Megan Geall
I am a huge, huge foodie. Call me a weirdo but food shopping is one of my favourite things and taking me to a supermarket or food hall is like taking a kid to a sweet shop. I love to spend money on trying new products, both food and drink; savoury and sweet (much to my parents dismay when they see my bank account, sorry!). Luckily for you, I’m here to review all the best new food products in the shops and advise which are the ones worth trying— and, of course, which to avoid…
My Foodie Week
My week started off with a trip to B&M, where I picked up some new international products, which I was incredibly excited to try. Later on, the long Easter weekend took me on a trip to my old university city of Canterbury where I visited one of my absolute favourite fudge shops ever! I picked up all my old favourite flavours that I used to treat myself to (after spending hours crying in the library over deadlines) but I also tried some interesting new flavours that definitely took me by surprise. Finally, I ended my week doing a weekly food shop in Sainsbury’s where I found some newly released products that I just couldn’t stop myself picking up and buying! Keep reading below to see the outcome of my fabulously foodie week!
Italian Style Pepperoni Pizza Flavour Pringles
When I saw these on the shelf at B&M I was instantly intrigued— pepperoni pizza combined with, arguably, one of the most addictive crisps out there?! I needed no convincing to buy them and give them a go. The flavour can only be described as a mixture between smokey bacon and cheese. I can’t say there was much of a tomato flavour to represent the pizza base but otherwise the labelling of the flavour as pepperoni pizza was pretty much spot on.
I did really enjoy trying these and they were yummy to eat but I wasn’t entirely convinced. Compared to other flavours of Pringles, these definitely weren’t up there as my favourite (Paprika and Sour Cream and Onion, you will always have my heart). Overall, I give this new flavour a 7/10.
You can buy these in B&M Stores, or online at Iceland here.
Rainbow Mentos
“I thought the idea behind this product was really cool, but simple all the same.”
The second product from my trip to B&M was a pack of Rainbow Mentos. I’ve never seen these before in the UK so I’m assuming they are an international import but I may be wrong! I thought the idea behind this product was really cool, but simple all the same. The pack is arranged in a rainbow, with different flavours to represent each colour and it includes two sweets of each flavour—definitely a bonus if you’re sharing with someone because you won’t be fighting over who gets to try what flavour! The flavours include: strawberry, apple, raspberry, orange, watermelon, blueberry and grapefruit.
My absolute favourite was the watermelon; oh my gosh that flavour is gorgeous, I’m very upset that our normal mentos packs don’t include a watermelon sweet. The watermelon flavour on its own would easily get a 10/10 rating, however, as the pack was a mixture and contained some of the usual flavours, I’ll give them an overall rating of 7/10.
You can purchase Rainbow Mentos at B&M, or online at Amazon here.
Fudge Kitchen: Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Whipping Cream Fudge
“This is the best fudge I have ever eaten”
If you ever get the chance to pop into a Fudge Kitchen shop (locations include: Bath, Canterbury, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Windsor and York) you will have your mind blown by their fudge. I will boldly claim that this is the best fudge I have ever eaten. I love every single flavour they offer with Birthday Cake, Eton Mess and, of course, classic Clotted Cream being some of my favourites.
Personally, I prefer fruity flavours over chocolate; I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate cake (Colin the Caterpillar an obvious exception) so I was sceptical when the salesman in the Canterbury Fudge Kitchen told me that I had to try the Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt because it was ‘the best flavour they’ve ever done’. Wow – I wrong to be sceptical. This fudge is INSANE. Imagine the most incredible chocolate brownie you’ve ever tasted and this fudge perfectly replicates it.
“Tasting it made me speechless. Easily 10/10.”
It is the perfect combination of fudge-y, creamy chocolate with a hint of salt so it is not too rich. The beauty of whipping cream fudge over normal butter fudge is the way it melts in your mouth. Tasting it made me speechless. Easily 10/10.
You can buy directly from the Fudge Kitchen website here.
Sainsbury’s Smokehouse BBQ Pork Cocktail Sausages
Back from Canterbury (in a chocolate fudge haze, I must add), I went and did our weekly food shop in our local Sainsbury’s. Now that Easter chocolate sales have passed, supermarkets seem to be turning towards the coming summer months and releasing their summer food and BBQ ranges.
“I felt slightly put-off by the texture.”
My first pick out of the newly released range were the BBQ pork cocktail sausages. I have really started enjoying BBQ flavoured foods recently so I was definitely intrigued by these. I must admit the flavour was spot on—smokey, tangy with just the perfect hint of sweetness to round off that distinctive BBQ flavour. As they’re tiny cocktail sausages, they are quite addictive and easy to eat lots of which can be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at things! My one drawback of these is the quality of meat; I can be quite picky with cocktail sausages that have lots of tough gristle and these have quite a bit. This made them difficult for me to fully enjoy as every few mouthfuls I felt slightly put-off by the texture. For this reason, I’ll give them a 7/10.
You can buy these online here.
Ketchup Flavour Pringles
Yes, you did read that right. Ketchup. Flavour. Pringles. You’re either going to be purely disgusted at the idea or secretly intrigued by the prospect of eating a crisp that is flavoured after a condiment. I was definitely the latter and immediately had to buy these. I barely got them through the front door before I could no longer resist opening the can and digging in.
My first thought was ‘oh my gosh what on earth am I eating, this is so strange,’ but it is one of those flavours where you can’t resist going back for a second try. And a third. They’re weirdly addictive. After the first crisp, I was very unsure if I liked them but, by the third, I was convinced I could demolish the whole can in one sitting.
“Overall: weird, but addictive, 9/10.”
They taste more like spicy tomato juice or off-brand ketchup; more tangy tomato than the sweet tomato of Heinz Ketchup but I think this makes the flavour better as it’s more savoury and suits the crisp-eating sensation! Overall: weird, but addictive, 9/10.
I found these in the bulk buy/last chance to buy section at the back of my local Sainsbury’s but you can buy these online here.
Featured image courtesy of Allef Vinicius on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Megan Geall
Megan is a 23-year-old recent English and American Literature graduate and aspiring journalist. Her interests include food, fitness, lifestyle writing and dance!