Herr's: Heinz Ketchup Flavored Potato Chips

Brand: Herr's
Style: Heinz Ketchup Flavored Potato Chips
Origin: USA
Type: Potato Chips
Flavor: Like garlicky, oniony ketchup
Verdict: Approved!





Anyone who knows me knows my obsession with ketchup chips. They are, hands down, my favorite flavor of chips in the world. As a matter of fact, I once dated a Canadian, who did the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me: brought me 3 bags of each brand of ketchup chips available in the Vancouver metropolitan area. Unfortunately, things didn't work out between us, but I'll never forget that.

My favorite brand ever would have to be the summer Tim's Casacade did a limited edition run of ketchup chips. I think my poop was bright red for three months straight I ate so many bags of them! Second to that would be, as I discovered courtesy of my aforementioned special Canadian friend, the brand that they sell at Zeller's. The name escapes me, but they're completely covered and smothered with that heavenly tangy red powder.

The Herr's rank somewhere in the middle. The flavor is a little weak on the tomato, a litle strong on the onion and garlic, making them almost taste like barbecue instead of ketchup. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, I ate the whole bag in one sitting, but nevertheless, the USA just hasn't quite gotten a handle on the ketchup situation, I fear. I'm a little bummed, because, Heinz, you know? The ketchup experts! Maybe I'll write them an angry letter.

Dear Heinz,

Please make your chips taste more like Canada.

Sincerely,
The Snackmaster

Purchased: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Calbee: Snappea Crisps

Brand: Calbee
Style: Snapea Crisps
Origin: USA
Type: Puffs
Flavor: Like split pea soup flavored cheese puffs, without cheese
Verdict: Approved wholeheartedly!


God bless the USA. My friend recently acquired food stamps, now that she and her job have unfortunately departed, and they gave her approximately 4 times what I spend in a month on food. Naturally, the first thing we did was run out to the store to buy snacks! After realizing that food stamps work at Whole Foods, we went there, because they have the best weird snacks. One of the treats we ended up with is Calbee's Snapea Crisps.

Now, the picture on the front of this bag is highly misleading, because it depicts some crispy looking peapods. I'd assumed that this would be some kind of baked-not-fried in tact vegetable snack, like Trader Joe's green bean snacks. I could not have been more wrong! As you can see in the photo above, they are vaguely peapod-shaped puffs, made of rice and pea flour. The flavor is distincly pea, but with the puff texture and the salty tang, they taste a lot like some bizarre vegan Cheeto.

I realize that my description makes these sound awful, but honestly, they're simply scrumptious! My friend is picky about my 'weird' food choices, but she and I actually agreed on these ones. Definitely worth a try, and they aren't nearly as healthy as they seem. They paper I set them on to take the photo was covered in grease spots afterwards. Om nom nom!

Purchased: Whole Foods, Portland, OR

Bhuja: Cracker Mix

Brand: Bhuja
Style: Cracker Mix
Origin: India
Type: Mix
Flavor: Spicy, exotic, strong cumin and chili balanced by sweetness of raisins
Verdict: Approved


As the Snackmaster, I've tasted many a snack from around the world, and although I love to go through an entire bag of one flavor of treat, I can't deny the lure of a mix. I'm ADD when it comes to many things, and my snacks are no exception. Eating a tasty mix like Bhuja is like Adderall for my mouth.

There are actually four flavors of Bhuja: Original, Cracker, Fruit, and Nut, of which I've tried the Original and the one which is the focus of this post, the Cracker. The mix contains several different shapes of rice crackers, some spicy, some with seaweed, green peas, peanuts, raisins, and two types of multigrain noodles. The noodles are made with yellow peas, rice, potato, tapioca, and sesame seeds, and spiced with chiles, turmeric, cumin, coriander, and paprika. The overarching flavor is definitely the cumin, which gives it an exotic flair.

The whole peas and raisin thing might sound a little weird to some of you novice snackies out there, but it works well. Everything is mildly spiced and the sweetness of the raisins complements that perfectly, keeping the spice at a managable level even for those with sensitive palettes.

The only discernible difference between the Cracker and Original flavors, as far as I can tell, is the addition of the rice crackers, as well as less fat. The Snackmaster definitely approves of this snack!

Purchased at Grocery Outlet, Portland, OR