Bamba Kosher for Pesach "Pyramids"

The fact that Osem's Bamba is

Kosher for Pesach (kitniyot)

 is not new.

 What is new about this "limited edition" Kosher for Pesach Bamba is the shape of the snack.

They're shaped like pyramids

(to commemorate the pyramids that the Jews built while enslaved)

They taste exactly the same as the regular shaped

 Kosher for Pesach Osem Bamba

 but they are meant to be more fun for the kids.

As I mentioned yesterday, there are more and more kosher for Pesach snacks available these days so Osem needed to do something unique to get consumers attention to choose their Bamba over any of the other snacks on the store shelf.


To see Osem's cute commercial for the Pyramid shaped Bamba click here
   

I think the pyramids shaped Bamba is cute and fun, so if they are the same price as the regular shaped Kosher for Pesach Bamba, and you were planning on buying Bamba for Pesach anyway, why not get a fun shape?

Kids usually enjoy their snacks even more when they are a fun shape.

I also noticed that the Nougat Filled Bamba is Kosher for Pesach but I did not taste it to see if it is any different to the chametz version.

According to Israel Food Tours blog It seems the Kosher for Pesach Bamba is also available in the USA but I am not sure that you will find this fun pyramid shaped or the nougat filled bamba there.

Kosher for Passover     

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

Osem's Pesach Bisli Snacks

Gone are the days that the only "salty/savory" snacks that are available to buy for Pesach are potato chips and nuts. Not that I have anything against potato snacks and nuts but growing up, there were just so many potato and nut snacks I wanted in 8 plus days. (starting whenever the house was "Chametz free" as Conversations in Klal blog explains here). Today there are quite a few Kosher for Pesach salty/savory snack options available on the store shelves, one of which is Osem's Bisli snacks.

The Pesach Bisli is available in a few flavors; barbeque, pizza, falafel, onion and grill flavored.

I tasted the Grill Bisli & Barbeque Bisli

Initially, I thought maybe Osem was joining the "trend" that Elite started with their "Big" line of Shush and Cheetos, because the Pesach Bisli are made "longer and bigger" than the chametz Bisli. It turns out, the reason Osem has made the Pesach Bisli longer or bigger, is so they would visibly look different than the chametz Bisli. Osem wanted to be sure that we, the consumer, will not confuse the two.

At first I was not sure Osem succeeded in this attempt, the barbeque Bisli is obviously double in size to the chametz version but the grill spiral Bisli did not look all that much longer to me. Then, when I compared it to the chumatz version I realized that it was in fact a little longer and the chametz grill spiral is actually wound tighter and closer than this Pesach grill spiral Bisli, so they do look slightly different.

Osem did definitely succeed in making the packaging look different, they made half of the package silver and the other half remained the color of the chametz version of each snack.

Bisli is not my favorite salty/spicy snack all year round, I much prefer pretzels but I do think these Pesach Bisli live up to what they are meant to be. They are made with Matzo meal, yet they don’t have a distinct "Pesach taste". They are spicy & crunchy and in that way, similar to the chametz Bisli, but they do taste ever so slightly different.   

The Kosher for Pesach Bisli have no added preservatives, no food coloring and no Kitniyot.

I wanted to point out to my many USA readers that these Pesach Bisli are likely to be available in a supermarket near you as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see on Israel Food Tours blog that these Bisli are available in Portland, Oregon. So it's likely they'll be on the shelves in other states as well.

Bottom Line:  I think those that enjoy Bisli all year round will enjoy these Pesach Bisli too, but they will notice a little difference in taste.

70 gram bag- 4.50 NIS (two for 5 NIS at Mega Bool)

Kosher Rabbinate (Charlap) No Kitniyot Kosher for Passover 

             חרל"פ                                

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

Nougat Filled Cereals for Pesach

Both Nestle Crunch and Telma have a nougat filled cereal for Pesach. I tasted both of them.

