Trying Fun, New, and Exotic Snacks- Part 1

Hello all!

As many on here do, I’ve always enjoyed learning about the world we live in and various cultures within it. One of the ways I especially love doing this is through trying new food and snacks. People have always bonded through the sharing of food throughout history, from early humans trying to survive, to the Romans breaking bread with one another, to the laborers who built New York sitting down and eating their lunch on a steel beam several stories in the air.

So, you can imagine my sheer delight when I received various different awesome new snacks that I’d never tried from all over the world (mostly South Asia but not all) as a Christmas gift. My love of trying new things has always manifested in trying different cuisines and making various dishes, with wildly varying amounts of success. In addition, as a super-taster, I’ve always had a knack for picking out subtle ingredients and flavors in things that I sample. So I am going to be starting a new series where I review the various snack foods that I have received as well as those that I try in the future.

Among everything, these spiced peanuts were the first thing I tried, and boy did I start off with a bang! Now, I love food with a kick to it. One of my favorite parts of Indian cuisine is that, compared to other dishes/foods I’ve tried, lots of Indian food isn’t just heat for the sake of heat, but still keeps all of its rich flavor and has the intense spice I crave. With many western snacks/foods, such as say, Takis or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, or anything with Sriracha sauce on it, you lose a lot of that flavor that comes with it. You put Sriracha on a sandwich, you’ve basically got a Sriracha sandwich. Hailing from India, these Bhikharam Chandmal brand peanuts deliver on both kick and flavor. Overall, simple and salty, with a heat that doesn’t smack you in the face but lingers and accumulates, and I’ve torn through a good amount of the bag already.

Final Verdict: 8/10

Now, this little red bag of chips (or crisps, as many on here call them) peaked my interest when I saw it. I previously tried German Bratwurst-flavored Pringles and loved them (solid 9/10), and saw the hot dog piled with various toppings on the front of the bag. Okay, sweet. I opened it up and crunched on them, and it tasted like all the makings of a hot dog… without the hot dog.

It certainly wasn’t bad by any means. The flavors of ketchup, relish, onion, and mustard was all there, but it felt like it was missing something, that being the salty, rejuvenating flavor of biting into a beef frank. There’s only so much you can do with a chip, true, but it’s certainly possible, as per the bratwurst chips. It reminds me a lot of the classic Cheeseburger shot, which I’ve gotten carried away with in the past: a shot of tequila, chased by a shot of tomato juice, chased by a shot of pickle juice. 1, 2, 3.

I definitely feel like if they dialed back the relish and ketchup a little bit and increased the classic hot dog flavor, it would’ve been less overpowering and less misleading.

Final Verdict: 5/10

One of Lays’ international flavors, these attempted to take the classic je ne sais quoi of gourmet French cheeses, and pack them into a potato chip. I love a good French cheese, and would love to get the chance to visit and someday try authentic French brie and camembert. Due to pasteurization laws where I’m from, it’s very hard to get your hands on many quality cheeses from France.

Anyways, I digress. These chips were decent. It tasted like slightly-different tasting cheese flavored chips, if I’m being honest, but didn’t have that strong, fake Cheddar flavor seen in typical cheese chips. It had a nice, smooth flavor that complimented the saltiness well. I’m glad I tried it.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Not a whole lot to say here. These wafers are from Portugal, and are all-around a solid, crunchy snack filled with sweet chocolate. A friend of mine from college, who was Jewish and only ate kosher, turned me onto Osem brand wafers, and these remind me a lot of those. Basically, it tastes exactly how you would expect, and I don’t mean that as a bad thing.

Final Verdict: 8/10

This traditional Nepali hard candy is made with dried sugar, coconut, peanut, milk, and khawa. Most of the writing on the packaging is in Nepali, so you know it’s the real deal.

Yeah… really not a fan of this one. At all. Didn’t care for the flavor, for one; not personally a coconut fan to begin with plus it had a bizarre, lingering taste that I can’t quite describe, and like typical hard candy, it’s very tough to crunch down on, and is meant to be savored for a while. I wound up spitting it out after enduring about eight seconds. Overall, maybe it was just the specific brand, and hey, more power to those who like this one, but to me it was inedible. Sorry, Nepal.

Final Verdict: 1/10

This one was unlike anything I’ve ever had. This flaky, layered sweet from northern India and Pakistan is made with desi ghee and flour, and is topped with almond and pistachio and this particular one is flavored with cardamom. Apparently soan papdi is a common treat found in celebrations such as Diwali. Also made by Bhikharam Chandmal, it’s mildly sweet, with that nice richness that ghee adds, and melts in your mouth due to the flaky, almost floss-like texture. Not bad.

Final Verdict: 7/10

KRRICCHH!

