Beigel & Beigel American BBQ Flavoured Snack

No I really have no idea what the difference is between a BBQ flavour and an American BBQ flavour. Especially when applied to a kosher crispy snack made in Israel. If you know better than me do let me know.

The reluctant taste testers and I have already tried onion and felafel flavour snacks from Beigel & Beigel. We liked them both quite a lot. Not so mad for this American BBQ flavour though.

The flavour was not so much an intrinsic part of the snack as a sauce added later. Some of the taste testers thought perhaps brown sauce. Noble Friend suggested teriyaki sauce. I rather agree. Definitely could do better.

Don't you find it odd that if you have 3 or 4 or 5 somethings to try the last whatever it is will almost always turn out to be the least successful. I always used to find this with library books. I expect there is a Law to cover that. Probably a corollary to Murphy's Law. Don't forget; if you know better do please let me know. Anyway, this crispy snack was a perfect example.

If Beigel & Beigel make more flavours of crispy snack I hope to find out soon. Because obviously if they are bought at a different time they are not affect by the above Law.

John & John Sea Salt & Black Pepper

I think it was last weekend that the Chef & I tried these tasty sea salt & black pepper crisps I found in a motorway service station near Beaune. The reluctant taste testers and I had tried the other two packets so it seemed only fair to give the Chef a chance to try this flavour which I know he usually enjoys.

A fairly hard crunch but a lovely salt and pepper flavour - very nice indeed. I can't even remember if we tried these with a dip but if we did I am sure it worked very well: guacamole maybe?

It remains a mystery why these crisps are made in the UK for a German company and marketed in France. Weird.

Another beautifully subtle packet design.

Lay's Saveur Jambon Braisé

You may have noticed that I'm always a bit unsure about ham flavour crisps so I only picked these up in the Carrefour outside Reims because I was fairly certain Tech taste tester would enjoy them (he enjoys meat flavour crisps). Also I was sure we hadn't tried them before... so you know...

It turns out they are pretty tasty. And very hammy. A surprisingly genuine hammmy taste. Not at all fake. Excellent. Most of the reluctant taste testers were happy to crunch into several bowlsful and even the Chef quite liked them.

As so often with Lay's crisps they have quite a light crunch (the Chef says he prefers something a little more crunchy - but he might prefer something lighter next week -who can say?). But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

If you fancy a ham flavoured crisp I suggest you give these a try.

The packet is quite pink!

Co-op Irresistible Hand Cooked Lightly Salted Crisps

Last night the Chef & I went to Tate Modern to see the Georgia O'Keefe exhibition. It was the penultimate Friday of the show (late night opening too) so rather crowded, but the Tate has very large rooms and it wasn't too hard to get up close to all of the paintings. And the photographs and books on show too.

Anyhow, on our way back to Southwark tube station we dropped into a branch of the Co-op and found this great own brand crisp.

Just lovely! Great crunch, perfect saltiness, and nice colour with the red skin of the Lady Rosetta potatoes left on. A fabulous crisp. Well done the Co-op.

Although, I see these crisps are manufactured in the UK for Co-operative Group Limited. I don't know who made this crisp but it's a top job.

We also tried them with Sainsbury's Soured Cream & Chive dip (yes, there was a small branch on the route back to the tube station) and that worked extremely well.

All round deliciousness.

M&S Christmas Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Rolls

So we tried the Maple Bacon tortilla rolls the others day. And now here we have the Cinnamon Sugar version. Interesting. Because for about the first time ever the sweet version seems to be a whole lot better than the savoury version of this crispy snack.

I can only suppose that the tortilla base is the same in each case (because why complicate things?) and somehow the Cinnamon Sugar version is rather wonderful. It's an OK crispy snack on its own - very nice surgery cinnamon flavour, good crunch - but I can't help wondering if it wouldn't be a rather fabulous addition to an apple pudding. Maybe even a crispy base for a pudding?

Hmm.... that leaves me with plenty of cookery thoughts.

Belin Triangolini au Sesame

Obviously I picked up this crispy biscuitty snack because it is triangular (hence Triangolini) and not because it was a tie in product with the 2016 Euros (football/soccer). The tournament was held in the summer but luckily for Belin, the French team did OK.

