M&S The Collection Mini Cornish Cruncher Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

All butter and Cornish Cruncher cheddar biscuits topped with grated cheese.

This is a very home-made-looking cheesy biscuit. Round cheesy biscuits with a slightly mounded shape, just as you would get if you cooked them yourself. M&S seems to like Cornish Cruncher cheddar which is, I suppose, why they chose it for these little biscuits.

And they are really tasty, very cheesy and with a nice soft crunch (such as a home-made biscuit would have). Pretty fabulous in fact.

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.

Yushoi Snapea Rice Sticks Smoked Salt & Szechuan Pepper

Noble Friend produced this tiny 10g, 45 calorie packet which she was given as a free gift. She wasn't about to try it on her own, so donated it to me and the reluctant taste testers.

This is another of these strange modern allegedly healthier crispy snacks made of peas.

Now, the reluctant taste testers and I have tried several M&S versions of pea snaps including Smoked Salt & Mixed Pepper flavour. And you may have read that none of us was over-impressed. However, the M&S version is made with marrowfat peas. And according to the packet, these peasnaps are made with green peas. And rice. Which I confess I don't remember from the M&S ingredients.

I put out the contents of this tiny packet in the kitchen and I wasn't very surprised to see that the reluctant taste testers were distinctly reluctant to try. But History Graduate has a bold sense of adventure. Despite being (as he put it) scarred by the M&S pea snap experience, he ventured in where others feared to. And pronounced that this was a far superior and tastier snack than the M&S version.

Sorry M&S: we really didn't like your product very much at all. But this Yushoi snack made by Japanese snack giant Calbee is a different kettle of piranhas altogether. And Calbee appear to have a UK branch now, based in Leeds.

The crunch is still a bit soft but these pea shaped snacks don't gum themselves to your teeth. And the taste, I find, is less nasty.

Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't like these very much either but it is my own personal taste and it is likely that others will be pleased to try and come back for more.

Grate Britain All-British Cheddar Crackers

I found this little 45g packet of Cheddar Crackers made by Artisan Biscuits Ltd of Ashbourne in Derbyshire on my Easyjet flight home from Geneva.

I thought they looked a little bit fabulous made, as they are, with freshly grated Wookey Hole Cave-Aged Cheddar. So they should be good.

Only I have to report that this is a not very cheesy snack.  The cheesiness is very subtle. It's nice. But subtle. And you have to pay attention. 

Now, when you're at altitude (eg on an Easyjet flight from Geneva) the sensitivity of your taste buds to sweet and salty foods is reduced by up to 30%. So I wonder had I opened the packet on the plane, would I have felt slightly conned? I'm not sure this is the ideal snack for a plane journey.

I  brought the packet home to photograph and scan (obviously) so I'm taste testing in the privacy of my own kitchen. Which is perhaps 60 feet above sea level. Or is that 60 metres? I can never remember. Anyhow, no loss of sensitivity here. But you do have to pay attention to the cheesiness. 

However, I happen to have some guacamole in the fridge and I can report that these crackers work extremely well in combination with the guacamole. Delicious. And the slightly hard crunch works very well with a dip.

The packets says We freshly grate or crumble real cheese for every batch we make. We don't use cheese powder or cheese flavour, because it is not the British thing to do. Finally, we had bake our crackers for a home-made taste. Grate Britain - the perfect nibble for 'drinkie-poos'.

We also learn about the Cheese: it's Real English Cheddar, hand-made in the West Country by Ford Farm. Wrapped in cloth for long maturing. Aged in the caves at Wookey Hole, Somerset. Its mellow deep flavour captured to put the Grate into Gate Britain.

I love the French name for these crackers: Très "British" - Crackers au Cheddar. Brilliant.

Carrefour Tube Goût Fromage

This is a nice little crispy snack from Carrefour outside Rheims. Funny little tube shapes of extruded maize tasting of nothing but cheese.

Nice crunch, pleasant aroma and good cheesy taste. This is another crispy snack shape that I've not seen in the UK, and I don't remember seeing it anywhere other than at Carrefour. But, the tubiness (that's not tubbiness crisp fans) of these tubular snacks is... not very tubey. Sadly all the tubes are a little bit squished. Which is a pity.

However, that does not affect the taste.

The Chef and I quite liked these, and when I imported the second half of the packet into the office Tech taste tester was pleased to approve. You can't go wrong with a good cheesy taste he opined (that's what journalists write isn't it?).

Yes, quite a tasty little crispy snack. And I don't know why we don't get this sort of shaped snack in the UK. I can't help feeling people would buy them.

Kent Crisps Sea Salt

Found on the cross channel ferry once again, this Sea Salt flavour from Kent Crisps is pretty good.

Not super exciting, not fancy in its flavour, not particularly fabulous or different in any way. But tasty. Big crisps with a nice salty taste. And a good crunch.

No, not exciting. But pretty good.

The people on the ferry assured me I could buy these crisps in my local supermarket. But I can't. Not in North London I can't. Which is a shame. But there you are.

As ever with Kent Crisps the packaging is rather a nice design.

