It's Time For A New Snack Review - Onion Rings

I probably should have named this site "Snack Critic", but frankly it's doesn't really have the same ring as Candy Critic. I'm well aware that reviews like the one today are not technically candy. The thing is, I like snack foods too, and these are kind of close to candy. At the very least, salty snacks like this play in the same area as candy. They're like the salty candy... with less sugar.

Click here to read about this surprisingly good salty snack.

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It's Part 1 Or Our African Candy Review-A-Thon!!! And It's A Little Salty - Krackles "Tingly Cheese & Onion"

All this week we're going to be posting candy reviews from candy we picked up on our recent trip to Kenya and Tanzania. Normally when I travel I go nuts picking up snacks from my adventures, but I have to be honest, this time I didn't find that much. It's not because Kenya and Tanzania didn't have much to offer, it's most because I was out in the middle of the savanna without any contact with the real world for most of our trip. Whenever I could though, I stopped in some of the local shops and picked up a few fun munchies and fortunately I found some pretty interesting snacks.

Click here to read our first entry in our Kenya/Tanzania candy review-a-thon.

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A New Episode Of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!!! Is Online!

This is part one of a 5 part series where Chris samples strange things from his trip to India (and ending in Dubai).  In this episode Chris tries some "pickled" onions, probably the worst thing he's tried yet.

Click here to see some of the past episodes on YouTube.

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The Most Memorable Reviews of 2015

I was going to post a list of the highest and lowest rated treats that we've posted on candycritic.org this year, but then I realized something.  Just because a treat gets a high or low review, doesn't really make it "better" or "worse".  Sure it may taste great, or horrible, or it maybe super lame, or an amazing new idea, but that doesn't really make it better or worse.  When people ask me what my favorite candy is, I often say it's something new, something memorable, even if I don't like eating it.  So below are the top 5 reviews that I posted this year.  These didn't necessarily get the highest review scores, but I can tell you that I won't soon forget them.

The first snack on my most memorable list is Dutch licorice.  I actually reviewed several Dutch licorices this year, as well as managed to eat a piece of Dutch licorice every day for more than a month.  My goal was to try and gain a taste for this very polarizing candy.  As you know people either love licorice or hate it.  I fell under the hate it category, but I started to see the appeal of the flavour.  I never grew to "love" it, but I understand it a little bit better.  The fact that I spent so much time thinking about Dutch licorice made it one of the most memorable treats that I sampled all year.

Click here to read this Dutch Licorice review.

Three of the snack son this list made it to this list because of the package.  This was one of them.  I loved the way that the whole package was themed.  It was super cheesy, but really fascinating at the same time.  Most interestingly, the treat itself turned into a bit of a surprise, a tasty surprise.  I would actually consider buying these again in the future.  It's not common for a fun gimmick to turn into a good snack, but this one works.  Sure the snack has nothing to do with the gimmick, but the two of them together made Space Raiders fairly memorable for me.

Click here to read the Space Raiders review.

This is another snack that made it on the list because of the package.  Not so much the theme, but most about the description of the treat.  The word "Chocoblobs" is a good indication that the people writing the text on this package aren't familiar with English words used to describe food you might want to eat. The word "Extruded" doesn't help either.  There are certain processes in the candy making world that make you hungry, popped, melted, or baked are just a few of the good ones.  Extruded falls into the category of words that don't make you hungry.  The snack itself was just OK, pretty tasteless and forgettable, but who can forget the words "Extruded Chocoblobs".

Click here to read the Ramba Chocoblobs review.

I don't think I'll ever forget these durian cream chocolates.  Even though I just reviewed them a few weeks ago, years from now when I look back I don't think I'll have forgotten them.  They are easily the worst smelling candy I've ever reviewed in the history of this site, or any time in my candy eating career.  Strangely I found something appealing about them, but it took a great deal to get over the smell.  As far as candy eating experiences go, this will likely be the most memorable, yet it still isn't the most memorable snack I've reviewed all year.

Click here to read the Chocolate Covered Durian review.

When I first spotted this bag of chips, I thought it was too good to be true.  I also thought that I would see them again, and at the time we were driving across Southern Africa, and in a bit of a rush.  I spent the rest of our time on this trip trying to find them again.  Then, by a stroke of luck I came across them at one of the last stores we stopped at before heading home.  Monkey Gland Sauce Potato Chips are truly one of those snacks you'll never forget... Sort of.  The problem with these chips is that the flavour itself is somewhat forgettable.  

The true wow factor of these chips is the name.  That is unless you were born in South Africa.  As it turns out Monkey Gland Sauce has no monkeys in it at all, and as far as I can tell at no point was it used on monkeys.  It's simply a chutney often used today on hamburgers and other barbecued items.  I will say that when I first posted a picture of these chips online, people thought I was crazy for trying them.  As it turns out the durian candy was much more risky.  But I'll never forget the day I saw them at a gas station on the Botswana/South Africa border.

Click here to read the Monkey Gland Sauce Chips review.

This year I noticed something interesting, more than half of the memorable reviews are salty snacks... sort of.  Two of the five snacks were also some of the more disgusting snacks I've ever eaten.  There also isn't one snack on this list from North America.  I guess that comes from all of the traveling I did this year.

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