1 week Ago By [email protected] (Zoe Chamberlain)
What is it about festive food that gets us so excited? We end up tucking into things we'd rarely, if ever, eat throughout the rest of the year - like turkey, sprouts, bread sauce and Christmas pudding . The same goes with festive snacks. They seem to get wackier each year.
That was certainly what I found when I visited the large Marks & Spencer food hall in Longbridge to pick up some festive snacks to try with my friends. I discovered everything from honey pigs in blankets crisps to chocolate chilli tortillas. But there was one item that stopped me in my tracks and - after eating it - I'll definitely be returning to buy it again for my Christmas get-togethers with family .
Read more: Christmas 2024 events around Birmingham you'll want to get tickets for now Follow Brummie Mummies on Facebook and Instagram , listen to our podcasts and sign up to our free Brummie Mummies newsletter for great ideas on things to do over Christmas in and around Birmingham M&S Hand-cooked Hot Honey Pigs in Blankets Crisps The M&S Hot Honey Pigs in Blankets Crisps cost £1.70 for a 150g bag. Made from potatoes, rice flour, dried pork, honey, chillies and ground spices, these crisps contain 0.
6g saturated fat, 0.8g of sugar, 1.7g of fibre and 0.
44g of salt per serving (one fifth of a bag). The dried pork meant they weren't vegetarian. The flavour was initially subtle, sweet and gentle at first bite but had a rich smoky bacon aftertaste.
The honey flavour gave this crisp an edge on other smoky bacon crisps and really helped to evoke those festive vibes. I'll admit, I'm not a big crisp fan, but I really enjoyed these crisps and gave them 5 out of 5 stars. Marks & Spencer's new Christmas treats - in pictures View gallery M&S Lightly Salted Tortilla stars These M&S Lightly Salted Tortilla stars caught my eye as soon as I went into the store.
They simply are gorgeous and will look stunning on a pretty plate or bowl at a Christmas party. T he five point stars are red (beetroot) and yellow (corn) and they look almost too good to eat, like they'd be better hung on the Christmas tree than devoured in one sitting. They cost £1.
50 for a 175g bag. When we came to taste them, we found the name slightly misleading. It says they are 'lightly salted' but, in fact, they taste very salty - but not in a bad way, it actually made them super tasty.
We imagine they'd be delicious paired with a nice festive beer at a party or watching It's a Wonderful Life on the telly. They have a really low ingredient count, which is nice to see, made from just maize flour, vegetable oil, dried beetroot and salt. They contain 0.
6g of saturated fat, 0.8g of sugar, 1.5g of fibre and, in actual fact, just 0.
23g of salt per serving (a seventh of a pack). The red stars had a lovely sweet beetroot flavour, the yellow corn snacks were more salty but still yummy. I gave them 5 out of 5 stars.
M&S Ridge Cut Boxing Day Turkey Curry Crisps M&S's Ridge Cut Boxing Day Turkey Curry Crisps cost £1.75 for a 135g bag. Made with potatoes, spices and herbs, these crisps contain 0.
6g of saturated fat, 0.6g sugar, 1.4g fibre and 0.
36g of salt per serving (one fifth of a bag). There were really crunchy and a great curry flavour. I know Boxing Day curry is a thing but the flavour didn't shout Christmas to me.
Containing turkey extract, they weren't vegetarian. I quite liked the taste but couldn't eat many of them as the ridges made them feel a bit greasy. I gave them 3 out of 5 stars.
M&S Milk Chocolate & Cinnamon Tortilla Rolls The M&S Milk Chocolate & Cinnamon Tortilla Rolls cost £2.50 for a 175g bag. I'll say from the off that this is a slightly strange concept.
It's something for someone who likes sweet and savoury together - you know when you fancy crisps and chocolate at the same time in front of the telly? I think this is the idea here. These corn tortilla rolls are coated with milk chocolate and have a cinnamon sugar seasoning. They contain 20% milk chocolate and boast extracts of vanilla, cinnamon and cloves.