That’s the sound you get when you bite down on this crunchy, airy potato snack. It’s also fittingly the name of the brand of snacks this one is a part of, manufactured by Al-Majara Foods in Pakistan. These salty treats look almost exactly like penne, same shape and all, but are light and airy like a corn pop. According to the bag, these salty treats are indeed, salt flavor.

I didn’t know what to fully expect when I tried this one, but I gotta say, I highly recommend them. They are super salty, with the consistency of a hollow cheese puff, and are highly addictive. I recently heard that the chemical compound in salted, fried potatoes such as french fries and chips is one of the most addictive substances known to man. Now, I don’t know how true this is, and seeing as I’m just some schmuck on the internet, take this with a grain of salt. But this is backed up by the half-eaten bag that I’m still eating as I type this. Additionally, while I’m not personally Muslim, this snack is certified as halal. Again, would highly recommend.

Final Verdict: 9/10

Now, I had never actually heard of this one before until recently, where I found it while at an office supply store in Toronto of all places. Now I’m seeing it everywhere, and it’s become the latest fad. I’ve never personally gotten into the whole Dubai hype, but that’s a topic for another time. And you know what, like many have said, it is the definition of glitzy, overpriced chocolate that I would normally never spend that much money on, had I not been trying new things in a new city.

That being said, DAMN that’s some good chocolate! The creamy pistachio paste in the middle and rich milk chocolate is just chef’s kiss. I almost got some to bring home for my dad as well, before I remembered that he’s horribly allergic to pistachios. Ah, well. More for me.

Final Verdict: 10/10

These cheese balls, also out of Nepal, were certainly something I’ve been excited to try. It had the familiar cheesy taste of cheese balls, similar to Cheetos Puffs. One thing that this brand has that I noticed compared to other cheese balls is that it has almost a slight sweetness to it, not in the dust but in the puff itself, that I can’t explain. Overall a decent snack that I could fill a bowl with and leave out at a party or get-together.

Final Verdict: 7/10

The sibling of 2PM’s Cheese Balls, listed above, this variety instead banks on heat rather than a cheesy flavor. Just to let you know that these are the extra hot ones, in case you missed “2x Spicy” and “It’s Fiery Hot”, these ones are bright red and not orange like the above.

And I gotta say, these don’t really deliver. At first. You pop one in your mouth, and go “wow, that was nothing”. Then once you presumably have eaten five or six, like I did, the stinging heat builds up and lingers, to a decent heat level that will sneak up on you if you’re not expecting it.

However, while it (eventually) had the heat that it so advertised, the flavor itself was really underwhelming, akin to a slightly spicy corn pop. This is one of those snacks that’s fun to try once as a novelty, but not much beyond that.

Final Verdict: 5/10

My friends and I picked some of these up at this place in the mall not long ago before a game night, excited by the novelty of it. Doritos- good. Burger King’s iconic whopper- a classic. Why not?

As each of them tried one, their faces scrunched. It was clear they weren’t fans. They handed the bag to me. I was willing to give this one a chance.

As I crunched down on them, it didn’t taste like a burger, but I was hit with a familiar flavor, one that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. I ate a few more, trying to put my finger on the powdery chips’ flavor, and it was killing me.

Anyways, I wiped off my hands as we got out the first board game. Suddenly I had a realization, as I took the cardboard lid off the game and took a bite.

Yep. There it is.

Final Verdict: 2/10

After mercilessly dunking on pustakari above, I can say without a doubt; Nepal has officially redeemed themselves.

I actually had to google the name, as it appears above in what I presume to be Nepali. These sticks, like the chalte-chalte, have a nice, savory flavor and a building heat that didn’t take away from the flavor. It was like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos with a chili flavor, with hints of tomato and onion. Very much the perfect namkeen to snack on.

I was blown away by this one, and I wish we had more of this here where I am.

Final Verdict: 9/10

These small, donut-like balls which are covered in a sweet, sticky syrup are an Indian classic. I recently bought a can of these for the first time, not quite knowing what they were, and then found out that they have them at a local Indian place I occasionally go to and never realized. They can be eaten cold or hot, and I personally love them both ways.

My favorite way to eat this is atop one of my favorite deserts, kheer. The mild, sweet, creaminess of the kheer and the intense syrupy flavor of the gulab jamun go perfectly together hand in hand. The sticky sweetness reminds me of these delicious brown sugar yams I tried at a soul food place.

Final Verdict: 9/10

These sweet, chocolatey graham cracker-like cookie sandwiches are a hidden gem out of Sri Lanka. The cookies themselves are incredibly crumbly, which unfortunately makes them break apart super easily in the packaging, however the flavor is simple, yet powerfully sweet. For those of you in North America, I would best compare the cookie itself to a chocolate Teddy Graham with a nutella-like filling in between. All you need is a glass of milk.

Final Verdict: 9/10