Nestlé Crunch's Rolls Nougat Cereal

Nestle Crunch who recently gave us Nestle Crunch Duo Cereal now have a Kosher for Pesach Crunch Rolls Nougat Cereal, a Pesach version of a cereal (with the same name) that they sell all year round.

The Chametz version has "tube-like" nougat filled rolls and "coco puff" like cereal balls mixed together, whereas this Pesach version is only the "tube-like" nougat filled rolls.

This cereal is made primarily with matzo meal but also has some potato starch in it. Thankfully the potato starch taste is only an after taste; the nougat flavor masks it fairly well. Crunch Rolls Cereal "kind of" passes my "potato starch test".

When I added milk I did taste a slight salty undertone. I'm not sure if that’s from the potato starch or not but I didn’t really enjoy the touch of salt. The milk did turn into a light chocolate milk but it did not make the cereal completely soggy, which is a good thing in my opinion.

Compared to the chametz version there is less nougat filling and they are less crunchy even without milk, both of which I somewhat "missed" about the Pesach version.

As with most of their cereals Nestle Crunch added 9 vitamins and minerals  to this Pesach version as well, including a few B vitamins, iron and folic-acid to name a few.

I'm not sure why they are calling them "long rolls" they don’t seem very long to me and they are smaller and shorter than the Cariot from Telma

For a Pesach breakfast cereal I would say Nestle Crunch Rolls is fairly good. I personally would more likely eat it as a snack than a cereal but most sugar cereals I prefer as a snack rather than with milk as a breakfast option.

370 grams 20.00 NIS

Kosher Parve Kosher for Passover kitniyot Rabbinate Sderot

Telma's Cariot Nougat filled Pesach Cereal

Cariot is much crunchier than "Crunch's Nougat Rolls Cereal" and Cariot also has much more nougat filling than the Crunch Rolls. So right off the bat I liked Telma's Cariot better than the Nestle cereal.

Cariot is made with matzo meal so they are not gluten free but they have no potato starch. That's a HUGE plus for me. Taste wise I actually could not really tell that they were a Pesach cereal but I didn't have the chametz Cariot at the same time to do a proper comparison.

I actually think the Pesach Cariot would make a great snack. As I mentioned above I prefer cereal as a snack anyway, but I added milk for the purposes of this review. With milk they obviously lost some of their crunchiness but they didn't become too soggy. The benefit of the added milk was that the nougat filling became softer and "yummier" in a way. The milk didn't turn into chocolate milk it only got a very slight chocolate color tint.

As a snack these are a big winner for me! I'm actually quite impressed with Telma. Maybe I should also try their new Kosher for Pesach cornflakes?

Cariot Nougat Filled Cereal has no added preservatives and no food coloring.

500 grams 24.99 NIS

Kosher Parve  

Kosher for Passover- kitniyot -Rabbinate Safed

Even though many don’t eat kitniyot on Pesach, a friend pointed out that these can be a good option for the kid's breakfast on Shabbat Ha'gadol morning, when many might already have koshered their kitchen for Pesach. They can also be given as a snack while you're cleaning for Pesach, so you don’t have to worry that the kids will get chametz around the house in areas that are already chametz free.

Bottom Line: The Kosher for Pesach cereals are not cheap but most kosher for Pesach items are expensive. I did enjoy both of these cereals but personally I much preferred the Cariot from Telma. I'm likely to eat them as a snack and not necessarily as a breakfast cereal.     

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

Osem & Elite's Kosher for Pesach Cakes

Both Osem and Elite have a few Kosher for Pesach cakes available.

Osem Ha'Bayit has Marble, Chocolate Chip, Brownies, Brownies with Coconut and finally Date-Silan Walnut Cake.

Elite has Rich Chocolate Brownies, Coconut Brownies and Vanilla Cake with a touch of Chocolate Cream cakes.

I tasted the Date-Silan & Walnut cake from Osem and the Rich Chocolate Brownies from Elite.

