YBC Vanilla Sandwich

 

 If it weren't for the letters YBC, I would have
never known what these are called

The Attraction

These cookies / crackers remind me very much or these Japanese Ritz flavored cookies, I've had before, but there's no sign of "Ritz" or "Nabisco" on the packaging, so when these became a new resident on the shelves of the grocery store I frequent, I wondered if they were as good. You know what I must do. "Must" be the operable word. 

The Review:
This is a mystery. I started seeing these YBC crackers everywhere where I used to see the Ritz Custard Crackers I reviewed previously. What was odd was that it wasn't like they were competing for customers because seemingly one week the Ritz versions of the crackers were there and the next week, these YBC versions of the same type of cookies seem to take it's place. I've never seen a store have both and as of recent, I've only seen these. No more of the Ritz versions.Are these knockoffs? Did Nabisco yank their name off the product? Maybe I will never know unless I'm in Japan...and as much as I want to know the dillyo, that's a long way to go to get to the bottom of this snacking situation.

Don't call me the "R" word

As you may have already noticed, the packaging is very similar, but will it taste the same? I've had the custard-flavored version before of these (or the original Ritz version) and was rather fond of it, but this product just produced more questions; would it taste as good? Is custard and vanilla flavors that different? If this was a competitor trying to create a similar product, would it taste inferior? Worst yet, if these were the new "Ritz" sandwich, did they lose the recipe as well as the name? All of this could be solved with a bite.

Sweet and salty goodness

Like the Nabisco version, each package comes with two individually wrapped rolls of cookies / crackers. I pull out a "sandwich" and dig in.

Then all of a sudden, it's like a movie. The savory cracker flavor of a Ritz hits my tough first and as I pull away, the crisp, slightly dull snap of the cracker screams out, "Hey, I'm a Ritz, remember me!?"

As the familiar Ritz cracker movie plays out, there is a surprise twist to this snack I've eaten dozens of times; there is a sweet cream component that cuts-in between the tango my taste buds are having with this savory cracker.

"How rude?!", instinctively I first think, almost like a reflex, however like a smooth foreign spy, it woos me and convinces me it means no harm and rather......it's better this way.....and you know what...he wouldn't be totally wrong.

The savory flavor of the crackers sandwiching the sweet vanilla cream in between compliments each other rather than competing for flavor real estate. A flavor tango indeed.

The Sweet:
These things are amazingly tasty. Scratch both the savory and sweet itch at the same time.

The Bitter:
Umm...so do these replace the Ritz version or are these a knockoff?

Conclusion:
I really enjoy these crackers, but it bugs me that I can't tell if these have replaced the Ritz version I've seen before or are these an impostor, albeit a tasty one at that.

Either way, should I come across these, I will have to proceed with caution as I've become all to aware of how quickly a package of these can disappear when within my possession.

Video of the Week

I'm not even this cool now.

I really hate when in the movies they do that cliche thing where older white people pretend to be into hip hop like here and here. In the case of this week's video, I don't think he's pretending. He looks to be living the lifestyle.

Goldfish Grahams Vanilla Cupcake

These aren't your daddy's Goldfish

The Attraction

With a brand that has as much recognition as it does here in the States, it was difficult to pass up the chance to sample a "Goldfish" branded item that touted the flavor, "Vanilla Cupcake". Internal fat kids of the world rejoice!

The Review:
I remember first sampling Goldfish waaay back when in 1997 when I was working in a bar in Atlanta called MJQ. In lieu of standard peanuts, George elected to put some Cheddar flavored Goldfish for the bar patrons to enjoy. I can't tell you how many Goldfish I ate when I was there on beer delivery day waiting for the truck to arrive, but my love for Goldfish still continues to this day.

Sure, I've occasionally dabbled with some of the other flavor offerings since then. Maybe a bag of Pizza here and a snack pack of Nacho Cheese there, but the good ol' original Cheddar was always my "center"....and I always return to center. Up to now, even with some of the sweet flavor options Goldfish has, I've never felt compelled to try it...until now. It also didn't hurt that it was a non-obligation snack size pack either.

I see some specks of red in there

I crack open the bag and see the familiar Goldfish "smile", but instead of the orange puffy body I've gotten used to seeing that smirk on, this time it was on a cookie-like biscuit. The sweet smell emanating from the cookie felt foreign too in that context, but after a few seconds, I was able to identify the smell of vanilla. Will this thing taste like a Nilla? Maybe it's a rip off of an Animal Cracker? Is it really so far fetched that the way Goldfish taste like a not-as-salty version of a Cheez-It, that these Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish could taste like a Animal Cracker? I peer in to take a closer look and I swear some of the Goldfish has red specks. Could this be something totally different?

