Month #5 - Israel Snacks

Israel... the Holy Land. Usually I start with some facts about the particular country. Paradoxically, Israel is so full of history, it's difficult to come up with anything. Therefore I will default to some some cursory, superficial "fun facts" from the packaging.

Israel asked Albert Einstein to be President in 1952. He declined.

The world's first underwater museum is in Caesarea. Visitors dive underwater to see remnants of lighthouses, anchors and pedestals from ancient Rome.

Israel's #1 export is cut diamonds.

There is a Jewish phrase "eats movies" which describes someone being overly dramatic.

And now the snacks...

1) Tik Tuk - Corn Flavored Snack - Hot and Sour

Review:

These have the general form of your "American Cheetos":

But they are different.

Instead of the crunch of Cheetos, these are softer. And obviously the taste "Hot and Sour" is not cheesy. But what is it? Hard to describe. Combine the corn and MSG flavor of Cheetos with some heat and some tangy.

That's the best I can do. 

A slight thumbs up from me.

2) Fluffy Marshmallows

Review:

Breaking News: The marshmallows taste like marshmallows!

These come in white and pink. The white are purported to be vanilla and the pink to be strawberry. The difference is ever so slight. The pink/strawberry tastes ever so slightly like Frankenberry. 

More interesting than the marshmallows is that mascot. Is he supposed to be Willy Wonka or a legally-distinct Willy Wonka lookalike? There is no mention of "Willy Wonka" on the package so probably the latter. Regardless, he looks like a creep!

3) Honey Mustard Smash Pretzels

Review:

Hard pretzel fragments that have been coated with honey mustard flavoring.

I don't have too much to say, the description says everything. And, though highly favoring soft pretzels, I do like the occasional hard pretzel. These are good but they do taste pretty much exactly like Snyder's Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel Pieces. So if you want to know what these taste like, you can just buy those.

Good but unremarkable.

4) Bissli Falafel - Flavored Wheat Snacks

Review:

Looking at these, you'd think they'd be bland cardboard, like the snack equivalent of Grape-Nuts or something...

And yet they're anything but bland. I was shocked to find they taste like a soy-saucey or tangy bbq. Descriptions fail me but that's the best I can approximate. If this is always what falafel tastes like, my review is certainly stupid but I don't know if this is falafel plus other flavors or just the norm. And it's falafel made with chickpeas rather than fava beans, if that makes a difference.

Visually and texturally they are as bland as you'd expect but, yeah, the taste is a surprise. Pretty crazy. An unexpected Thumbs Up from me.

5) PesekZman

Review:

This is a chocolate bar but it's a bit unique. It's white chocolate on top and regular chocolate on the bottom and they both sandwich a light vanilla wafer. It's good. But despite the unique construction, I couldn't escape the feeling that it basically tasted like a Nestle Crunch Bar.

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It seems to me this edition is pretty lackluster. I can only conclude, given only this set of snacks, is that the Israeli cuisine is so similar to the American one, that there isn't much novelty to speak of. So not much to day this month, we'll see what happens in the next one.