Osem's Date Silan & Walnut Cake was very moist and fluffy, but the cake was too sweet. I was disappointed that it was a "sugar" sweetness rather than "date silan" flavor. I should not have been surprised, considering the first ingredient is sugar. Sadly the date-silan flavor got totally lost.

I thought there was a perfect amount of walnuts in the cake and they did help balance the sweetness a bit, but not enough.

One of the biggest issues I have with Kosher for Pesach cakes is; I do NOT enjoy the taste of potato starch. Any product that has an overwhelming potato starch taste will not get rave reviews from me. This Osem Date Silan & Walnut cake actually kind of passed the "potato starch test". Yes there is a potato starch aftertaste but it really is not as bad as most other commercial Kosher for Pesach potato starch cakes.

This cake is NOT gluten free. It has matzo meal in it but, it does not have Kitnoyot and it is Kosher Parve Mehadren. Kosher for Passover

400 gram cake 16.99 NIS

Elite's Rich Chocolate Brownie is a whole different story. It was very dry and had way too much of a coco taste as opposed to a chocolate taste. It seemed like I was eating a spoonful of coco and potato starch, no it did NOT pass my "potato starch test" at all!!

This brownie was more of a cake than a brownie. That's never a good thing in my book. I really enjoy a good flowerless Pesach brownie but this Elite rich chocolate brownie is NOT a winner.

Its Kosher Parve Rabbanut, Nazareth-Illit Kosher for Passover

 It seems to be gluten free but it's not clearly written as such. It does have "Laptit" which I understand is what canola oil is made of.

380 gram cake- 12.99 NIS

Bottom Line: Osem's Date Silan & Walnut Cake is alright. It's not the best or the worst Kosher for Pesach commercial cake I've tasted throughout the years, whereas Elite's Rich Chocolate Brownie was one of the worst in my opinion.

If I need to buy "store bought" baked goods for Pesach I think I would rather try my favorite bakery and stay away from any Osem or Elite commercial cakes.

I wanted to let my USA readers know that Mara over at Kosher on a Budget blog is running a contest-the prize is a package of goodies from Osem USA , so if you want to possibly win some of the items I'll be reviewing between now and Pesach, go over to Kosher on a Budget and enter. Sadly its only for USA readers, and you gotta hurry because the contest ends tomorrow April 7, but her blog is worth reading all the time. Not only for her USA coupons but also for her great money saving tips no matter where you live     

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

OfTov's Olive Oil Turkey-Breast Deli-Meat

Update: Of Tov won a Product of the YearAwards 2013 for their line of low fat olive oil cold cuts. I am not sure but I think this product may be considered part of that line. 

 
OfTov is trying to keep up in the extremely competitive cold-cut/deli-meat department, so they have developed a new product; Turkey-Breast Cold-Cut with Olive Oil.

There are 2 olive oil enriched deli-meat options; Turkey-Breast and Turkey-Breast with Herbs. I tasted the one without the herbs.

I enjoyed OfTov's new Olive Oil Turkey-Breast Cold-Cut. It tasted like a low fat "real" turkey-breast deli-meat, but in actuality it's not low fat. Low fat cold-cut turkey-breast normally has 18 calories a slice; this OfTov cold-cut has 23 calories per slice. Yes the fat is from olive oil, which is a healthier oil, that has many health benefits but it's still not a "low fat" deli-meat.

I was happy to read that there was no MSG, no gluten, no food coloring and no trans-fats. I did think it had a "healthy" taste, but I mean that in a good way.  It didn’t feel like I was eating "junk meat". 

Had it not said on the package that it was made with olive oil, I would never have known. It has a "fresh & clean" turkey-breast taste but there was nothing special or unique about the taste. The meat did not have an "olive-oil" flavor.

I would prefer if the turkey was sliced a bit thinner, but that's really not a big deal.   

