Heat Sweets

Also at the Grub Street Food fair where I picked up the McClure's Spicy Pickle chips was something much spicier.  The lovely ladies at Heat Sweets make jams, jellys, and fruit leathers spiked with jalapeño and habanero peppers.  We tried a few samples and they were really delicious!  A nice heat without overpowering the fruit flavors.  Check them out here: www.heatsweets.com

Snack #202 - McClure's Spicy Pickle Potato Chips

At an amazing street fair in the Lower East Side last weekend, I picked up a bag of spicy pickle flavored chips.  McClure's is a small-batch pickle maker based out of Brooklyn and Detroit, and if you haven't tried their pickles yet, you should! Especially their spicy pickle relish - it's insane! Unfortunately, their chips were not.  The chips were a nice crinkle cut that managed to not get all crunched up in the bag.  The chips could have been crunchier, but that wasn't my biggest problem.  My real problem was that these were pickle chips, but they were definitely not spicy pickle chips.  The minute I opened the bag, the smell of dill came wafting out.  The chips tasted very dill-y too, but that was it, there was no other flavor besides dill and maybe some garlic.  But no spice to speak of.  It was like they accidentally put the regular pickle-flavored chips in the spicy chip bag.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 0/10

Bottom line: stick to the spicy pickle relish

Snack #201 - Inka Chile Picante Plantain Chips

These fried plaintain chips were just ok.  Unfortunately, plantain chips tend not to be very crunchy, which is sort of a dealbreaker for me when it comes to chips.  These were actually some of the crunchier ones I've ever had though. They tasted of onion and garlic, like they'd been dipped in the mojo sauce at a Cuban restaurant.  And if I really strained I could taste some chili powder, but not heat, just a smokey flavor.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 0/10

Bottom line: A not so spicy, sort of crunchy chip

Snack # 200 - Unique Jalapeño Splits Pretzels

Our 200th spicy snack!! And to celebrate: a jalapeño-infused pretzel.  These pretzels didn't just have spicy dust sprayed on them like most spicy snacks, there was actually ground jalapeño in the flour, and you could really tell!  The first few bites just tasted like regular pretzels - good pretzels though.  After a few more bites, some garlic started to come through.  And then, the heat.  It was a very weird tingle that started on the outside of our tongues and moved inward.  The heat definitely built up from there, but never overpowered the pretzel flavor.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 5/10

Bottom line: a truly jalapeño pretzel

Snack #199- Jack ‘n Jill Vcut Potato Chips Sweet Chili Flavor

Jack ‘n Jill Vcut Potato Chips Sweet Chili Flavor

These snacks taste just like really sweet ketchup.  They are light and flaky and have the texture of a great ruffle potato chip but the flavor is lacking.  When you swallow you can taste the chili heat in your throat but it never hits your mouth during chewing.  They taste like the flavor should be tomato but the ingredients don’t have any tomato listed.  The sweetness of the tomato and the delay of the chili heat in the throat doesn’t help these Filipino snacks.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 4/10

Bottom Line: Tomato flavored chips with a chili aftertaste.

Snack #198- Globite Authentic Gourmet Asian Potato Chips Oriental Hot & Spicy

Globite Authentic Gourmet Asian Potato Chips Oriental Hot & Spicy

Finally!  A snack that is actually Mongolian in production.  These taste like a poor knockoff of Pringles and suffer because they are cut thicker than Pringles.  Pringles are mashed, dried potatoes smushed back into potato chip shape so you can imagine what happens when they are too thick to fry well.  Some reviewers thought they tasted like paper or fish sauce and the texture definitely hindered positive taste reviews.  They are spicier than the previous two that were rated in Mongolia and the heat hits you more in the lips and mouth than tongue.  They still weren’t very spicy though and the flavor was also pretty sweet without much other distinguishing flavor.  They tasted somewhat like a spicy oyster sauce or fish sauce which must be what makes them ‘oriental’ hot and spicy. 

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10

Bottom Line: Too thick, fish sauce Pringles.

Snack #197- Cosmos Spicy Corn Chips

Cosmos Spicy Corn Chips

These snacks look like pork rinds but they are square and made out of corn.  They are pretty crispy and they have fairly sweet flavor but they do have a little kick of heat at the end.  They are Korean, not Mongolian, and they are actually relatively decent for an Asian snack.   They definitely taste like corn and are pretty sweet for a spicy snack but the slight heat helps them out a lot.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 2/10

Bottom Line: Sweet corn puffs with a slight kick.