Snack Review: The Cheddar-tastic Michael Season’s Taste Test
I’ve got to credit the snacksmiths at Michael Season’s - they’re incredibly generous. I was grateful to the homegrown Illinois company already for sending me some of their Baked Multigrain Chips to review a few weeks ago. Apparently, Michael Season’s was satisfied with my review - I was pleasantly surprised, this morning, to discover a second box of Michael Season’s goodies, larger than the first, waiting at my door.
In eager anticipation, I peeled away the industrial tape and cardboard to find… Cheetos, Michael Season’s style. Not only did the “Natural Gourmet” gift me with its “Ultimate Cheddar Cheese Curls” - oh no. The Midwestern proponent of “Feel Good Snacking” also threw in its Cheddar Cheese Puffs in both Original and White Cheddar. To top this all off, they decided it would be a great idea to also include the healthier “baked” incarnations of the Cheese Curls and Cheddar Puffs. I laid the selection across my kitchen counter, feeling a bit daunted - being a lone reviewer, I had my work cut out for me!
I remember liking Cheetos as a kid. Yet, it had been so long since my last run-in with the humble cheese curl that I found myself wondering whether those tasty associations resulted from genuine recollection or nostalgic idealization. Given the maturation of my taste buds and breadth of life experience wrought by more than a decade, I was no longer certain how much I really liked this sort of snack. The only way to know for sure would be to taste. Bearing that in mind, I bravely tore open the bag of Ultimate Cheddar Cheese Curls and popped one into my mouth.
Instantly, I recognized the cheddar flavoring from the similarly-flavored variety of Multigrain chips. What can I say? I really love the way Michael Season’s does cheddar cheese. The cheesiness is far more genuine than I remember Cheetos being, and far better. The texture was crunchy, with a satisfying snap. The curls are surprisingly dense, lacking the dissolution factor I remember from my experiences with Cheetos. These curls were fabulous! I indulged in a small handful before re-examining the nutrition label and deciding it would be wise to save some of my calories for the other cheesy, twisty treats.
I went on to sample the Ultimate White Cheddar Cheese Puffs. I’m sad to report that Michael Season’s doesn’t work the same tasty wonders with its white cheddar flavoring as with its regular cheddar. In fact, the puffs didn’t taste anything like cheddar in my opinion. They lacked the cheese’s characteristic tang. If any cheese flavor was present, it was pretty light. Additionally, I didn’t really care for the “puff” texture. Larger, airier and more uniformly-sized than the Curls, these reminded me of the results of a cross-breeding between the generic Cheetos knockoffs you might find at a Drug Mart and styrofoam packing peanuts. All in all, The so-called “ultimate” White Cheddar Puffs weren’t intolerable, but they weren’t my cup of tea.
I became more optimistic as I turned my attention toward the Ultimate Cheddar Cheese Puffs. Somehow, I suspected a healthy sprinkling of Michael Season’s Cheddar powder could turn cardboard tasty. Withdrawing a puff from the bag, I was relieved to find it slightly more compact than its paler cousins. Tasting it, I found the flavor just as irresistible as everything else kissed by that divine Cheddar dust. Still, thanks to that airy texture, these puffs score far lower in my book than the curls.
Sampling the Baked Cheddar Cheese Curls, I was delighted. Although the curls contain only two thirds the calories and half the fat of the originals, they retain that insanely addictive Cheddar powder. There’s nothing in the lighter version to alert the average taster that these are baked instead of fried. They’re equally yummy - yet I sensed something slightly different about them - a grainier, more “wholesome” taste which I’d also noticed in the Baked Multigrain Chips. Not knowing whether to attribute this to my super-developed palate or the power of suggestion, I arranged a blind taste-test with myself as the victim. For this purpose, I recruited my probably annoyed, but understanding boyfriend.
First, while I waited in another room, I had my boyfriend pour samples of the ultimate Cheddar Curls and their baked counterparts into two plastic bags. He labeled them in such a way that he knew which was which, but I couldn’t tell. I tasted each, in turn, noting the flavor and mouthfeel along with my guess on the exact type of puffy, cheesy thing I was tasting.
My bite from Curls-bag #1 was crunchy, but not incredibly so. It yielded oh-so-slightly to the roof of my mouth, leaving behind a small clump of wheat and cheesiness. The grain flavor was fairly prominent, yet not to the extent of blocking that incredible Michael Season’s cheddar, which bathed my mouth in a realm of pure powdery delight. Due to being able to taste the underlying curl-flour, I guessed I was tasting the Baked Curls.
With a bite from the second “Curl” sample-bag, I realized my error. I immediately recognized my second sample as “baked.” For the first time, I noticed why the chips tasted so wholesome and grainy. There’s actually quite a bit less cheddar powder on the baked curls than their “Ultimate” counterparts. I guess that makes sense, as a great deal of fat (milk powder, etc.) is stored in the flavoring, and “healthiness” was a major aim of Michael Season’s when designing its “baked” line. I asked my boyfriend, and he confirmed my suspicions: bag #2 was Baked!
As it turns out, I’m able to tell the difference after all. I honestly think most people would be able to. Sadly, Michael Season’s lighter version of cheese curls fails to weigh in on taste. However, they are still wonderful (you can’t go wrong with that cheddar powder, period). Anyone who shies away from eating full-fat snacks may well find a new favorite cheese snack. Yet, I’d encourage all the non-compulsive dieters to go ahead and indulge.
Buy Michael Season’s Products Online:
- at Amazon.com
Candy Addict » Snackerrific Roundup: Snacks And News Go Healthy This Time ‘Round on December 5th, 2008
[...] Our sister site Snackerrific has been digging the latest the trends of healthy snacks. Why, in these last few weeks, there have been reviews on yogurt, cookies made from an assortment of whole grains, chocolate-covered bananas, and baked cheese curls. [...]