02.23.08

Cheddar Cheese Cratz

Posted in 5.0 Wasabi Pea Rating, Savory at 6:36 pm by Boo

*chucklesnort* Cratz. That’s got to be the least delightful sounding food product name out there. Would Madame care for a CRATZ? In fact, this was such a crass sounding food name (CRATZ!) that when Badmovie asked what I wanted from J-List I told him that I’d be overly delighted if the shipment came in with some CRATZ. Every time I trolled the J-List site and I saw CRATZ I giggled and I decided that I just had to have me some to review. Even if it tasted like narst, I’d enjoy reviewing it for the name alone. CRATZ!!

And then lo! The great Christmas funding of J-List goodies did indeed include a CRATZ and I was pleased. I would have been more pleased if CRATZ had come in a more review friendly package but that’s completely contrary to the nature of CRATZ and not a point to quibble about. CRATZ are all about the munching and this fist sized bag is the perfect size for snackering. Of course if CRATZ happened to come in an industrial sized box and you happened to own a bar and you had the foresight to put out a dish of these fellas you’d make a killing. Seriously.

First off, I’d like to talk about the smell. CRATZ (cheddar cheese) is wonderfully, delightfully cheesy smelling. Strongly, wonderfully, delightfully cheesy smelling. Mmmmm. And it’s cheddar cheese too both in smell and in taste. CRATZ seems to have two components to it, or at least this one does: Pretzel-y bits and almonds. The pretzely bits are like pretzel crouton deelies with a fantastic crunch and an awesome cheesy with a good mix of black pepper spicy. It’s a veritable cheese explosion (not unlike a cheese Combo but much, much better and with a slightly smoky flavor too. YumMAY) with crunch and bite and look! Almonds too! The almonds are wonderfully dry roasted and remind me of those Blue Diamond Almonds that come in a can but not as salty. And a bit cheesier but I think that’s the nature of the Cheddar Cheesiness of the CRATZ and not the roasting of the almonds. Still…taaaaasty.

All of my Pigs agreed that if they were left alone with a dish of CRATZ they’d eventually wind up eating the whole thing one little CRATZ bit at a time. Crunch, nom nom nom, crunch, nom nom nom, crunch. They also would tell you that the serving suggestion of beer and cheddar cheese CRATZ is an excellent one and that they do indeed go really well together. BEER!

The Guinea Pigs rated these a really really high 4.5 pea rating and one or two pushed for a 5 pea rating but not everyone was on board with the Orgasmic Crack Epiphany. However, we must have tasted these in early January and I just wrote up the review today and those CRATZ you see in the picture were still crunchy!!! I took no measures to protect the CRATZ crunch and they are just as delicious as they were when we opened them a food’s lifetime ago. I think that ought to count for at least enough fractional pea points to push these to a 5 yes? Yes.

Rating of 5 wasabi peas of out of a possible 5 wasabi peas.

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