I understand "cold-cut meats" is a competitive department which requires "creativity" to get the consumers to choose your product. Just like Tirat Tzvi's Toast-Ready Lunch-Meat attempt.  So it's clear why OfTov is "trying so hard" but…

  

Bottom Line: taste wise, this end result is not "special enough" for me to choose the OfTov Olive-Oil Turkey-Breast over a truly low fat, non MSG, non trans-fat cold-cut.

300 grams – 26.90 NIS

Kosher: Mehadrin

 (אויירבך (

Kosher for Passover No Kitniyot

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

Tivoll & Chef Erez Komrovsky's Eggplant or Zucchini "Burger"

It seems to be a trend of sorts for big companies to team up with successful Chef's to try and make a less commercial product. Tivoll teamed up with Chef Erez Komrovsky awhile ago and now have added 2 new products to their joint line;

 Zucchini "Burger" covered with Flax Seeds and

Spicy Eggplant "Burger".

Zucchini "Burger"/Patty-Cake

I really enjoyed the zucchini "burger" (patty-cake); it had a clean vegetable taste. There were other flavors but nothing overpowered the pure fresh zucchini taste. The "burger" has fairly large chucks of zucchini that I thought would bother me but they were perfectly soft and gave a real "home style" taste to the zucchini patty-cake.

I didn’t think the flax seeds added or subtracted too much from the overall flavor but they didn’t bother me in anyway. They most likely contributed to the crispness of the outside leaving the inside wonderfully moist and enjoyable.

The zucchini "burger"/patty-cake was a wholesome & refreshing pleasant surprise that can be eaten as a side dish or even a main course for vegetarians.

Spicy Eggplant "Burger"/ Patty-Cake

The eggplant "burger"/ patty-cake has a little more of a complex mix of flavors but I would not categorize it as spicy. As with the zucchini "burger" I warmed up the eggplant "burger" in an oven and not the microwave so again the outside was crispy leaving the inside perfectly moist.

I didn't like the eggplant "burger" as much as I enjoyed the zucchini one. Not that it was bad or anything I just really preferred the freshness of the zucchini flavor.

I think those who like baked or fried eggplant would enjoy this Tivoll eggplant "burger" /patty-cake very much.

According to the packaging both products do not have added preservatives. They are both made with fresh herbs and are a good source of fiber.

I should have transferred all the "burgers"/patty-cakes into a vacuum sealed zip-lock bag immediately after buying them. Although they were completely sealed, and only sat in my freezer for a few days, I did see icicles when I opened the package. Even though they come in a zip-lock package, in order to prevent freezer burn, I will not keep them in the packaging they came in.

Bottom Line: I think Tivoll and Chef Erez Komrovsky have really succeeded in making a commercial product much more "home-style" and enjoyable.

500 grams 28.90 NIS

Kosher Rabbinate Nahariya

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

This week's edition of Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival is up on

Frume Sarah's World 

Bulletin: Prigat's New Bottle Cap

Another new packaging of sorts that’s getting some attention is Prigat's new bottle cap.

The fact is the juices inside are exactly the same as they have always been. Prigat claims the new cap is intended to make it "easier to open". It adds no benefit to the juice itself. I, for one, had no problem with the old cap and never had a hard time opening them. I don’t really see the reason to make a bigger cap, using more plastic, which may or may not end up in the recycling bin. It must be that they are just fallowing a trend; a friend who lives in the USA pointed out, to me, that Tropicana Trop50 has a similar new cap on their bottles. (As far as I know Tropicana is not available here.)

Prigat added a sticker on the cap; because otherwise you would not have known if the bottle had been opened already or not. With the old cap you have a "security strip" at the bottom that visibly comes apart once the cap was opened but this new cap does not have that, so they added the sticker. If it's ripped then the cap has been opened. With all the technology we have available these days, all Prigat can come up with is a sticker! I wasn't impressed, but their juices are still perfectly enjoyable as they always have been.

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