I pop a fish into my mouth and as I took a few steps I thought to myself, "Yep, just an Animal Cracker knock off.", but then there was a moment I thought it tasted like a Nilla wafer. What was that? I take a couple of more fishes and it's clear that it's more than just a Animal Cracker. Sure the vanilla flavor was clear, but there were more complex flavors thrown in the mix...dare I say a little strawberry even? Let's "sample" a few more..

I'd recognize that smirk anywhere

The Sweet:
Take your animal cracker and evolve it about 20 years.

The Bitter:
With so many years as a savory snack, can these Goldfish also make a dent in the sweet snack world?

Conclusion:
I was pretty much prepared to write these Goldfish off as a knockoff of something that you can readily get now, but I must hand it to the folks over at Pepperidge Farm, they put in the time and research to develop a recipe for these Goldfish that offer something different. Now, it's not every week I go to the market to pick up a box of Animal Crackers, but these give me some pause. If I had to give a kid a "sweet" snack, I might pick these up for them, but secretly it would be just so I can "shotgun" a bag of these when no one was looking.

Thanks George for hooking me up with Goldfish all those years ago. Actually, thank you for everything.

Video of the Week

"Oooh, me next, me next!"

With Comic-Con San Diego just wrapping up this weekend, there were a bunch of new trailers that were released. One for Suicide Squad, Justice League and Doctor Strange. Another one that continued with the "dark" vibe for DCs Superhero movies was this one for Wonder Woman. I'm still not totally sold on all of DCs movies just yet, however, I would be OK staring at Gal Gadot for 90 minutes. 

Strauss Crembo Vanilla / Mocha

More exciting than a carton of eggs

The Attraction

An ice cream substitute for people that can't eat ice cream? This sounds too interesting to not review. 

The Review:
My pal Grace comes through again. She somehow comes across these "Crembos" by Strauss. Upon some more research, these aren't just your run of the mill chocolate snacks. These are known and marketed to people who specifically follow a kosher diet. More info here.

In a nutshell, that means you cannot mix meat and dairy within several hours of each other. Enter Crembo. In lieu of having ice cream or another dairy-based sweet treat that would not align with kosher eating habits, the good people at Strauss came up with Crembo, but how does it do that? Let's find out.

I crack open the carton that the Crembos come in. Grace was kind enough to split a pack of the Vanilla and Mocha cartons with me so I can sample each flavor. Already the packaging is intriguing. Why a carton? We'll get back to that shortly.
 

It's as light as a foiled wrapped cloud

I pull out a vanilla Crembo first and I notice how light the snack is. Hmm, the mystery deepens. I carefully unwrap it and find a chocolate coated..something before me. It looks like a chocolate covered marshmallow on a cookie, but lighter feeling. I'm dying of anticipation in terms of what on earth this thing must taste like and what awaits me inside this chocolate fortress.

I finally indulge and take a bite from the top. Chocolate splinters and cracks identical to when you have a chocolate coated ice cream bar. Crembo has certainly mastered that part of the ice cream eating experience.

Not sure what to make of this just yet

As I break through, there is a sticky cream on the other side of the shell. It's of a marshmallow-like texture and flavor, but lighter and fluffier. Not as dense as a regular marshmallow....but boy is it sweet. My taste buds go into overload from the sweetness, but I eventually make way to the wafer base the Crembo sits upon. Thankfully the wafer helps ground some of that sweetness from the creme filling. Talk about a sugar rush!

This looks good, but is it?

The Sweet:
Physically light and great crispy chocolate shell.

The Bitter:
It's a little sweet. When I say a little, I mean a lot. Particularly the vanilla-flavored Crembo.

Conclusion:
I get it. There is no easy substitute for ice cream that doesn't involve dairy, so you try your best to find a proxy. Strauss comes close with Crembo, but where it falters is not in the texture of the marshmallow filling, but rather the sweetness of it. It does a great job in almost every other way; the light fluffy filling, the crispy chocolate shell, the reserved cookie base the snack rests upon, but all that goes out the window when your sweetness-o-meter goes off the charts.

Crembo's Mocha offering is far more tempered in it's sweetness and gives a mild interpretation of "mocha", which is the way I prefer it, but still doesn't resonate enough to make me dream of Crembos dancing in my head on a hot summer's day.

Video of the Week

I hate to see what she looks like when she's really mad

If you are like me and are bored when the band takes the field during halftime, well be bored no more. This band chick rocks out in her own way as much as one can rock out to mid evil sounding music. I think at the end she throws in a weird impersonation of The Rock to boot.