Our second Universal Yums snack box arrived a while back, this time filled with treats from Greece. If you missed my earlier bloggy on Universal Yums, here’s a quick explanation:
Every month, Universal Yums sends me a box filled with snacks and candies from a different country. Inside each box is a multi-page booklet with information on the snacks, the nation I’m “visiting” and additional fun and games.
Last month’s box was from Turkey. Universal Yums polled customers on the contents. Best went to the Lush Cocoa Creme Mosaic Cookies, which were mosaic cookies with chocolate cream filling. Chocolate has not been predominant in the region until recently, so this type of snack is just coming into its own in Turkey. I found the cookies to be tasty, but noted we have similar cookies in the United States just as good or better.
Second best was the Ulker Krispi Tirtikli Kraker Baharatli cracker chips, my favorite snacks from the Turkey box. They are seasoned with baharat, a blend of spices that’s insanely popular all across the Middle East. They are crispy and the flavor is wonderful. If I could buy bags of them here in Medina, they’d replace most of the other chips and crackers that show up at Casa Isabella.
For the worst, customers voted for the Toffix Mastic. The nastiest snack in the box, this was a soft chewy candy with flavor derived from the gum-like sap of mastic trees. It tastes like how I imagine jackal ass would taste. Both Barb and I spit out the one bite we took. If I ever have to torture someone to give them information, I will make them eat this candy.
On to the snacks from Greece...
The Oriental Saragli is a “syrupy phyllo dough pastry with almonds and walnuts. It’s one of the many varieties of baklava available in Greece and elsewhere. I found it tasty but very sticky. The kind of treat where you have to turn on the faucet with your elbows to wash your hands afterwards and we’re talking a proper washing, not just running the water over your hands. I liked it, but it isn’t going to be a snack I seek out in the future. There were two of the small pastries in the package. The second one awaits the Isabella fam
ily member who wants to try it.
The package of Kritsinaki basil-pesto-flavored breadsticks was too small. Some might call it “fun size,” but that’s a damn lie. If you like a treat, you’ll have more fun eating more of it...and I liked these crunchy little bread bites a lot. I call them “bites” because they ain’t near long enough to be called “sticks.” Whatever happen to truth in advertising?
Serenata Finger is “milk chocolate coasted wafer with cocoa cream filling.” Not really different from the wafer treats that we have in the U.S., this pastry was as good as any of our homegrown ones. Four crispy wafers covered in cocoa cream, coated in chocolate and drizzled with more chocolate. Fun fact:
Greece is where wafers were invented. Greeks started cooking them in 146 BC.
“They would pour batter between two hot plates attached to wooden sticks, cook the wafers to perfection, and top them with herbs and cheese.”
Tottis-Bingo created the Serenata wafer in 1970. It quickly became a beloved household name across the country.
Tottis Chips Oregano are simply potato chips paired with oregano. They’re delicious and it’s taking great will power for me to save some of them for my wife and kids.
Moustokouloura are soft wheat cookies with grape must flavor. Must is a thick mixture containing freshly pressed juice, skins, seeds and stems of the grape, usually part of making wine. I thought this would be a winner, but it’s too heavy a cookie for me.
The Serenata Triple Hazelnut is a milk chocolate coated, hazelnut topped wafer with cream filling. It was delicious and is definitely in the running for my favorite snack of the box.
The Bruschettini Pizza bread crisps are a hit with me. It’s crunchy bead with cheese, tomato and basil seasoning. This is another Greek oldie. Its distant ancestor is Paximadia, the beloved twice-baked bread. Originally made for Greek sailors out to sea before 400 BC, it was such a hit that, by that year, there were over 72 different and unique types of it. These would be great on a salad.
Another hit is the Kings Soft Cookie with Dark Chocolate Chunks. This is made with dark Belgian chocolate with a wisp of salt and vanilla. Universal Yums boasts these are better than any similar product you’d find in a domestic grocery story and specifically call out Pepperidge Farm. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had the latter, but I’m giving my vote to the Greek delight. Of course, if Pepperidge Farms wants to send me a case of cookies, I would be willing to reconsider.
I only ate two small bites of the Minor Peanut & Honey Nut Bar on account of it was so hard I feared for my teeth. I liked the taste a lot. However, after spending a fortune on dental implants several years back, I opted for caution.
