Ültje Cashews & Erdnüsse Honig und Saltz

 

Cashews and peanuts flavoured with honey and salt. Sounds tasty doesn’t it? But somehow this German nutty snack didn’t quite work for me.

Oh, the Chef snacked them down quite happily but I felt the nuts were a just bit too hard. Which made more of a difference than you might expect. Call me picky.... I know you will.

I’m sure they have many fans in Germany.

Penguins of Madagascar: Cheezy Dibbles

 Yes, crispy snack fans, you’re all wondering why I never got around to posting the fabulous-looking Cheezy Dibbles before aren’t you? Dunno really. But Penguins of Madagascar was on TV again this Christmas and once again I spotted this fabulous cheesy snack. So now is the time.

So here’s a tribute to this wonderful-looking crispy snack, a maize puff, covered in yummy cheesy tastiness, probably chock full of E numbers, and looking just like our favourite Cheetos or Cheesy Wotsits, or even the fabulously fictitious Crunch Yeah.

This crispy snack is a favourite with our heroic penguins.

But E numbers have a disastrous effect, not only on small children, but also on penguins as we can see from the scenes in the film where orange flavour-dust stained penguins fail to concentrate on the task ahead. And go a bit loopy.

Probably extremely tasty if only they actually existed. Sadly I don’t think they’re real.

Grandma Wild’s Mini Bites Mature Cheddar

Hmmm... this little box of cheesy snacks looked as though it should be really good. I mean, baked without compromise since 1899? What could be wrong with that?

Sadly both the Chef and I felt these little biscuits were a bit dry. And not terribly cheesy.

I’m wondering if the posh-looking snacks have less taste than the mass produced ones aimed at us common or garden snackers? Or is it because Grandma Wild comes from Yorkshire and I have lived in London nearly all my life that I’m not mad keen? Yes, I know lots of people would kill to live in London: I just lived here because that’s where my mother brought me up.

Not at all nasty. Just a bit too dry for our taste.

Shore The Scottish Seaweed Company Seaweed Crisps Sweet Sriracha

I spotted these seaweed crisps outside my hospital ward as I was on my way to the lift. Unfortunately I really didn’t have time to stop off and battle with a smart-looking vending machine, so I just whipped out my phone and took a picture.

You can get Sweet Sriracha, Asian Pekin, and Lightly Salted.

I have to say that I have issues with crisps being sold in hospitals. However, if you are desperate for a crispy snack I imagine you would sooner grab a bag of Cheesy Wotsits or something else comforting rather than a fancy pants seaweed crisp.

Having said that, you already know I haven’t tried these crisps. Perhaps they’re amazing. And perhaps they are as healthy and tasty as their website claims.

Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion

And here is the very final bag of crisps sent by kind Missouri Taste Tester. What a lot of fun we’ve had trying out a whole load of crisps brand new to us. Apparently this is Missouri Taste Tester’s favourite crisp.

Oh dear. I didn’t terribly like them. I don’t know why. I just didn’t. Sometimes you just can’t put your finger on whatever it is. But hey! See above: I don’t fancy this flavour but someone else does.

The Chef thought they were all right. Which isn’t the most enthusiastic review in the world. He did, of course, eat most of the packet. If I don’t like something I stop eating: it doesn’t stop the Chef. So it’s a lot harder to tell what he really likes. Or doesn’t.

7 Days Mini Bake Rolls Garlic

 Back in 2015 the Reluctant Taste Testers and I tried 7 Days Bake Rolls garlic flavour. And they are pretty fabulous. And tasty.

But here we have a mini version. The mini bake rolls are far smaller than the usual size which is fine, but what is not fine is that the taste seems a lot less. Maybe it was just this packet, but they weren’t very flavourful. So I would buy the regular size. 

The Chef was disappointed. He hadn’t noticed he’d bought a mini size.

Jays Krunchers! Original

This is the final packet of original (or salt) flavour crisps sent by kind Missouri Taste Tester. And just as when I used to get a lot of books out of the library and I always enjoyed the first book the most, and the last book in the pile the least, so with these crisps.

Not nasty, not unpleasant at all, simply not as special as the sensational Cape Cod crisps the Chef and I tried first. Just a nice lightly salted crisp. Out of a big packet.

Interestingly, these crisps smell great in the packet. Some crisps taste great but smell quite nasty. I’ve never worked out how come. But the packet still smells rather good even though all the crisps have been eaten.

If you are looking for a kettle cooked chip that explodes with bold potato flavor and offers a krunchy texture, says the packet, try original Krunchers! Select, premium potatoes are sliced to the ideal thickness and sprinkled with the perfect amount of salt, resulting in a “wow” for your mouth. 

Say goodbye to wimpy chips and BITE into Krunchers!

You’ll probably enjoy them. The Chef did, I know. I’m fairly sure he ate most of these crisps when I wasn’t looking. 

M&S Vampire Fangs 2020

Obviously the Reluctant Taste Testers and I have tried Vampire Fangs before, but I notice that this year's version is much more realistic in the tooth design than before. If vampire teeth can be realistic. Which obviously they’re not....

But just as tasty as before.

The Chef was swift to appreciate the more realistic toothiness, and shoved a set of “teeth” in his mouth to impersonate a vampire and entertain the Family Vegetarian. Yes, that’s a Friday night family dinner chez nous.

Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester, newly home in London after 6 months in Ireland, snacked down the remains of the packet with enjoyment.

Give them a try. Yum yum! Far too easy to eat... 

(For some reason they used to be called Vampire's Fangs, and are now called Vampire Fangs. Nevermind. The taste is just as good.)

Uncle Ray’s Ripple Potato Chips

Here’s another fascinating crisp gifted to me by kind Missouri Taste Tester. It’s another crisp which doesn’t have the flavour (salt) on the front of the packet, or indeed on the back. The only place it says salt is in the list of ingredients. Weird.

On the back of the packet we get a chapter from the life and times of Uncle Ray. Our chapter 11 is Thanksgiving on the Line and we learn about a disaster with 12 turkeys on board the USS Bristol. Fascinating stuff.

Also fascinating for me is that this is the official crisp of Minor League Baseball. I know nothing about baseball. To me it’s obviously a version of rounders; played by schoolgirls in the UK, but in the USA by men in pyjamas. It sounds terribly dull to me but then I absolutely hated being forced to play rounders and never once hit the ball.

 But how many times have I seen a TV character reach for his baseball mitt and a ball in order to connect with an anxious child or a colleague under stress? I suppose there must be something in it. What though? Answers on a postcard please.

This is a beautifully simple crinkle cut crisp which the Chef and I enjoyed very much (hence no photo of the crisps). The crunch is a little light but we aren’t complaining. Very nice.

I wonder why it’s not for sale in California? That’s weird too, isn’t it?

Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt Kettle Cooked Potato Chips

Lightly sea salted, this crisp is a little bit thicker cut than some, but not too much. A very simple crisp. I ate the whole packet (only 38.9g) all at once. I tried to save some for the Chef, honest!, but accidentally ate the lot.

Made with love & care. And very nice too.

Some time ago we tried another Miss Vickie’s; sweet chilli and sour cream flavour, and quite enjoyed it.