Penn State Spicy Jalfrezi Baked Deli Chips [By Spectre] (Waitrose)

I am a fan of brands that pretend to be from some far off place or another, and yet when you check where they were made it's just not where you thought it would be. These Jalfrezi crisps are no exception to the rule. Penn State chips (crisps) have a definite American feel to their packet design, from the black coloured packet down to the dead straight typeface and star in the logo. Indeed "Penn State" is the nickname for Pennsylvania State University in the USA. Penn State is mostly famous for its flavoured pretzels, which their website proudly states are the leading brand of pretzels in the UK and the finest on the market. Intersnack Limited manufactures these pretzels in County Durham, just outside Newcastle upon Tyne. Unfortunately for them I'm not a big pretzel fan, but I do like crisps. They call their crisps "chips", now how American is that? Spicy Jalfrezi doesn't sound like an American flavour though. Opening the packet I was first hit by the shear spice in the smell. Pow! Right in the kisser! Attempting to get my sight back after the odour, I tried to focus through blurred vision on something close by. I gazed at the packet and realised I didn't have a bowl to hand to meet their helpful serving suggestion. Instead I poured the large square flat chips (crisps) out into my lunch box. The crisps (chips) have a strong crunch to them, with their Jalfrezi spice and the large number of them, I was first worried that my mouth would dry up pretty quickly. I didn't have to worry though as these are no Snack A Jacks, but strongly spiced chips (crisps) that whet or wet the appetite. They have a moreish quality, leaving a lovely heat in the mouth and on the lips. The heat in these crisps (chips) make you want to keep eating, but not out of fear that if you stop you'll burn up like a Roman Candle or your head will explode in a ball of incandescent flames, but more out of the pleasure of the sensation. These chips (crisps) made me want to like pretzels. These crisps (chips) made me want to munch every one of Penn State's pretzel flavours. Having said that, I'll settle for their Sizzling Teriyaki chips (cri.... okay, okay... I'll stop). Penn State website has a very helpful flavour availability locater and I found that the Sizzling Teriyaki flavour is available in both Waitrose and Morrisons! I'll put on my pants (trousers), get my coat (er... jacket?), buy lots of chips (you know...) and bring them home in my trunk (hah... boot)!

By Spectre

Win Beanatural Jelly Belly Beans!

In my last post I told you all about the wonderful new Beanaturals from Jelly Belly, but now I’m pleased to say I can give you the opportunity to win some of your very own!

To enter all you have to do is email me with the answer to the following question:

Which one of the twenty flavours of Beanatural are you most looking forward to trying?

The email address to send your answer to is: admin@foodstufffinds.co.uk and mark the subject line ‘Comp’

Good luck everyone!

Terms/Conditions
• Any personal data will only be used for processing of this competition.
• Two winners will be chosen at random from the answers, each winning a sharing bag and a small box of Jelly Belly Beanatural beans.
• UK/Europe residents only.
• Competition closes 8pm on 18th September 2010.
• If I can’t get in touch with the winner in a reasonable amount of time to obtain an address another winner will be selected.
• If you have any questions about this competition, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Jelly Belly - Beanaturals (jellybelly-uk.com)

Beanaturals are Jelly Belly’s latest range of jelly beans, and all contain only natural ingredients. I have to say I’m not that keen on the name of these sweets, but I’m not a fan of portmanteau words (thanks @ dzheough ). Having said that I care far more about the taste than the name, and the name does certainly get the message across. It does sound like a definite free-from bean. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box to see nice bright colours within, and I found twenty flavours to tuck into.

If you are trying to match up the taste to the picture I work from left to right in rows.

Cherry – Warm Red
This had a lovely strong flavour, without being over sweet. It is amazing to have such a natural cherry taste! It is lovely and juicy too, so a really good sweet.

Tangerine – Orange
The tangerine sweet had a very mild citrus taste, it was a natural flavour with a gentle sweetness.

Lemon – Yellow
I was disappointed that this one was rather muted. It did have a nice sweet lemon taste, which was natural, but there is potential with this one to have more of a zing.

Fruit Punch – Pinky Red
What a great flavour, this was zingy and sweet, with a mix of fruit tastes, lots of cherry again, really nice.

Mango – Yellow/Orange
Another fab bean, it was really strong and sweet, with a good tropical fruity taste, and I really loved this one.

Wild berry – Dark Purple
I thought this one mainly tasted of black currant. This is a bit surprising considering they are from an American company but it had a really fresh taste.

Plum – Dark Red
I don’t think I’ve seen a plum flavoured sweet before. It does have that distinct fresh plum taste too, but is a little milder than expected but still very pleasant.

Pineapple – Pale Yellow
This one was primarily sweet, with a gently fruity pineapple aftertaste. Mild but pleasant.

Orange – Orange
This was a great sweet, full of flavour, with a great juicy orange taste. The citrus flavour also had a nice zingy after tang. Lovely.