The Tsourekaki with Cocoa Cream is a traditional Greek sweet bread with incredibly rich chocolate cream filling. It’s a plump pastry that was deceptively light and sweet at first time. Halfway through the bread, it became too heavy with an unpleasant aftertaste to the chocolate cream.
Corn Flake Bread Rings. White and corn bread stick rings with corn flakes. This is Greek street food and it’s delicious. This is the flavor that came in my box, but there are other flavors, including cheese and sesame.
Lemona Potaki. This soft pie with lemon filling is in the running to be my choice for best of the box. If you order a pita in Greece, this is what you get on account of, in Greek, pita means a pie or a pastry. It’s a fairly crumbly pastry, but a combination of sweet and tart that made my mouth happy.
Elite Mediterranean Crackers. Crackers with feta cheese and oregano flavor. This a nice crunchy cracker. However, I’ve never been a fan of feta cheese. If you are, you’ll like these crackers.
Minos Soft Nougat. Soft nougat with orange and peanut. This tasty bar is the Greek great grandfather of Snickers, Milky, and Three Musketeers. The orange flavor really pops. The peanuts not so much. This is a contender for my best of the box.
Tottis Sea Salt Chips. Tottis does potato chips right. The family loved the oregano chips mentioned earlier in this blog and the sea salt chips are just as good.
Serenata Max Croissant with Apricot Filling. Breakfast for Greeks is usually coffee. Just coffee. However, they do have mid-morning snacks like this. The apricot filling was okay, but the croissant surrounding it was not. It left an unpleasant aftertaste after just two bites. I’ll pass.
Every month’s box contains “The Yum Bag” filled with two or three candies with multiples of each. The Greece bag started with Frugeli Pomegranate Jelly (flavored jelly candies) and these were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
That was followed by Kokus Ouzo (Ouzo flavored hard candy). There was a heavy licorice taste to this candy. Not a fan.
The third candy was Kokus Honey Toffee. The honey flavored chew has the consistency of a softer Tootsie Roll. Not awful, but any candy that requires I brush my teeth immediately after eating it is not going to be a winner with me.
It was hard to pick my favorites from this box. After a great deal of deliberation and tasting of leftovers, I went with the Tottis Chips Oregano for first place and the Frugeli Pomegranate Jelly in the runner-up position. My pick for the worst of this box was that Kokus Ouzo hard candy.
When Universal Yums polled their customers, the Frugeli Pomegranate Jelly won “best.” The Serenata Triple Hazelnut was “second best.” Deemed the worst of the box was the Kokus Ouzo hard candy.
My next Universe Yums box has already arrived, filled with treats from Austria. I’m going to start on that box tomorrow.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2019 Tony Isabella
Every month, Universal Yums sends me a box filled with snacks and candies from a different country. Inside each box is a multi-page booklet with information on the snacks, the nation I’m “visiting” and additional fun and games.
Last month’s box was from Turkey. Universal Yums polled customers on the contents. Best went to the Lush Cocoa Creme Mosaic Cookies, which were mosaic cookies with chocolate cream filling. Chocolate has not been predominant in the region until recently, so this type of snack is just coming into its own in Turkey. I found the cookies to be tasty, but noted we have similar cookies in the United States just as good or better.
Second best was the Ulker Krispi Tirtikli Kraker Baharatli cracker chips, my favorite snacks from the Turkey box. They are seasoned with baharat, a blend of spices that’s insanely popular all across the Middle East. They are crispy and the flavor is wonderful. If I could buy bags of them here in Medina, they’d replace most of the other chips and crackers that show up at Casa Isabella.
For the worst, customers voted for the Toffix Mastic. The nastiest snack in the box, this was a soft chewy candy with flavor derived from the gum-like sap of mastic trees. It tastes like how I imagine jackal ass would taste. Both Barb and I spit out the one bite we took. If I ever have to torture someone to give them information, I will make them eat this candy.
On to the snacks from Greece...
The Oriental Saragli is a “syrupy phyllo dough pastry with almonds and walnuts. It’s one of the many varieties of baklava available in Greece and elsewhere. I found it tasty but very sticky. The kind of treat where you have to turn on the faucet with your elbows to wash your hands afterwards and we’re talking a proper washing, not just running the water over your hands. I liked it, but it isn’t going to be a snack I seek out in the future. There were two of the small pastries in the package. The second one awaits the Isabella fam
The package of Kritsinaki basil-pesto-flavored breadsticks was too small. Some might call it “fun size,” but that’s a damn lie. If you like a treat, you’ll have more fun eating more of it...and I liked these crunchy little bread bites a lot. I call them “bites” because they ain’t near long enough to be called “sticks.” Whatever happen to truth in advertising?
