Import Snacks in Spain, but from other places - feat. MilkyWay Midnight (@NLi10)

Tenerife has sweet shops because tourists like eating sweets, and tourists like taking sweets home as presents.  All of these shops were really quite dull and with the hotel buffet being the source of 2/3 of all my meals I was worried that I'd have nothing to review.

Then we spotted this unassuming place.  We almost didn't bother going in!

The only clue that it's a bit out of the ordinary was a sign outside that had American and English oddities on it.

Inside the shelves are sparcely stocked but with some of the best and most exciting things from around the world.  I ignored the wide selection of English stuff and got just over 5 Euro of wonderful things to try.

Milky Way Midnight Dark - USA

This is a fascinating little idea.  In Britain Milky Way is marketed as a treat for 4-8 year olds that won't stop them eating their dinner too.  This is a MilkyWay for the Dads.

The chocolate on the outside is devilishly dark, and is closer to a Green & Blacks than any American chocolate should dare.  The inner is fluffy and white and far too sweet for my English taste-buds, but with the dark choc surrounding it - it gets away with it.  The caramel, which could easily have been a throw away layer, is luxurious and slightly burnt.

One of the nicest American bars I've ever had the pleasure to try and even at around 2 Euros for the import version actually worth the money.  If I'd not waited til we got back to try these I'd have picked up a spare for you. As it is, you'll have to find your own.

Alpella Wafer Hills - Turkey

Looking to make the most out of my Euros and to grab as many things that I'd never see again I went for this bar, which appears to be in the same family as the Kinder Bueno.  It's twice as long as the Milky Way, but at 42g about the same weight.  I think it was about a Euro.

Pleasingly it's stolen the Cadbury's metallic purple colour scheme - I always said someone should paint a F1 car in those colours.

Interestingly it has the import details printed on the wrapper which suggests these are designed for the Spanish.

The wafer is a bit cheap and doesn't snap as nicely as I'd like, and the Nutella style paste in the lumps isn't flavoured quite as I'd expected but it's still quite a compelling snack.  The many different ways to eat a bump at a time means it dissapears quite fast, and unlike the Milky Way is a very light bite.  More like a wafer bar in the shape of a Bueno then, and tasting more like the cheaper cremes of those I can understand why it's much better value.  Enjoyable, but not that memorable.

Choc & Orange Stout (Morrison’s @BlackSheepBeer) By @SpectreUK

It's no secret that I make a beeline for the soft centres in any box of chocolates. Cinabar and her mom have given up losing so many soft centred chocolates that they now buy me boxes of chocolates solely made up of soft centres. That's a great idea, but I still steal their's as well!

Here is a novel idea from the Black Sheep Brewery which is to make a soft centred stout, so to speak. This is a chocolate and orange stout. Chocolate orange is one of my all time favourite soft centres, next to strawberry of course. I've tried orange peel beers before and many many chocolate stouts and porters in my time, but I don't think I've tried a chocolate orange stout before.

This stout was brewed with real dark chocolate and orange peel, as well as roasted dark malts and Cascade Hops for added citrus zest. It sounds like a pudding beer to me, one that could be served after dinner all year round, rather than a spiced chocolate and orange stout which could be considered a winter warmer.

On opening, this 6.1% volume jet black stout certainly packed a fulsome aroma of dark chocolate and roasted malts, with a little orange suggestion at the back of the smell. On taste the roasted dark malts sprang to the fore merging after a time with velvety dark chocolate and then a touch of citrus bitterness from the hops, and a little orange zest into the aftertaste. I must admit with the heavy flavours of dark malts and some dark chocolate and then the kick of alcohol at the end of the flavours, the orange peel was a little lost on me. The flavours from the roasted dark malts dominated this stout, which was no bad thing. Mixed with the dark chocolate and a little suggestion of citrus hop and orange peel at the back of the flavour made this an ideal pudding beer for those that love their stouts flavoursome and warming, for this is a winter warmer with a cheeky soft centred end.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Caramel Chunkies (M&S) By @Cinabar

There is a Marks and Spencer food hall in Birmingham New Street station that I pass through on my commute. I only popped in there for a loaf of bread, but while I was in the queue a “new label” caught my eye, and more than that a mention of peanut butter. I soon found myself with two items at the checkout, bread and Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Caramel Chunkies.