Pina Colada – Yellow
The first taste was that of coconut, with a hint of pineapple that follows, it had a nice tropical taste which was fresh and fruity.

Coconut – White / Brown
This sweet had a lovely strong toasted coconut taste, which was creamy and sweet. It was very different to the other beans, and made a nice change in the box.

Lime – Light Green
This was strong and zingy, and although distinctly lime, it showed the potential that the lemon sweet could have had. The bean was wonderfully fruity and fresh, with a lovely lime taste.

Raspberry – Dark Pink / Purple
This was another mild flavoured sweet, there was a nice hint of berries, and a raspberry aftertaste.

Pear – Light Green
Okay, there has to be a least favourite in every sweet box and this was mine. The flavour, although obviously made with natural ingredients, just didn’t taste right to me. I didn’t think it tasted particularly like pear just a bit like a sweet made from a strange tropical fruit.

Strawberry Daiquiri – Pink / Dark pink
A light strawberry taste, sweet and nice but not wow.

Papaya – Yellow / Black
A proper juicy flavour, and so nice to see an unusual tropical fruit make it into the bean flavours. It had a good papaya taste, which was fruity with a juicy edge.

Peach – Orange / Red
This was another lovely strong fruity bean. There was a strong peach flavour, with an almost honey after taste, and the overall flavour was lovely and natural.

Barbeque Banana – Yellow / Brown
This had creamy flavour, with the mildest hint of banana. More like a banana custard, but certainly nice enough.

Strawberry Jam – Pink
This is a great bean, lovely strong zingy sweet strawberry. Much nicer than the Strawberry Daiquiri, and the one for the strawberry fans.

Passion Fruit – Yellow / Pink
It was nice to finish on such a tangy flavoursome bean. It was very distinctly passion fruit in taste, and a very nice flavoursome fruity jelly bean to finish on.

I was really pleased with this range of jelly beans. I thought the majority of beans were full of flavour and sweet and really enjoyable. The texture of each bean is identical to all previous Jelly Belly beans I’ve eaten, and at just four calories each, they are nice for a treat too. Well worth seeking out!

Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea {by @NLi10} (Thai foods shop, Bromsgrove)

When I was in London I spotted a child in a Chinese restaurant with one of these bright red cans drinking away happily. I wondered what it was about that specific brand of tea that meant that it was drunk happily by children. On the streets later on (with my Mr. Kon Green Tea) I spotted a few more of these and realised it was a common brand.

A few weekends later I happened to be in Bromsgrove helping out in Oxfam Books & Music (mostly by buying large quantities of their stock), and on my lunch spotted this in the newish Thai foods store that has opened on the other end of the high street.

The side of the can says that it is manufactured using advanced scientific technique, but really it boils down to one important thing. It's the sweetest pre-made tea that I have tasted. If you made a cup of normal English tea, added 4 sugars and then let it cool it would probably be similar. Yes, there is a definite herbal taste and maybe something bitter hiding in there that is masked by the sugar, but it is all about the sweetness. I can see why it appeals to children and it makes western style colas look restrained by the amount of sweetness they offer.

Over and above this it's actually quite nice. It took a while to drink - it's certainly not a thirst quencher like the sweet lemon teas - but it is an enjoyable and fairly inexpensive drink compared to a lot of other imports. While I worry that my sensitive British palate will find teas too hard to tell apart with flavours as different and powerful as this I should be OK.

by @NLi10

Cadburys Neilson Sweet Marie [By Spectre] (Cybercandy)

Not one for usually reviewing chocolate, Cinabar passed me this bar to try. Sweet Marie sounds like a girl I used to date in Montreal. Okay, you got me... I've never been to Canada and I don't know anyone called Marie. This is one of Canada's favourite bars and is available at CyberCandy stores. It's a big long bar with a nougat running through its centre covered with a huge amount of peanuts which are then covered with Cadbury's Milk Chocolate. Speaking as a person who's played Russian Roulette with Revels, I've never been particularly fond of peanuts in chocolate. In fact, I just don't like them. Most people seem to try and avoid the coffee flavour, but for me it's the peanut chocolates every time. "So why would you agree to try this bar?" I hear you say. I agreed to try it because it's Cadburys, the wrapper is coloured like a Caramel bar and I stupidly didn't realise it had peanuts in it until I'd taken the first bite. Having said that the usual Cadbury's Milk Chocolate and the nougat centre tasted heavenly and went surprisingly well with the dreaded peanuts. I crunched down the chocolate bar pretty quickly and was thankful for my Swiss Army Knife's toothpick. Every one of the hundred or so peanuts (possible exaggeration, but unlikely) in the bar seemed to be stuck in between one tooth or another, and took quite a while to pick out. I was left with the aftertaste of peanuts. If any women called Marie walked past during this time, I guess it probably put her off me.

By Spectre