Greece is where wafers were invented. Greeks started cooking them in 146 BC.
“They would pour batter between two hot plates attached to wooden sticks, cook the wafers to perfection, and top them with herbs and cheese.”
Tottis-Bingo created the Serenata wafer in 1970. It quickly became a beloved household name across the country.
Moustokouloura are soft wheat cookies with grape must flavor. Must is a thick mixture containing freshly pressed juice, skins, seeds and stems of the grape, usually part of making wine. I thought this would be a winner, but it’s too heavy a cookie for me.
The Serenata Triple Hazelnut is a milk chocolate coated, hazelnut topped wafer with cream filling. It was delicious and is definitely in the running for my favorite snack of the box.
Another hit is the Kings Soft Cookie with Dark Chocolate Chunks. This is made with dark Belgian chocolate with a wisp of salt and vanilla. Universal Yums boasts these are better than any similar product you’d find in a domestic grocery story and specifically call out Pepperidge Farm. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had the latter, but I’m giving my vote to the Greek delight. Of course, if Pepperidge Farms wants to send me a case of cookies, I would be willing to reconsider.
I only ate two small bites of the Minor Peanut & Honey Nut Bar on account of it was so hard I feared for my teeth. I liked the taste a lot. However, after spending a fortune on dental implants several years back, I opted for caution.
The Tsourekaki with Cocoa Cream is a traditional Greek sweet bread with incredibly rich chocolate cream filling. It’s a plump pastry that was deceptively light and sweet at first time. Halfway through the bread, it became too heavy with an unpleasant aftertaste to the chocolate cream.
Corn Flake Bread Rings. White and corn bread stick rings with corn flakes. This is Greek street food and it’s delicious. This is the flavor that came in my box, but there are other flavors, including cheese and sesame.
Lemona Potaki. This soft pie with lemon filling is in the running to be my choice for best of the box. If you order a pita in Greece, this is what you get on account of, in Greek, pita means a pie or a pastry. It’s a fairly crumbly pastry, but a combination of sweet and tart that made my mouth happy.
Elite Mediterranean Crackers. Crackers with feta cheese and oregano flavor. This a nice crunchy cracker. However, I’ve never been a fan of feta cheese. If you are, you’ll like these crackers.
Minos Soft Nougat. Soft nougat with orange and peanut. This tasty bar is the Greek great grandfather of Snickers, Milky, and Three Musketeers. The orange flavor really pops. The peanuts not so much. This is a contender for my best of the box.
Tottis Sea Salt Chips. Tottis does potato chips right. The family loved the oregano chips mentioned earlier in this blog and the sea salt chips are just as good.
Serenata Max Croissant with Apricot Filling. Breakfast for Greeks is usually coffee. Just coffee. However, they do have mid-morning snacks like this. The apricot filling was okay, but the croissant surrounding it was not. It left an unpleasant aftertaste after just two bites. I’ll pass.
Every month’s box contains “The Yum Bag” filled with two or three candies with multiples of each. The Greece bag started with Frugeli Pomegranate Jelly (flavored jelly candies) and these were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
That was followed by Kokus Ouzo (Ouzo flavored hard candy). There was a heavy licorice taste to this candy. Not a fan.
The third candy was Kokus Honey Toffee. The honey flavored chew has the consistency of a softer Tootsie Roll. Not awful, but any candy that requires I brush my teeth immediately after eating it is not going to be a winner with me.
It was hard to pick my favorites from this box. After a great deal of deliberation and tasting of leftovers, I went with the Tottis Chips Oregano for first place and the Frugeli Pomegranate Jelly in the runner-up position. My pick for the worst of this box was that Kokus Ouzo hard candy.
When Universal Yums polled their customers, the Frugeli Pomegranate Jelly won “best.” The Serenata Triple Hazelnut was “second best.” Deemed the worst of the box was the Kokus Ouzo hard candy.
My next Universe Yums box has already arrived, filled with treats from Austria. I’m going to start on that box tomorrow.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2019 Tony Isabella
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