Is Said Pate A Tartiner Better Than Nutella?

 It's been a while since I've written a Better Than Nutella blog post and the main reason is geography. I've been living in South East Asia for the last few years in a place where chocolate spreads were actually fairly uncommon. They had a few, but I went through them fairly quickly. I have however moved, and it appears I've moved to a place that loves chocolate spreads. In fact my local grocery store has an entire section of an aisle dedicated to them. They have Nutella as well, but the range of other brands is staggering. 

I decided to start with the brand that seemed to be the most common. I won't say popular because I'm pretty sure Nutella is the most popular brand, but Said is all over my local grocery store. It's a fine spread, it's not better than Nutella by any stretch of the imagination, but it's fine. Many spreads seems to go a little too creamy and miss out on the chocolate and hazelnut, this is the problem here. It's not a huge problem, but it's not a perfect balance either. The good news is that unlike many other chocolate/hazelnut spreads I've had in the past, the chocolate and hazelnut are still present. Most of the time the creamy flavour or chocolate overpower the hazelnuts.

I also want to mention that "pate a tartiner" might be the classiest way ever to describe this kind of treat. I call them chocolate hazelnut "spreads" and the more I think about it the less I like that description. I'm not sure if I'll switch to pate a tartiner in my daily use, but I will say that it's much better a name.

A Box Of Georgian Treats

 

It's not too often that I'm given treats that completely surprise and mystify me. I've been writing about snacks and treats for a very long time, and I've been lucky enough to travel to many places to try them, so finding something new is becoming more and more difficult for me. However, we were recently gifted a box of treats from Georgia (the country not the state for all of my American friends out there), and I was pleasantly delighted with everything, with one thing in particular really blowing me away.

The main contents of the box was a selection of dried fruit. There were dried apples, apricots, plums (I think) and what appeared to be some kind of rolled dried fruit mixture. All of these fruits were tasty and I'm still going through them now. I'm actually a big fruit eater, and dried fruit makes fruit even better because it's portable.

There were also a few chocolate disks in this box, nothing that surprising here, just nuts and dried fruit embedded in chocolate discs. This is a great delivery method for nuts and chocolate because you don't have any guess work when it comes to knowing what kind of nuts you might be eating. Chocolate bars for some reason are more popular, yet most of the time they hide the contents. I like a surprise now and then, but when it's all out on display you really know what you're getting into.

There were also several candied oranges, covered in chocolate with strawberries. These made me a little nervous as I've had candied oranges in the past that are a little too bitter for my liking. These on the other hand were pretty sweet, and the chocolate/orange combination was well balanced. The strawberry was kind of useless flavour wise, but at least it looked cool.

There were several of these round balls in the box. They seemed to be some kind of mashed fruit inside. Honestly they weren't my favorite thing in this box, but I still ate them all.

The true treasure in this collection was this strange, lumpy stick. My first instinct was that it might be either dried fruit covered in chocolate, or some kind of jelly treat covered in chocolate. I took a bite and was instantly surprised and very happy.

Each one of these lumps was in fact a hazelnut. A fresh and very crunchy hazelnut covered in tasty chocolate.

The really cool feature was that there was evidence left behind explaining how these were made. Each hazelnut had a hole drilled in it, and through that hole was a piece of string. The string obviously held it together while it was being dipped in chocolate. Sure I almost choked on the string after my first bite, but after I figured it out it was no problem pulling it out. I love that they left behind a clue about how these were made, and they tasted great.

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Candy in the Media

All this month we're posting videos about my favorite Christmas candies.  I wanted to start with the one candy that truly makes Christmas for me, Toffifee.

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This Week In Candy

Last week I announced the beginning of the Greek candy review marathon.  Unlike our week long review-a-thons that have a new review every day for a week, this Greek candy review marathon will work slow and steady in order spread out all of the Greek candy joy.  Each week we'll be posting a new Greek candy review instead of our regular candy review, this should last for about two months.  This week however I wanted to show off a new candy discovery that was sent to me from the lovely folks at Natasha's Just Brittle as well.  So that means that this week you're getting two new reviews, today is Natasha's Just Brittle, and on Wednesday I'll post the new Greek treat review.

