03.28.09
Pumpkin Pretz
Hmmmm. So, back in the fall I was looking for things to order from J-List and what should I see but Pumpkin Pretz. Pumpkin Pretz? How could I not order that up for tasting because…Pumpkin! Pretz! I had been formerly introduced to (and chastised by) pumpkin flavored Japanese snack foods with Pumpkin Pocky so I kind of expected that I was going to get squash flavored pumpkin and not pie flavored pumpkin. I really should probably stop with the assumptions because I got neither with these Pretz.
You might have noticed the strange looking pumpkin on the package.
Here it is on the back in a bit more detail but still…not what I would call a pumpkin, even though they are making pumpkins in all sorts of weird colors these days. That fella in the picture is more of a squash and indeed, this Pretz tastes definitely squashy rather than pumpkin-y. Sort of oddly sweety squashy with a touch of manufactured way up in the sinuses. Hmmm.
I did some looking though, just to see what it was that they were calling pumpkin and I discovered that there is a Japanese Pumpkin or Kabocha as it is referred to in Japan (sometimes kabocha squash). Godzilla tells me that kabocha is a texture cross between a sweet potato and a pumpkin and has too thick a rind for carving. How sad. I and my Guinea Pigs say that it doesn’t taste like any pumpkin we were looking forward to if the Pretz are a representative sample. We all agree though, that there is a certain squashiness to the Pretz so in that regard they probably do hit the mark in terms of taste. We all sort of wish that they were pumpkin squash flavored though; we think they would have been tastier.
As one Pig put it, “It tastes like something I ate once and didn’t again.”
It’s not that these are bad Pretz, but rather that there are so many more better tasting Pretz out there to munch on. They do have the awesome Pretz crunch, but so do a lot of other, tastier Pretz. Plus…it’s not a happy pumpkin flavor but more a disappointing squash flavor. It could be that kabocha are excellent tempura fried up but as a Pretz they are passable. I’d try them for the experience but only if you can get someone else to foot the bill for the package.
Rating of 2.5 wasabi peas out of a possible 5 wasabi peas.
Deanna said,
May 17, 2009 at 8:27 am
I disagree. While they don’t actually taste like pumpkin (more along the lines of a sweet potato/squash mix) they are my favorite pretz to date. It’s quite sad I can’t find them anymore. 🙁
Boo said,
May 18, 2009 at 7:26 pm
J-List had these not too long ago so you might try them. I can’t say as these were really anyone’s favorite but I think on the whole the Pigs and I are more of a savory Pretz bunch.