Snack Review: Medora Snacks
With the harried and hectic lifestyle demanded by the modern world, just finding time to eat feed yourself can be a luxury. Sitting down to eat with the family? That’s a pipe dream for most of us. Still, those of us blessed-slashed-cursed with others who depend upon us for sustenance (kids, husbands, Manorexic boyfriends, etc.) like to know that everyone is properly fed. All too often, that means frequent trips to the drive-through, Chinese takeout, or - when all else fails - bags of chips or cookies.
With all of the recent media attention paid to childhood obesity, it’s only natural for a parent to feel guilty about feeding greasy, preservative-packed snacks to his or her family, and to wish for a healthier alternative that’s just as easy. Enter Rockville, NY-based Medora Snacks. Medora (literal translation = a Mother’s Gift) has a noble mission:
“To bring to the world wholesome, great tasting snacks made from the very best, all-natural ingredients. To be true to our brand values of delivering better-for-you snacks that mothers can feel good about eating and sharing with their family and friends.”
Medora snacks have a Mediterranean accent which is apparent from their snack names as well as their packaging. Their bags feature Italian flags, bundles of wheat, and artwork reminiscent of estates in the Italian countryside. This theme serves to emphasize the “made with love and care” aspect the brand aims for, as well as the “hearty, yet healthy” dynamic. The inviting scenes certainly helped to whet my appetite.
At this time, Medora produces three varieties of snacks. Each is available in three flavors. I was lucky enough to receive a sample of each product made by the company, meaning I was sent three bags each of Pogos, Pucci, and Sotos. Hungry from my own lack of mealtime and hesitance to spend money on my own food, I began my taste test.
Pogos
“You have never tasted a potato cheese stick like it,” proclaims the promotional literature. “When you open the bag, the aroma of cheese tells you - it’s the real thing!” Lofty claims, to be sure, but then again, these sticks wouldn’t have to reach spectacular heights of snacking excellence to transcend the somewhat anemic potato sticks I remember from years past. Due to memories of rock-hard, tasteless industrial strips, I was least enthusiastic about trying Medora’s Pogos.
Boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise when I opened the first bag! The marketing materials don’t lie - there is an authentic, and wonderful, cheese scent to these, reminiscent of the one I know and love from Michael Season’s cheddar-flavored products. Pogos are shaped differently from run-of-the-mill potato sticks, too. Each is about the length of a cigarette, and at least three times as thick, with a classy twisted design. (Editor’s Note: Their shape is pretty much identical to the shape of LesserEvil’s Krinkle Sticks.) Their consistency is halfway between a cheese curl and a potato chip. These come in White Cheddar, Hickory Smoked, and Jalapeno Cheddar flavors.
White Cheddar
My first product sampled, these served as a fabulous introduction to the Medora line. White Cheddar Pogos absolutely ooze with real cheddar flavor. Underneath, there’s a taste and scent of potato, as well as a mouthfeel which lets you know there’s nothing artificial about these sticks. What a “potato cheese stick” should be.
Hickory Smoked
Remember what I said in my review of Michael Season’s Honey Chipotle Baked Multigrain Chips about not really liking “barbecue” flavoring in chips and related snacks? That doesn’t apply here, largely because the hickory smoke actually tastes like hickory smoke, rather than spice overload or barbecue sauce. That sublime smokiness is blended with a liberal dose of cheddar for an unusual taste combo. I hadn’t been expecting that, but it was quite a pleasant surprise! My favorite kind of Medora’s potato-cheese sticks, this flavor of Pogos left me wondering why the cheese-and-barbecue combo isn’t more common in the snacking world.
Jalapeno Cheddar
Although this flavor still bears the “White Cheddar” base of the others, it is laced with a hint of jalapeno. It’s quite tasty, of course, so I’m not complaining, but the jalapeno flavor is too subtle here. In something with a flavor that’s half hot pepper, these Pogos should rank higher on the Scoville meter. Maybe the heads of Medora don’t see Mothers as wanting to share spicy foods with their families?
Pucci
The second snack in Medora’s repertoire, Pucci oven-baked pizza snacks, is supposed to be “like real pizza in a bag.” I love good pizza (who doesn’t?) and from the photos of flatbread wedges on the bag, it looked like these were based on genuine Northern Italian-style thin crust. Once I got a look at the actual chips, I was a bit disappointed. Although the smell is herbaceous and pizza-like, I found the texture to be more along the lines of a rice cake. Surprisingly, Pucci were my least favorite snack from Medora - decent, but not as amazing as their Pogos. Here’s what I thought of each flavor:
Classic
Oregano, garlic and basil are the major flavor notes of Classic, in my opinion the best flavor of Pucci. I taste a hint of olive oil, as well, if not the Parmesan cheese supposedly baked into each wedge. The overall flavor was subtle, allowing the herbs to shine. It’s very well done, but would be better had the base been more like flatbread and less like crisped rice.
Tomato Basil
I expected this to be my favorite flavor of Pucci, if not of all the snacks I was sent. I was pretty disappointed. There’s a hint of basil (all other herbs are M.I.A.), but I can’t taste tomato at all. This was my least favorite snack from Medora.
Garlic
I didn’t like this flavor very much upon my first taste, but it grew on me. It delivers a strong garlic hit followed by the only evidence of the presence of Parmesan cheese in the Pucci line. It’s fairly nice, texture aside.
Sotos
The final sort of snack made by Medora are Multigrain Squares known as Sotos. “When just grain won’t do,” boasts the promo materials, “it is hip to be square!” While I find the one-letter-away-from-copyright-infringement tagline to be awkward, I love the snacks. These extremely light, crispy little morsels are great-tasting, flavorful, and amazingly light - one large package contains only 360 calories. Like Medora’s other snacks, Sotos come in three flavors.
Sea Salt
This is the most basic flavor of any in Medora’s lines, and it’s also one of the best. The basic Soto flavor is very wholesome and grainy - it practically yells “good for you,” but in a tasty way. This is very much like salted whole-grain toast.
Zesty Cheese, Olive Oil and Lemon
These Sotos can be summed up in one word: DELICIOSO! In each bite, you can practically taste the warm Italian sun. There’s a good amount of Parmesan on these chips (maybe the Parmesan which was strangely absent from the Pucci?), and the Olive Oil and Lemon add a lovely tang. These were, overall, my favorite Medora snack of all!
Cinnamon Streusel
Due to a past experience with Cinnamon SunChips, this was the flavor I was least looking forward to trying. Experience has shown me that sweet seasonings and salty chip bases aren’t necessarily a match made in heaven. As I suspected, these were my least favorite Soto flavor. Nonetheless, the underlying chip made them decent. Still better than the Pucci.
Medora snacks made an overall positive impression on me. I really like most of their snacks. Although they do basic flavors very well, I’d like to see them experiment with more flavor intensity. When they do, as with their Hickory-Smoked Pogos and Cheese, Olive Oil and Lemon Sotos, the taste experience is sublime. As Medora snacks become more widely available, I’ll look for them on local supermarket shelves. I may not be a mother, but I still feel good about sharing these with friends and family.
Buy Medora Snacks Online:
- at Amazon.com
Lisa Marie on December 24th, 2008
This is the most basic flavor of any in Medora’s lines, and it’s also one of the best. The basic Soto flavor is very wholesome and grainy - it practically yells “good for you,” but in a tasty way. This is very much like salted whole-grain toast.