Snack Review: Nish Nosh Mediterranean Herbs Crackers

This snack was actually embarrassing. It’s not often that I taste something and suddenly start jumping up and down going “Oh! Oooooo! Oh!”

I saw these on a trip to a local Giant supermarket which is bigger and nicer than my local Horrible Safeway. It has lots of ethnic food sections, including a section of geographically disparate Jewish cuisine including U-bet chocolate syrup and these crackers – a middle eastern flavor made by an Israeli company called Beigel & Beigel which was stated in Poland in 1880.

I admit that I was attracted to these mainly because “Nish Nosh” is a cute name. The front says the flavor is “Mediterranean herbs,” which didn’t seem all that fascinating – oregano and basil, maybe? – but when I picked it up and read the ingredients list, it said “zaatar flavored;” I popped them into my shopping cart without a second’s further thought.

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Snack Review: Richin Prawn Crackers

As Americans, there are flavors we’ve always avoided in our snacks. Green vegetables and meat essences, for instance. Although the variety of flavors seen in our chips, crackers and the like is slowly expanding thanks to products like Snapea Crisps, there remain certain varieties of crisps and cookies not likely to pop up on the Safeway shelves anytime soon.

Seafood is one of those things most Americans aren’t keen on seeing in any form but in a sandwich or grilled or fried on a dinner plate. I mean, when was the last time you saw Perch Pretzels or Tuna Twists at the local gas-station convenience store? Never, right?

Asians have no such qualms with snacks featuring the bounty of the sea. In most East Asian supermarkets, not only is there a well-stocked seafood counter with all manner of fish, amphibians and reptiles; but there are whole other sections dedicated to sea creatures of the dried and salted variety, and still others devoted to sea-lightful crispy treats. For this reason, on my last excursion to Saigon Market, I made a point of bringing home at least one ocean-worthy treat.

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Snack Review: Town House FlipSides Cheddar Pretzel Crackers

It’s a situation familiar to most - it’s mid-afternoon, perhaps, or late at night, and you’re hungry. It’s not mealtime, but you need a snack right away. Then you get to a supermarket, and the trouble starts. Stretching for what seems like miles around are shelves of cookies, chips, and crackers of every single variety. Suddenly, you realize you’re not sure what sort of snack you even want. Chips or rice cakes? Cookies or mini-muffins? Crackers or pretzels?

For those of us who, more often than not, find ourselves torn in the snack aisle, the good people at Keebler have released a wonderfully addictive treat. New Town House FlipSides Pretzel Crackers are, as shown on the eye-catching red and blue box, pretzel on one side and cracker on the other. One glimpse of these and my snacking indecision came to an end for the night.

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Snack Review: Cheetos Spicy Cheddar Cracker Trax

I have many fond memories involving Cheetos. The cheesy snacks weren’t my favorite thing to discover at lunchtime (that honor went to Oreos), but they were near the top of my list. The sensation of a Cheeto slowly melding to your tongue; dissolving to leave in its wake a sea of spongy, “cheez”-flavored goo, was and remains a simple and unique pleasure. One taste and it’s summer 1997… I’m at Performing Arts Camp, enjoying a brief respite from singing and dancing, frolicking with a merry band of fellow theatre geeks on a flawless Ohio summer day. I’d suspect I’m not alone in this sort of Cheetos-experience.

Yet for all its nostalgic value, you have to admit Cheetos aren’t the most attractive snack ever to grace a picnic table. When I observe the humble Cheeto, with its puffy, elongated ovoid shape and toxic-tangerine hue, I can’t help but imagine how at-home it would look in a newborn’s diaper. Cheetos have a one-of-a-kind feel and taste - but they’re very homely. Wouldn’t it be great if someone could capture the flavor of Cheetos, but give them a stylish new makeover?

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Snack Review: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Crackers

Long ago, in a time lost in the mists of history, someone thought to put a sauce made of milk and cheese over tubes of macaroni. This heroic innovator had to stand over a stove, stirring the ingredients, making sure there were no lumps, boiling and draining pasta, baking the finished dish in an oven. But civilization agreed that it was good, and so, for decades, cooks suffered to provide this delectable combination.

Then, miracles of modern technology saved us from all that effort: We were given envelopes of powdered cheese sauce. They were even packaged in the right amount with a box of macaroni. Sure, you still had to boil water, cook the macaroni, measure some milk, and mix it all together. But now, here was a dish that anyone could enjoy in minutes.

Fast forward to the 21st century: now you can just take a package of macaroni and cheese and zap it in the microwave. Even a child could do it. What could be simpler?

Well, this could be simpler: Macaroni and cheese in the form of crackers. No heating. No fork. It’s almost like having it directly injected into your veins.

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