Spanish Snack Taste Test!

Ah, food. When most people look forward to traveling, they are looking forward to seeing the sights, meeting new people and—let’s be honest—trying good food. As a serial snacker who loves trying out all of the seasonal snacks at my local stores, I was definitely interested in seeing what the snack scene in Spain had to offer. The first couple of weeks here I played it pretty safe and stuck to snacks that looked familiar like cookies from Galletanas Granada and pastries from small bakeries. Then, after eyeing it for weeks, I tried an empanada from the stand near my residence hall. It changed my world. This empanada spoke to my soul and cured my snack shyness. I realized that I was keeping myself from a whole universe of snacks just because I was worried about the unfamiliar. I decided I needed to make up for lost time and try a bunch of new snacks at once. BUT why just try new snacks in your room when you can make a whole event out of it? That’s exactly what I did.

I’ll set the scene: 

I told my friends that I was interested in trying a bunch of new snacks and asked if they were interested in doing a taste test with me. Of course was the only acceptable answer. We went to 3 of the closest convenience stores in search of snacks that screamed “Spain!” and found a good variety of salty and sweet treats. We set up our taste taste at the beautiful Federico Garcia Lorca park here in Granada and got started. We each gave the snacks a rating out of 10 (I use the averages here) and then made some comments about what we liked and didn’t like about each. We also gave each snack a superlative, just for fun!

Here are the results:

Match Ball Sabor BBQ ~ 6.25/10

When you open a bag of Match Ball Sabor BBQ, your senses are immediately inundated with a smell that can only be described as McDonald’s BBQ sauce. The texture is kind of that styrofoam/cardboard, but it’s still pretty good. There is a sort of strange aftertaste, but overall you wouldn’t be disappointed with this snack. It also comes in ketchup flavor!

Superlative: Most Likely to Be Mistaken for a Cheese Ball

Fanta Limon ~ 8/10

This is a flavor of Fanta that we don’t have in the U.S., which made it a must-buy-and-try for us. It has a very strong lemon smell and basically just tastes like carbonated lemonade. That lemon taste is strong though, so watch out!

Superlative: The Biggest Kicker

Ruffles Sabor Jamon ~ 7.2/10

If there’s one thing to know about Spaniards, it’s that they love some good jamon (Spanish ham). These jamon flavored chips smell just like regular Ruffles and don’t have much ham flavor, which was kind of a letdown since we were expecting an explosion of Spanish flavor. But regular tasting Ruffles are always a good snack!

Superlative: The Biggest Disappointment :((

Mini Campurriana Cookies ~ 7.8/10

The back of this package showed that these were best enjoyed with a glass of milk, but we didn’t have any milk and decided it was better to judge them by themselves anyway! These were highly reminiscent of a Nilla wafer and had that same crunch that you look for in a good cookie. It’s not super flavorful, but it is a satisfying snack and the perfect size. 

Superlative: Most Likely to Succeed

Risketos sabor Original ~ 6/10

Immediately these reminded us of the Trader Joe’s cheese crunch snacks that we all know and love. They tasted like a slightly sweeter version of their cousin Cheetos, and definitely hit the spot as a study snack or late-night snack. Not as good as the original, but come on, what can be?

Superlative: The Trader Joe’s Wannabe

Flamin’ Hot Tex-Mex Doritos ~ 7.9/10

These Doritos were not messing around. They are spicier than your average spicy and had our eyes watering a little, even though we can handle spice! They were by far the spiciest thing we’ve had since arriving in Spain! They reminded us of home and all the spicy snacks we’re used to.

Superlative: The All-American Award

Fruna Strawberry ~ 8.3/10

At first, this candy could be mistaken for gum, but it actually has more of a taffy character. It smells soooo delicious, like a strawberry milkshake. It’s a little tough to bite into, so be careful, but it’s totally worth it.

Superlative: Most Likely to Break Your Teeth

Kinder Bueno White ~ 8.6/10

This candy comes with two bars and 4 easy-to-break pieces in each bar, which makes it perfect to share with friends. It mixes hazelnut and chocolate, which is always a good combination. It reminded us of Nutella and has a super rich and creamy taste. This Kinder Bueno bar was muy bueno (had to do it!).

Superlative: The Biggest Sweetheart