The bag is a bright orange in colour and metallic, which does make it stand out. There is a sticker for re-sealing, but once I opened up the bag I realised there was only nine chocolates, and as I was sharing soon realised there wouldn’t be anything to reseal in there. The chocolates certainly look chunky and though they do need two bites to eat, they are quite light and fluffy in texture. There is some crunch from nutty bits, but ultimately they are soft and easy to eat. This means there is another reason there won’t be anything to reseal, you eat one and you immediately want another. I did love the flavour though, there is lots of nut taste, a hint of salt and loads of creamy milk chocolate. The added layer of caramel gives these a nice gooey feel, dded sweetness, and a layer of luxury. These are a bit too moreish, have a nice mix of textures and combine some of my favourite flavours. I really should have picked up two bags!

The Highest Vending Machine In Spain is a disappointment (@NLi10)

Whilst on holiday we went up the volcano known as Mt. Teide in Tenerife.  The reason there are no clouds is because we are at 3,500 meters and above them!  As this is technically a Spanish colony the mountain is the highest point in Spain.

Which makes this vending machine in the 'service building' the highest vending machine in Spain!

Now - I'll often do vending machine round ups on holiday, but those in Tenerife were mostly in the hotel and very bland (which was missing a trick really as Germany loves a good vending machine and there were lots of German couples in North Tenerife).

This one is frankly worse. I suspect that my people (the English) have been here and colonised the vending machine as it's all standard high-street fare.  Some Cadbury's, some Kinder, and some Mars - it's like the greatest hits of WH Smiths.  I feel they are missing out here - in the low oxygen atmosphere I'd have loved to have tried some trek food, or something a little volcano themed.

And don't get me started on the prices! Sure you have to bring these up in the Cable Car (which was about 50 Euro for two!) but 3 Euro for a 50p Twix is a little shameful.  

I resorted to the food and drink I'd naturally bought with me.  They should have a few good Euro brands in here to balance it out so that the holiday makers are forced out of their comfort zone for a little while.  

(but that's non of my business...)

Fusian Sticky Hoisin Duck Noodles (Degusta) By @SpectreUK

We had snow yesterday and now buckets of freezing rain. "Nothing unusual there" I'm sure you are thinking, however, I do need something to warm me up. I was supposed to go swimming yesterday, but couldn't be bothered because of the snow. Not because I'm worried about driving, as now we live much closer to the gym. It's just when you look outside first thing in the morning and think "nah!" I had the same feeling this morning looking at the freezing rain and stayed in bed all morning again. It's good to have a few days off work and laze around, but I need some exercise, mainly so I can have guilt free beer, pork scratchings and a box of biscuits later.

This Fusian Sticky Hoisin Duck Noodles is supposed to take a few minutes to prepare and microwave in a bowl. As you can see from the photograph, there were three sachets. They needed to be mixed into freshly boiled water first, heated for a quick thirty seconds (as we have a 1000 watt microwave) and then the noodles broke into the bowl for reheating for another two and a half minutes. I found the heating times on the packet a little confusing, as they were for a 850 watt microwave, so tried to cut them down a little to suit. Even checking after two minutes the soup had boiled over in the microwave, so my quick lunch was turning into a longer one for having to clean the microwave afterwards.

After a quick stir this noodle soup did look pretty sticky. In fact, it would probably stick to the ceiling if I could get away with chucking it up there… It smelt of Hoisin Duck, even if the ingredients didn't have any in them. sadly I couldn't even get near the soup for a good while. The heating instructions seemed grossly inaccurate, as even after two minutes of heating this soup it had not only boiled over (still miffed I have to clean the microwave), but was also furnace hot. I found some bread for dipping instead before the noodles soaked up all the soup. That didn't work, as by the time I'd taken to type these sentences I'd lost the edge for dipping the bread. What taste I could get out of my now slow Fusian Sticky Hoisin Duck Noodles soup meal, was lost as it didn't stick to the bread. Whilst I waited I ate the bread, which was fluffy, but not very interesting without butter, but hey, when you've got nothing else to write about…

… Seriously, it seems like half an hour has passed and these noodles just won't cool. I just burnt my tongue on them. Asides the impossible heat they do taste good, just like Hoisin Duck sauce with a dominance of onion, ginger and coriander, and with all the other spices and herbs mixed in with the noodles. I'd advise not going any where near this meal for a good long while as it seems quite dangerous to delicate mouths! Short work lunches are a no no. It sure is sticky now… In fact this meal puts the 'sticky' back into Fusian Sticky Hoisin Duck Noodles. Bang goes my quick meal before swimming though. I kept waiting five minutes at a time, stirring to let some heat out and burning my tongue some more. It probably took a good hour or more to eat it safely and I didn't have time to go swimming.

Information on the packet;

The 1/2 packet contains 273 calories, with 11.6g of fat, 4.4g of sugar, and 1.2g of salt. For ingredients please see photograph.