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