Before I traveled to Quebec, I stopped by Buford Highway Farmer’s Market to look for interesting snacks and sweet treats to try out with my family. When I was growing up, I wasn’t very adventurous. We had our classics and favorites and generally stuck to them. That’s why I thought it would be interesting to try them with my parents and my brother. While they didn’t trust me or anything I would bring their way, they all agreed to play along.
Participation varied based on the products. My husband joined us for the only item his food restrictions allowed him to try and my dad (and his new teeth) avoided the chewy candies. Of course, I tried them all because I will never miss a chance to taste something new!
On this note, here are all the snacks we tried and their reactions (I translated as best as I could since their comments were all in Canadian French).
Lays Pizza Al Forno, from Taiwan
While these are Lays brand, they definitely had more of a Pringles texture and shape.
- Brother: C’est décevant. (It’s disappointing.)
- Mom: C’est pas vargeux. (It’s mediocre.)
- Hubby: It tastes like frozen aisle pizza on top of a Pringle.
- Me: It mostly tastes like pizza sauce: tomato and basil. I like it a lot.
Pocky Cookies & Cream, from Thailand
As described on the box, these are biscuit sticks covered in cookies and cream.
- Dad: C’est pas pire. (It’s not bad.)
- Mom: Ça a un goût synthétique. (It has a synthetic taste.)
- Brother: C’est décevant. Le bâton est moins bon qu’un vrai Oreo. (It’s disappointing. The stick isn’t as good as a real Oreo cookie.)
- Me: It’s really not as good as a real Oreo. Definitely not the same flavor.
Hapi Japanese Party Mix, from the USA
While I had already tasted similar mixes in the past and enjoyed them, I decided to get them for two reasons: they were definitely outside of my family’s comfort zone, and they had the same name as another kind of Party Mix we used to love growing up (yet, in no way similar, other than both were snack mixes).
- My brother wasn’t even willing to give them a try.
- Mom: C’est dégueulasse. (It’s gross.)
- Dad: J’en achèterais pas mais je vais t’aider à finir le sac. (I wouldn’t buy any, but I will help you finish the bag.)
- Me: I love it! Some are two spicy (the wasabi peas I assume), but I generally love it. And, as a bonus, it goes so well with sake!
Polus Cake Waffle, from Palestine
This product is described as a cake waffle glazed with condensed milk, covered by a chocolate milk coating.
- Mom & Dad: C’est bon. (It’s good.)
- Brother: Ça a un goût familier avec un arrière-goût de déception (It has a familiar taste with an aftertaste of deception.)
- Me: It tastes good but it is a very subtle flavor. It’s alright, but nothing more.
Parle Happy Happy Strawberry and Vanilla Cookies, from India
This cookie was basically an Indian knock-off Oreo, with chocolate cookies and a strawberry and vanilla frosting in the middle.
- Dad: Ça manque de crémage. (It doesn’t have enough cream.)
- Mom: Ça goûte ce que ça dit, il y a un petit goût de fraise dans le glaçage. (It tastes like it says. There’s a little taste of strawberry in the frosting.)
- Brother: C’est moins décevant. (It’s not as disappointing [than the cake waffle].)
- Me: It tastes like Neapolitan ice cream with the strawberry, vanilla and chocolate flavors.
Puchao Cola-Flavored Gummy Candy, from Japan
These were similar to Hi-Chews as they were a chewy Cola-flavored candy. The biggest difference was the addition of fizzy capsules and cola gummy inside the chewy candy.
I should note that my brother doesn’t like Cola in the first place so he wasn’t too thrilled to try this specific candy.
- Mom: Ça goûte le Coke, mais ça écoeure à la fin. (It tastes like Coke, but it’s sickening by the end.)
- Brother: J’aime pas plus le Coke. (I don’t like Coke any more than I did before)
- Me: It tastes like Coke. The fizzy candy is weird and somewhat unexpected. I can’t detect the gummy pieces inside the candy.
Meiji Gummy Choco Fruit Mix, from Singapore
These were fruit-flavored gummy candies, covered in a thick coat of milk chocolate.
- Mom: C’est ordinaire. (It’s fine, nothing extraordinary.)
- Brother: Ça pourrait remplacer les chips comme snack. (It could replace chips as a snack.)
- Me: It resembles raisinets. It has an odd flavor and texture but I like it…and can’t stop eating them.
Haribo Smurfs, from Germany
Okay, I admit it. There was nothing weird or intriguing about these. I only got them because I used to love the Smurfs as a child and couldn’t resist.
- Mom: C’est ordinaire. (It’s fine, nothing more.)
- Brother: Ça ne goûte rien et c’est collant. (It doesn’t taste like anything and it’s sticky)
- Me: I like the taste, they remind me of the blue whale gummy candy I loved as a child. They are definitely too sticky. I wish they had a texture closer to most other Haribo gummy candy.
Overall, this might have been silly to do but it turned out to be a fun family activity for the evening. I would definitely encourage everyone stop by an international market and try to get outside of your comfort zone. Yes, you’ll have to spend a few dollars (the fun things about trying snacks and candy is their relatively cheap costs) and you’ll be gambling but, you might discover your new favorite candy…or at the very least, you’ll explore flavors you might have never tried in your day-to-day life.
The Hungry Quebbie 