It's Time For A New Episode Of Junk Fud On The Road - Irelands

In this episode of Junk Fud On The Road, Chris and Allison talk about their recent trip to Ireland where they ate far more potatoes than is politically correct to talk about.

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CC

A Look At The Irelands - Part 3 Of Our European Adventure

I'm going to do something very unpopular, something that has been the subject of tension for years, and even cost people their lives. I'm going to write about Northern Ireland and Ireland in the same article.  Culturally I can see some differences between the two countries. There's no doubt that there are differences and ask any citizen of either country and they'll explain those differences. The problem I found is that the food is very similar. In fact I had to do some research to find out where some of the food I ate actually came from.

 

Take Tayto's for example. Tayto's are a brand of potato chips (or crisps as they’d call them) that no one else in the world except those who live in Ireland (north and other) have ever heard of. That's a shame, because they make a mean bag of chips. They're not the best chips I've ever eaten, but they're pretty good. The most amazing thing about these chips is how popular they are in Ireland. When we landed in Belfast, it seemed like the entire airport was sponsored by the potato chip company. According to one of the posters on the wall of the airport, Tayto's Cheese and Onion flavoured chips account for more than half of  the chips sold on the entirety of Ireland (both sides of the border I assume). I assumed by this huge presence in Belfast that these must be a Northern Ireland thing.

As it turns out, Tayto's are actually made in Ireland (the south), but you'd never have guessed that in the north. The north also had a huge amount of Cadbury products available. This was no surprise as Northern Ireland is a commonwealth country, and every commonwealth country I've ever visited is loaded with Cadbury treats. I thought that maybe this is something that would disappear once we visited the south, but no, lots of Cadbury all over the place. I found the same thing with grocery stores, and fast food places as well. I couldn't find one single difference between either Ireland when it came to food.

I would say the only difference I found between these two countries food wise was beer. It's more that I would say Ireland has an obsession with Guinness beer. At the very least it's something they truly celebrate/push on tourists. This is most obvious in Dublin, but every tourist stop we visited in Ireland (not the north) had some kind of Guinness trinket. Every truck stop had a whole section dedicated to buying Guinness merchandise. I didn't see that much up in the north, so maybe that's the great divide.

It makes me happy though, these are two countries that have a very bloody history. There's a lot of differences that these two countries will always have, and a history that can never be erased. But it's good to know that there are areas they can agree on, small things that remind them that although they've fought a war, they can still be in agreement upon. On either side of the border they can agree, cheese and onion Tayto's are pretty good.

CC

It's The Start Of A Review-A-Thon - Kiss

Over the last few months we've been trying a new format for Candy Critic, and frankly it's not really working out. So we're going back to our old format. That means each week you get two reviews, one on Monday and one on Thursday. This week however is an exception, this week we're giving you a whole bunch of reviews every day. These are reviews of treats we picked up on our last epic adventure through 5 European countries. Today we start with a treat from the country where we spent the most time, Finland. Shockingly it's not a Fazer product either.

Click here to find out about this mysterious candy that isn't a chocolate bar.

We're posting a bunch of reviews this week, so make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with them.

Also, we're going to be adding some new  video content to our YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed.

CC

A Happy St. Patrick's Day Review!

I often try very hard to post reviews that may be relevant to whatever holiday that might be going on at any given time.  Some holidays, like Easter, Christmas, or Halloween are fairly simple to achieve this, since these holidays are pretty much dedicated to giving away sweets.  Other holidays, like St Patrick's Day are a little more challenging.  This is because, as far as I know, St Patrick's Day really isn't associated with any particular food at all, let alone any kind of sweet food.  Fortunately, in my archive, I've been siting on a review that deals with a special Irish version of a classic treat.  It seemed like St Patrick's Day would be the perfect day to post this review.

Click here to read what the difference is between Irish Sour Patch Kids and regular Sour Patch Kids.

CC

8 Days Of UK Treats - Day 8

If you're looking to explore one of the best places in the world to eat sweet treats, you might seriously want to consider a trip into the UK.  England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales all have an amazing selection of treats to choose from.  Many of the treats that North Americans are used to eating originated from this great cluster of islands, but they also have some very unique flavours of their own as well.

Click here to read the last instalment of our UK treats review-a-thon.

CC

Chocolate Study In Ireland

Some scientists in Ireland are looking for people who want to eat chocolate. It's all for science and... you get to eat chocolate. You might save lives in the future... and you get to eat chocolate. You'll be helping to educated others in the field of medicine... and you get to eat chocolate.

Click here to find out why you might get to eat chocolate.

CC