkers design but the generic symbol used all over the place in this country. I'm not impressed.