If you've been keeping track of our Snack Facts daily post on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, then you'll know that we've started to develop weekly themes with our  facts.  This week we're looking at hazelnut spreads, not just Nutella, but mostly Nutella.  Every day this week we'll post a new quick fact about a sweet treat that's taking the world by storm.

As you've read above, my time in Greece is quickly coming to an end.  I'm moving someplace new and exciting (it's a secret), but on my way I'm stopping off in Canada for about a month to remind myself how awesome a country Canada is.  I've decided as well to pick up a whole bunch of Canadian treats to review on Candy Critic.  I've noticed over the years that I'm missing a few classic treats, like the Caramilk bar, and I want to rectify that.  I've also discovered that there are a few new treats that I haven't tried yet, I think there are a few M&M varieties I haven't sampled  yet.  I'm going to go on a candy shopping spree, but I need your help, let me know of any Canadian (or even American) candies that I must try.

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New Chocolate Bar Review

Do you know what's astounding?  I've eaten hundreds of chocolate bars in my lifetime, and yet I'm still not bored with them. Even something as simple as milk chocolate is still fascinating to me.  I think this is because although the basic concept of chocolate is the same from one bar to the next, there are still so many things you can do to make chocolate unique.  Think about it, cocoa, milk, and a few other ingredients mixed together can make a huge variety of treats that are similar, yet different.  I hope I never get bored of chocolate, and I hope candy makers continue to push the chocolate envelope.

Click here to read my latest chocolate review.

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We're Back... With Another Review-A-Thon!

It's been a long time since our last review-a-thon, but we're back. This week's review-a-thon theme is the Ritter Sport bar.  The Ritter Sport bar might be the only chocolate bar in the world that was designed specifically to fit into a pocket.  I'm not sure if the size or shape actually improve the bar, but fortunately Ritter Sport bars are often made from very high quality ingredients and are very tasty (that should give you some idea about how these reviews are going to go).

Click here to read today's Ritter Sport bar review.

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Stuff I Want To Try

TCHO Hazelnut, Gelato, Strawberry Chocolates - TCHO - All three flavours sound awesome, but all three flavours together would be even better. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Crunchy Nutella!.. Sort Of.

I recently discovered what might be the next evolution in chocolate hazelnut spreads.  Surprisingly it didn't come from our friends at Nutella, instead it came from Merenda brand hazelnut spread.  I've had Merenda in the past, and it's pretty good, but this new version takes it into a new place.

This new version of Merenda is crunchy.  It's a brilliant idea that I'm surprised hasn't come up before.  The main brilliance of this is the fact that it's made crunchy with bits of hazelnut.  I could see some chocolate spread makers using other nuts, like peanuts, instead of hazelnuts, and that would be just wrong.

 These little chunks of hazelnut add so much to this spread.  The nut itself is a softer nut, so it works really well with the smooth spread.  I think a peanut might be too hard, and anything like an almond would be way too hard.  Best of all, it really adds a hint more hazelnut to the mix.  Most of the time when you're eating a hazelnut spread, you're really thinking of chocolate, in this case the nutty texture and flavour are increased and it makes for a really great spread.  I highly recommend you give it a try.

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Wednesday's Candy Links

Do you ever mix up your filbert nuts with your hazelnuts, I guarantee you do, here's why.

National Geographic has a list of 10 places you have to be if you love chocolate.

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Crescent Roll Challenge Part 5 - Nutella

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved Pillsbury crescent rolls.  They hold so many memories for me, in particular during holiday meals.  With my new found interest in baking, my love of candy, and my fondness for Pillsbury crescent rolls, I've decided to do a little experiment.  Each day this week I'm going to bake a Pillsbury crescent roll filled with a different sweet filling.  Some are very conventional, others... well not so much.