But I guess you can buy this crispy snack even if there is no football on the horizon.

And what did we think? Well, it's an OK crispy snack. A little bit of sesame flavour, a little bit of salt, not a bad crunch. But I thought they seemed a little bit overcooked.

They weren't that popular with the reluctant taste testers and I can see why. OK is about right. However, the Chef, as ever, thought to try each little triangular biscuits snack with a spot of butter. And you know what? That makes a whole lot of difference.

Not super exciting.

Carrefour Fantômes Saveur Jambon Fromage

You discover me today feeling very fat and rather guilty. Because I ate about three quarters of this 75g packet of fantômes all by myself. And fantômes are light and airy which of course means they weigh very little indeed so you get loads and loads in each packet. 

I've got to say I was a bit dubious about this crispy snack. I mean, the pink packaging didn't exactly fetch me. But I've said it before, and will no doubt say it again, don't judge a crispy snack by its packet.

Because this French snack is very tasty indeed. Very very tasty. I set out a bowlful and Dutch Taste tester and Tall Elegant taste tester were quick to say how much they approved. It seems everyone else approved too as the bowl was emptied by mid-morning. And never got refilled because I was too busy eating. The Chef didn't get any at all.

Lovely light bubbly texture with a perfect crunch, great ham and cheese flavour and a friendly ghost shape.

Definitely a five star crispy snack. Fabulous.

Are you going to be anywhere near a Carrefour anytime soon? Grab a bag and try these out for yourself.

M&S Christmas Maple Bacon Tortilla Rolls

This is an interesting shape for a crispy snack. It's new to me so obviously I had to try it out.

 

And with what result? Well, I didn't terribly like the almost barbecue-like taste. I didn't feel these little tortilla rolls tasted of maple bacon. And you know I often don't like barbecue as a flavour.

 

However, most of the reluctant taste testers have no issues with barbecue as a flavour and in fact Slightly Red Haired Bristolian taste tester was particularly keen. She tells me she just loves barbecue flavour.

 

I think the main issue was that the rolls are rather dry. You could combat that in a heartbeat with a dip of course but you shouldn't have to.

 

The tortilla rolls are also rather brittle so there were quite a lot of broken bits in the packet. But the tortillas have to be fine or by the time you'd rolled it up it would be impossible to bite through. So I guess that's just something you have to put up with.

 

Not bad. And certainly different.

Vico Crazy Craq Barbecue Maniac

Barbecue Maniac is a very odd name for a crispy snack flavour don't you think? Very strange indeed.

Vico Crazy Craq crispy snacks have a really good texture. The squirly design is wonderful and the bite just what you would wish for. The reluctant taste testers and I have really enjoyed the Strong Cheese flavour, and the Spicy Lovers flavour too.

I wasn't so keen on Barbecue Maniac (I'm really not mad for the barbecue flavours) but that didn't stop the rest of the reluctant taste testers enjoying this crispy snack. They most of them like barbecue flavour a lot better than I do.

Un max de Craquant, says the packet. Un max de goût Barbecue. Un snack totalement Vrillé.

If you like barbecue flavour crispy snacks I think we can highly recommend this very nice French product. Bought (obviously) at the Carrefour outside Reims. Oh, and made with 8% peanuts which don't seem to affect the barbecue taste at all.

Zweifel Erdnüsse

I think we bought this little packet of Zweifel peanuts in the little bar on the train. The day we took 12 different trains, a funicular and a paddle steamer on the Brienzersee. That's the kind of fun day out you can have in Switzerland without getting too stressed.

We only had to run for one train and that was because our first train was uncharacteristically late. Someone standing on the platform shouted "Dépêche toi" at the Chef and he started to scuttle, and then to run to catch our connection. I started running too and I was thinking "oh no I'm running at altitude" (a lot harder than running at sea level as I'm sure you know). The Chef tells me it was only 500m but Wikipedia tells me it is a whole 658m above sea level. Which seems a lot when you live at about 85m above sea level. Actually I wasn't expecting our lhouse in London to be so high: you can discover so many exciting facts online. The flat in Switzerland is at 1500m. I wouldn't dream of running there.

For some reason this packet of Swiss peanuts was manufactured in Belgium. The world of crispy crunchy snacks is always full of surprises.

Tasty.