Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Tivall Broccoli Muffins




מאפינס טבעול
Tivall; known for ready-made food items like Schnitzel and vegetable patties among other; foods you can just pull out of the freezer and reheat, to have a fairly healthy meal in a matter of minutes, have added vegetable “muffins” to their ever growing lines of products.

These savory muffins are available in four flavors; Corn, Tomato ‘n Olive, Onion ‘n Leek and Broccoli. I chose to try the Broccoli one.

You will find these muffins in the freezer department of your local supermarket. You get 12 small (42 grams each) muffins per bag. Each muffin is in a paper “cupcake/muffin holder” that can be put in the microwave or toaster over so you do not have to remove the muffin from the holder to heat it up. 

I really did not like the bag/packaging because once you open the bag you can’t re-close it. I had to put the rest of the muffins in a trusty Sano Vacuum “zip-lock” bag to return them to the freezer. I think Tivall need to use the re-sealable packaging they used for their Tivall Pizza Flavored Potato “Snack” for all of their freezer products. 

As soon as I opened the package I got a very strong whiff of broccoli, on the one hand that bothered me but on the other hand what did I expect? It’s a broccoli muffin that’s what it should smell like.

The packaging says the muffins can be warmed either in the microwave (2 muffins on high for about a minute) or in a toaster oven (for 13-15 minutes at 180c ). So I warmed two in the microwave and two in the toaster oven. 1 minute in the microwave really did warm them thru and thru but 13-15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius was not enough. The outside was nice and golden but the inside was still frozen. I had to cut the muffins in half and put them back in the toaster oven for 5 more minutes to get them warmed thru and thru.

The microwaved muffins were more disappointing than the toaster oven ones but neither of them impressed me at all. They were both kind of bland, which surprised me given the strong broccoli smell I mentioned before, still taste-wise I found them way too bland. I ended up eating them with salsa to add flavor because alone they were just tasteless to me. The ones I had warmed up in the microwave were way more sponge-like than the oven warmed muffins but all of them had somewhat of a sponge-like texture that I really disliked. The toaster oven did add some crispiness that somewhat helped with the sponge-like texture, those tasted like a bad version of “double-baked” bland mashed potatoes with a hint of broccoli (oddly enough, potatoes is not one of the ingredients). Regardless they were both way too bland not enjoyable to me. 

Bottom Line: I like the idea of these Tivall Broccoli Muffins but they still need lots of work to make them tasty and worth buying. The best way I can describe the microwaved Broccoli Tivall Muffin is to say, it kind of felt like I was eating a sponge with a hint of broccoli and the one I put in the toasted oven reminded me of bland, poorly made, double-baked mashed potatoes with a hint of broccoli, both of which are a fail in my book.

I also think Tivall needs to rethink the packaging because if you aren’t going to use 12 at a time you need to be able to re-close the packaging to put them back in the freezer.



Pack of 12 muffins- 42 grams each - 24.90 NIS

כשרות:  פרועה - רבנות נהרייה.


 Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own

4 comments:

  1. I haven't seen these yet, but I'm glad I read your review-I won't touch the broccoli ones. I may try the onion and leek version.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let me know what you think when/if you try them.

      Also take into account that after I posted my blog yesterday I read a Hebrew review online and she loved the broccoli ones (she tasted all the options) and said the broccoli was her favorite but she liked them all.

      So, as you know, everyone has different tastes and opinions maybe you will like them?

      Here is the link to the Hebrew reviewer who liked them if you want to read her opinion.

      http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/net/ViewEntry.aspx?EntryId=2572223&skip=1

      Thanks for your comments

      Delete
    2. Interesting, but the more I think of it, the more I feel like I prefer my broccoli in its pure vegetable form anyway. She does make a strong case for the tomato ones though, which I had initially ruled out completely. In the meantime, I have yet to see these on the shelves.

      Delete
    3. Interesting, but the more I think of it, the more I feel like I prefer my broccoli in its pure vegetable form anyway.
      --- I hear you.

      She does make a strong case for the tomato ones though, which I had initially ruled out completely.

      --- yes she does and I gotta say I heard someone at the supermarket telling her friend how much she liked these muffins (not sure what flavor they were talking about I just happened to be next to them on the check out line) and she was telling her friend how she should buy them for sure - so maybe I am in the minority on this one- hay as they say
      על טעם וריח אין להתווכח = (you can't argue about taste or scent)

      Delete