Highlander Black Pepper Forever! (Gusto Pepe Nero)

Another packet of crinkle cut from Highlander Crisps by San Carlo. And I thought these would probably be be tastier than the Tomato or Nothing! flavour because - because black pepper is easy, and tomato don't always work so well - but I was wrong.

And the Chef was wrong because he had thought the same.

Don't get the wrong idea. Black Pepper Forever! is a fine flavour and nothing the matter with it, but to our surprise we liked the Tomato or Nothing! flavour better. A nice fine crinkle, good crunch and a tasty flavour. And very nice too.

This packet of crisps came from Milan railway station. In fact, we found it on our way to Florence and it whetted our appetite for the Kiss my BBQ! and Fight for Vinegar! flavours which we have not yet tried. The Tomato or Nothing! packet, as you know, came from Pisa. I guess we didn't visit enough different railway stations because we didn't spot these crisps in any shops. Another time perhaps.

And here's a final chunk of Florence.

Wacko's Perfidamente Buono Gusto Salami

And yet another offering from Italian crisp giant San Carlo, this one discovered at Milan railway station. Although frankly, if I'd been an ordinary person and not an internationally renowned food writer I should probably have walked past these crisps without a second glance.

And I would, I think, have been right. Because the design of this crisp packet, based (I can only suppose and only sort of ) on Homer Simpson, is pretty fairly off-putting for any person remotely grown-up. And the taste… it can't be aimed at adults.

Pity. I had hoped that a crispy snack tasting of salami might be rather good. But no. Why not do you suppose? A great big Italian food company ought to know what salami tastes like. And I was only wondering the other day why I had never seen a salami flavour crisp in Italy. Which I why I invested in this packet. And that, I guess, gives me the answer I was looking for: salami flavour crisps don't work.

Not bad crisps, not bad colour, a light crunch. But neither the Chef or I liked the flavour at all.

But I won (if that's the correct word) a brown "Style" toy keyring from the little Wacko's packet included with the crisps. Lucky me!

I have slightly struggled to find any information about these crisps online but it seems they have been around a little while. And I think they have ketchup, cheese, paprika and lightly salted flavours on offer. One can only hope that these are tastier than the new salami flavour. Which as I said, we really didn't like much at all.

Autentica Trattoria Bruschetti al Gusto Pomodoro e Basilico

Another packet of crispy snacks found at Pisa railway station (there are several shops) and I had the choice of tomato and basil or black olive. I chose the tomato and basil because I thought the black olive flavour might taste too strongly of olives. Which to be honest, I'm not completely mad about. I guess I was right (or the factory packed these Bruschetti incorrectly), because they taste tremendously of olives even though the flavour isn't olive. Must be the 5% genuine olive oil I suppose.

The Chef did not much enjoy these crunchy little Bruschetti but I did. Somewhat to my surprise I enjoyed them lot. Great big crunch, tiny little snack. And I really enjoyed the taste too. And guess who makes them? Of course, you guessed. The mighty San Carlo.

Next time I go back to Italy I will definitely look out for this crispy snack. They do Bruschetti, Chips and also Baghetti. So plenty to look forward to. I say next time because Italy is quite close. And although we haven't done it yet, we often talk about going for lunch at our favourite restaurant on Lake Maggiore. Best pudding in the world!

Anyway, in the meantime, because I found this packet in Pisa, some more pictures of Pisa. Which is so pretty. I mean, Florence is fabulous but so crowded. So why not check out Pisa if you are in the area?

Oh OK then. Since you've asked so nicely, here's the Leaning Tower of Pisa (other photos are a view along the Arno river, the Campo Santo, and the side of the Baptistry with typical Italian umbrella pines).

San Carlo Piu Gusto Fresco Piccante Gusto Menta e Peperoncino

Well, now. Here's a crisp we found at our favourite supermarcato in Florence, just near the Oltrano side of the Ponte Vecchio. It's always useful to find a good supermarket wherever you visit; you never know when you might need a bottle of wine, some fruit or a packet of disposable plastic bowls.

It looks as though Italian crisp giant San Carlo has fallen victim to the "create your own crisp flavour" competition so beloved of Lay's and Walkers. Crea il tuo Gusto it says on the packet. And Eccolo il vincitore del corncorso! here is our winner. And yes, you've guessed, it's mint and chilli flavour.

The winning entrant is Rita Francesca Tenuta (27) and I think her entry received 160,000 votes. Of course I do not know if this was the first such competition of its kind in Italy, or how many other votes the other entries received. Or what they were. Well, you can't have everything.

This is a typically gently flavoured San Carlo crisp. Nice crunch, plenty of natural colour. Not a bad crisp at all. but I'm not sure about the really breathy effect you get from the mint here. You really catch the mintyness on the back of your throat. Which somehow doesn't appeal to me much. But the Chef ate a lot more than I did. At least, I think he did.

To prove we bought this crisp in Florence I am adding a photo of the Ponte Vecchio, and two images of the amazingly minty coloured (it seems appropriate) building at the top of the Boboli Gardens. In fact, you can see the building in all three shots.