Each serving (one fifth of a bag) contains 6.1g of saturated fat, 4.1g of sugar, 1.
4g of fibre and 0.09g of salt. We were surprised that the fat and sugar levels were significantly higher than the crisps.
They were quite a bit more expensive too. Gluten free, and suitable for vegetarians, they smelt nice and looked a bit like twiglets dipped in chocolate. But the flavour? It wasn't offensive but our initial thoughts were why ruin perfectly good chocolate and crisps? It didn't really make any sense to us.
However, taking them home and sharing them with my kids in front of a film that night, we found they were actually pretty moreish. I gave them 3 out of 5 stars. Budget product reviews I tested 28p Aldi baked beans agains.
.. I tried cheap supermarket butter and.
.. I tried the cheapest coffee from Ald.
.. I found an 80p pack of supermarket b.
.. M&S Dark Chocolate Chilli Tortillas The M&S Dark Chocolate Chilli Tortillas cost £2.
50 for a 150g bag. Having just tried the cinnamon chocolate tortilla rolls, we wondered if this would be any better. Made with 55% dark chocolate, maize flour, coconut oil and dried jalapeno and red peppers plus Habanero chilli powder, this snack contains 5.
4g of saturated fat, 6.7g of sugar, 1.3g of fibre and 0.
08g of salt per quarter bag serving. First thoughts were that they looked a bit like Jaffa cakes but that's where the similarity ended. The dark chocolate was nice enough and there was plenty of it.
However, unfortunately, the richness of the chocolate made the tortilla chip taste somewhat stale and a bit chewy. These chilli tortillas didn't strike us as particularly fiery but we all said we could feel a bit of warmth on our tongues after eating them. I gave them 2 out of 5 stars.
My son, however, said they were his favourite of all the festive snacks and asked me to buy them again. M&S Black Forest Bites The M&S Black Forest Bites cost £2.75 for a 128g bag.
These mini dark chocolate 'bars' are filled with a soft cherry flavour filling (38%), dried sour cherry pieces and a layer of cherry flavoured caramel (19%). So, when I bit into one, it really wasn't the texture I was expecting. First off, I thought it might have a bit of a gateau type feel or something like an old-fashioned cherry liqueur chocolate but it was much more solid instead.
It did, however, have quite a nostalgic vibe, reminding us a little of the old Ruffles chocolate raspberry sweets (even though the flavour was very much cherry). Vegetarian-friendly, we liked the fact they contained pieces of real dried sour cherries, that was a nice touch, but we would have prefered a more gooey filling rather than a mousse. I gave them 3.
5 out of 5 stars. M&S Festive chutney M&S's new Festive chutney costs £2.50 for a 225g jar.
This spiced chutney is made with apples, dried vine fruits, oranges, cinnamon, cloves and date paste and is said to be the 'perfect accompaniment to Cheddar'. And I have to agree. This is a sensational pickle.
I'm not a huge fan of orangey flavours but the combination of the orange with the cloves paired with mature cheese was delicious. I immediately went back for second helpings. Suitable for vegans, it contains 0.
1g of saturated fat, 43.3g of sugar, 2g of fibre and 0.18g of salt per 100g.
I gave this 5 out of 5 stars. M&S Santa Christmas Journey Chocolates This box of M&S Santa Christmas Journey Chocolates looked irresistible. It shows a series of rooftops with Santa coming out of the chimney and his sleigh, elf, reindeer and sack of presents.
These cute characters are made from creamy milk chocolate and cost £3.50 for a box of five. However, the chocolates were tiny, weighing just 53g in total which made them pretty pricey at 70p each.
Just goes to show how easily you can get lured in by nice packaging. The chocolate was nice so I gave them 3 out of 5 stars. Overall verdict I had mixed feelings about M&S's new festive snacks.
I loved the tortilla stars, they were just so pretty, I will definitely be buying them again. The pigs in blankets crisps and the festive chutney were yummy too. But I found some of the other combinations a little strange and a lot of it was quite pricey compared to festive treats from budget stores like Aldi and Lidl.
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