Snack Review: Morinaga Ottoto Korean Barbeque Flavor Crackers

I am sucker for animal-shaped food, and for anything Japanese. So just imagine if the animals were weird and Japanese: squid, crab, blowfish, starfish, tuna, shrimp, octopus, even uni (sea urchin)! Even those big weird ocean sunfish! Yes, I was beside myself.

The shapes are wonderful. The texture is really fantastic - they’re totally puffed up and hollow, even though they retain their animal shapes, and perfectly thin and light and crunchy.

The only catch is that I totally chose the wrong flavor. There are two choices of flavor, Salt and Korean Barbeque. I am not sure what I was thinking when I ordered the Korean Barbeque. I know that I am the kind of person who likes the simple, plain version of things. I never eat potato chips in any flavor other than plain, for instance, which I know is virtually un-American. I wouldn’t eat a barbeque flavor potato chip, for instance, if it were the last food in the house.

But, let’s be honest, Japanese crackers in the shape of squid and blowfish - if these had been Horrible Garbage flavor, I still would have wanted to try them. So I probably wasn’t thinking straight.

Read more

Snack Review: Twisted Grandma Buttery Garlic Goodness Pretzels

About a month ago, Caitlin, our lovely editor here at Snackerrific, asked if I’d be interested in reviewing Twisted Grandma Pretzels. Interested? How could I not want to review something with that name? Anything with the name “Twisted Grandma” had to be unique.

After confirming my interest, I ventured to the company website. I hoped it would whet my appetite with all manner of out-there flavors. I was disappointed to find that, at that point, the pretzels only came in one flavor - Buttery Garlic Goodness.

“Buttery Garlic Goodness are the original Twisted Grandma pretzels,” read the description. “We combine a rich, buttery flavor with roasted garlic and our secret blend of spices. The result is perfection!” Garlic fan that I am, the description set my mouth watering. Yet for a supposedly “twisted” Grandma, it seemed awfully limiting to offer one flavor, and no matter how fabulous it sounded, the garlic flavor wasn’t exactly cutting-edge.

Admittedly, the logo’s Grandma, with her spiky blond hair and siren-red lipstick, looked more extreme than most. According to the website’s info, T.G. is based on a real Grandma from Eveleth, MN. I wondered why she hadn’t yet cooked up a batch of five-alarm tabasco pretzels… or, better yet, a chocolate-espresso flavor!

Read more

Snack Review: Japanese Snack Three Course Meal Roundup

Maybe it was just that I couldn’t stand the idea of going out in the cold and rain again to go grocery shopping. But the box I got from our good friends at jlist.com looked like it contained all I needed for a balanced meal. I had a spicy main dish in these Tohato habanero flavored crackers, a vegetable in asparagus Pretz, and my starch and dessert all rolled up into one in Meiji Usuyaki rice crackers coated in white chocolate. What could be more efficient?

The Tohato crackers are very neat little rings with a reddish-orange color that warns of their heat, if you hadn’t already gotten the message from the evil grin on the drawing of the pepper on the front of the bag. My Japanese isn’t up to deciphering the ingredients, but I am guessing this is a wheat cracker. It kind of doesn’t matter, because whatever it is, it’s just a vehicle for the spice. They’re either baked, or fried really brilliantly, because they’re not the least bit greasy.

These are a really fun snack if you like hot food. They are hot enough to wake you up - good idea in this cold rainy weather, as it turns out - and the heat lingers but not so much that you can’t eat more of them.

Read more

Snack Review: Annie’s Organic Bunny Classics Buttery Rich Crackers

I’m always looking for something that tastes exactly like a Ritz Cracker and isn’t a Ritz Cracker. Why do I stubbornly persist in not just buying Ritz Crackers, a fine classic product that, unlike so many other things that I complain about, has remained relatively unchanged? Because I keep reading the label on them and deciding that if I’m going to eat something that gets half its calories from fat, I could have ice cream or potato chips. A cracker doesn’t seem worth it.

But, the ice cream and potato chips don’t quell the craving for Ritz crackers. So I am a sucker for a yellowish-colored cracker with holes poked in the top and scalloped edges. And of course I am a sucker for anything with an animal on the label. Even worse, some of the crackers themselves are shaped like bunnies. I could not resist.

Read more

Snack Review: Medora’s Corners

A few evenings ago, I arrived home to find a UPS notice adorning my mailbox. Apparently, somewhere in the course of the day, a mysterious package had come for me. My first reaction was confusion, followed by fear. As my 25th birthday nears, I fear presents from my family almost as much as I long for them - after all, I’ve not been the most dutiful relative. My current situation, combined with general economic anxiety and my natural extreme frugality, do not allow me to purchase extravagant gifts for anyone. I appreciate the gifts, but I feel guilty about the possibility of never being able to reciprocate.

That being the case, I was fairly relieved the next morning to discover my package’s origin lay not with a relative or relatively-wealthy friend, but with Medora Snacks. Since reviewing some of their other products last fall, I’d found myself craving Medora’s tasty and wholesome snacks. Medora’s Pogos, Pucci and Sotos left me, both literally and figuratively, with a wonderful taste in my mouth. I wondered with the small, upstate New York-based company had sent me this time.

Read more