While I've never actually baked Nutella into crescent rolls before, I have eaten crescent rolls with Nutella spread on it.  I figured that this would be a no brainier and a fine way to end my experiment.  It was a little messy to roll, and difficult to figure out how much was enough.

Strangely, I have to say that this crescent roll was a bit of a failure.  Something happened to the Nutella when it was baked into the crescent roll.  It became very oily and didn't hold together well at all.  I was expecting a nice creamy center, but I didn't get it.  My suggestion is, if you want Nutella with your crescent rolls, just wait till they're out and spread it on.

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New Review with the New Site

After attempting to update the new site I discovered a few little glitches, all fixable, and in fact now fixed.  I still hope that in the future reviews will be easier to update but for now I realize that glitches will come up.  But a new review is up, as will always be the case on Sundays... or so I hope.  I'm also deciding what kind of theme I should have for my next review-a-thon that I'm thinking might start next week.

Click Here To read this weeks review.

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We Continue Our Viennese Candy Review-a-Thon With a Classic

For day 2 of our Viennese review-a-thon we've decided to stick to candies actually made in Vienna.  This treat is not only made in Vienna, but it might be one of the most popular treats to ever come out of this country.  It's also one of the most pink candies I've ever reviewed (packaging wise).

Click here to read the review.

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Airport Find - Giant Nutella

One of my favorite things about traveling is checking out airports.  In particular I love checking out all of the unique treats and treat advertising that you can only find in airports.  On my recent trip to Brussels I took note of a few of the great candy displays and exclusive treats, and I'm going to post a new one every day this week.

Have you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye, and been certain you didn't really see what you thought you saw?  Then you walk a few steps, only to come back just to make sure what you saw wasn't real?  Sometimes this ends with you figuring out what made your mind play a trick on you, sometimes, although rarely, you find out that you did actually see what you thought you saw.  I present to you, and to the world, the 5 kilogram tub of Nutella.

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A Must, In The Bar Review-a-Thon

I think it's wrong to have any kind of candy bar review-a-thon without including at least one Kit Kat variation.  When people ask me what my favorite candy I first say anything that's creative and fun.  If prodded for a more specific answer I'll go with the Kit Kat.  It's one of the few bars that I enjoy the variations, and the basic is the only perfect review on this site.

Click here to read the latest Kit Kat review in our Bar Review-a-Thon.

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The Best Way to Eat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Part 5 With Hazelnuts

All this week we will be presenting you 5 great ways to enjoy your chocolate hazelnut spread fix.  Sure I could have simply said "5 great ways to enjoy your Nutella fix", but there are so many more brands of this stuff and I figured this would be a little more fair.  For the most part people only really think about eating this stuff spread on bread, or sometimes in a crepe, but I've discovered some other great places to smear this stuff.

So here's a silly idea I came up with just to cap off my week of highlighting great alternative ways to enjoy chocolate hazelnut spread.  This idea came to me because I'm a huge fan of the obvious and simplicity.

Why not simply get a spoonful of chocolate hazelnut spread and stick a few extra hazelnuts in it.  I figure it's pretty much a lock that the flavour will work out and the nuts can only add a little texture to the mix.  My only concern was that the hazelnut flavour may be too over powerful.  Fortunately that never happened, and I ended up with what I like to think as one of the most decadent yet simple ways to enjoy the tasty spread.

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The Best Way to Eat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Part 4 With Butter

All this week we will be presenting you 5 great ways to enjoy your chocolate hazelnut spread fix.  Sure I could have simply said "5 great ways to enjoy your Nutella fix", but there are so many more brands of this stuff and I figured this would be a little more fair.  For the most part people only really think about eating this stuff spread on bread, or sometimes in a crepe, but I've discovered some other great places to smear this stuff.

This idea isn't as much a "new way" to eat chocolate hazelnut spread, but instead an addition to the classic way.  It's a simple addition, and maybe most of you already do this.  Allison is fanatical about making sure that every piece of bread she eats has a layer of butter on it.  She even goes so far as to butter her chocolate hazelnut spread toast with butter.

