Spicy Broad Beans - Habas Picantes (Ludlow) By @SpectreUK

At times I love shovelling large handfuls of snacks into my waiting gob. Of course I have to account for the calories, and cut down elsewhere, and that's often the amount of chocolate I eat on the evenings, but sometimes I have to lean towards savoury.

I do like to find alternative snacks to crisps and nuts, especially of the spicy pulse variety, as I can't eat nuts and seeds for dietary reasons. These Spicy Broad Beans - Habas Picantes were produced by Brindisa, in Spain. I picked them up in a local delicatessen when on a day out in Ludlow some time back. I do love a trip there for its castle, wine shop for its selection of ports, and the delicatessen nearby.

These traditional Spanish bar snack Spicy Broad Beans - Habas Picantes are fried broad beans with smoked hot paprika. So heat is promised here, plus the crunchiness of the broad beans. I'm going to eat them with a cheese and cold meats meal, with a glass of port, and some Tiger bread Cinabar has baked for the occasion. Cinabar is an excellent baker, and turns her hand to most things, from bread, to biscuits such as ANZACs and Ginger biscuits, and she makes a lovely Victoria sponge cake, even though there is always some protest from me on just how much buttercream I want filling and covering much of the cake.

On opening the packet of these Spicy Broad Beans - Habas Picantes, there was a smoky spicy aroma. On first taste these Spicy Broad Beans had a decent crunch to them. There was a smoky almost barbecue flavour, with a medium spicy heat of paprika, and quite a salty flavour to finish. In fact that saltiness was so dominant that it slowly distracted my tastebuds from the spiciness of the Spicy Broad Beans. I guess that's the essence of a bar snack though, to make you buy more drinks and spend more money.

However, Cinabar's Tiger bread was excellent, and a large glass of port helped wash down my meat, cheese and pickles meal rather well. I did share out some of my Spicy Broad Beans - Habas Picantes, which is never a good sign from a greedy soul like me. Although I did get to eat more chocolate for afters.

Information on the packet: The 100g bag contains 400 calories, with 16g of fat, 3.1g of sugar, 24g of protein, and 1.99g of salt. Ingredients included; broad beans, sunflower oil, smoked mild paprika, smoked hot paprika, and salt.