The thing is, it's actually really tasty.  For those of you out there that really like sweet mixed with salty, this is something you really should try.  It's simple enough to make, and it changes the flavour of this classic combination so much.

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The Best Way to Eat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Part 3 In Yogurt

All this week we will be presenting you 5 great ways to enjoy your chocolate hazelnut spread fix.  Sure I could have simply said "5 great ways to enjoy your Nutella fix", but there are so many more brands of this stuff and I figured this would be a little more fair.  For the most part people only really think about eating this stuff spread on bread, or sometimes in a crepe, but I've discovered some other great places to smear this stuff.

This tip on enjoying your chocolate hazelnut spread is a creation based on our adventures here in Greece.  Although there is some controversy in this house about who came up with it, there is no controversy about how good it is.  Best of all it makes for a great desert as well as a snack.

In this case I'm talking about adding a little chocolate hazelnut spread to your yogurt.  Although I'm sure that it will work fine with just about any type of plain yogurt, Greek high fat strained yogurt is truly fantastic.  The very creamy texture and taste mix so well with the thick spread, and the bitter flavour of the yogurt balances well with the sweet from the spread.  One tip I would say if you make this at home is don't stir it too much.  Just fold the chocolate hazelnut spread into the yogurt so your left with beautiful swirls.

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The Best Way to Eat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Part 2 On a Banana

All this week we will be presenting you 5 great ways to enjoy your chocolate hazelnut spread fix.  Sure I could have simply said "5 great ways to enjoy your Nutella fix", but there are so many more brands of this stuff and I figured this would be a little more fair.  For the most part people only really think about eating this stuff spread on bread, or sometimes in a crepe, but I've discovered some other great places to smear this stuff.

A great way to enjoy some chocolate hazelnut spread is on some fruit.  Although picking which fruit to enjoy is very important for maximum taste and texture benefit.  Watermelon could be considered the worst fruit idea in my opinion.  Not that I've ever tried it, I'm just thinking it probably won't taste good and the texture seems like a bad combination.

As far as the best combination, I'm going to rely on the advice from my Swedish friend Alex.  His favorite way to enjoy chocolate hazelnut spread is on a banana with a glass of milk on the side.  I have to agree with him on this, the combination of the nuts, chocolate and banana is a true winner.  After all a banana split with chocolate sauce and nuts is great.  So why not mix these flavours up a little?  I would also highly recommend the glass of milk on the side as your mouth needs a little refreshment between each bite.

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The Best Way to Eat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Part 1 On a Pita

All this week we will be presenting you 5 great ways to enjoy your chocolate hazelnut spread fix.  Sure I could have simply said "5 great ways to enjoy your Nutella fix", but there are so many more brands of this stuff and I figured this would be a little more fair.  For the most part people only really think about eating this stuff spread on bread, or sometimes in a crepe, but I've discovered some other great places to smear this stuff.

For the first example, I thought I would suggest something that would compensate for those of us that aren't skilled making crepes.  If you're at home and you don't feel like heating up the crepe maker, why not try something else similar but a lot easier to come across.  I suggest either a tortilla or a round of pita bread.

Although the tortilla and pita are a little different I find that the differences might actually be to some peoples taste.  For example, both of these flat breads tend to have a lot less sugar than crepes.  Because of this I find that the contrast between the sweet and savory really makes for a nice combination.  I also find that the pita and tortilla are slightly stronger.  I like this because there's less chance of a tear as well as a nice satisfying bite sensation.

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If This Was a "Review" it Would be a Good Review

If I felt that this new granola bar treat from Cadbury was a "candy" I would review it, but I just can't.  It's called a brunch bar and for the life of me I can't justify defining it as a candy, it's a granola bar with chocolate.  The reason I'd love to review this treat is because it's one, if not the, best granola bar treat I've ever tasted.  It's a perfect blend of hazelnuts and granola with a spectacular chocolate coating on the bottom.  I'm not sure how healthy it is, but it tastes fantastic.

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