March 12, 2009 by traveler.

Back in January, I posted an article about some unusual chocolate bars from 3400 Phinney. I thought it would be a one-time event, but my hook-up began stocking other varieties of 3400 Phinney chocolate bars. With great apprehension, I decided to accept the challenge and venture out once more into the vast chocolate wilderness. With the abject failure of the Coconut Curry chocolate bar, I decided to play it a bit safer in selecting flavors for this batch.

Hazelnut Crunch
If you are a fan of Nutella, I bet your ears just perked up. This chocolate bar will surprise you, however, because it doesn’t use hazelnut cream like you might expect. I completely anticipated some velvety, rich hazelnut flavor blended into the chocolate, but that wouldn’t be a 3400 Phinney creation. This bar differentiates itself by adding large slivers of actual hazelnut nestled into the milk chocolate. This gives the bar a nice nutty taste (imagine that!) - FAR from what hazelnut/chocolate lovers would expect. The slivers also impart a salty finish, giving the bar a nice blend of salty and sweet in every bite. If you like hazelnut, this bar will expand your ideas of what a hazelnut chocolate bar can be. Despite your initial reservations, however, this might turn into your favorite hazelnut chocolate treat!

Vanilla
Simple, elegant vanilla. This bar is exactly what you anticipate, and it does not let you down. You may wonder what the ’spin’ will be on this flavor, but there is no real trick, no surprise. The only twist to this flavor is that the chocolate bar’s simplicity really allows the ingredients to breathe and the quality to shine through. Besides, after choking down bites of Coconut Curry, sometimes you just need to tuck into an uncomplicated Vanilla flavor.

Stay tuned for more unusual chocolate treats- I have more flavors yet to review.

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January 11, 2009 by traveler.

When you think of your favorite ice cream flavors, what comes to mind? Strawberry, chocolate, butter pecan, maybe mint chocolate chip? What about Saffron? Is saffron on your list? If not, it might be soon.

Baskin Robbins ME unleashed September’s flavor of the month- Saffron Escapade. This new flavor incorporates saffron ice cream, sesame cardamom brittle, and a honey ribbon. For those not familiar with saffron and cardamom, Wikipedia describes cardamom as having a ’strong, unique taste’ with a ‘coolness similar to mint.’ Saffron is described as ‘hay-like and somewhat bitter.’ Sounds like perfect ice cream ingredients, right?

Despite initial reservations, I would recommend trying the flavor IF you enjoy flavor contrasts, particularly the interplay of savory and sweet. Lately that has been a big theme of mine, and so I enjoyed the Saffron Escapade tremendously. In fact, I went back to Baskin Robbins the very next day to buy another serving of this experimental flavor. I’m glad I did, because the flavor appears to have disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

In the end, you might be glad you missed it. In an attempt to win converts, I managed to disgust several people who thought Saffron Escapade was hands-down the worst ice cream flavor they have ever tasted. I, however, loved the taste and would gladly pick up a scoop if I find it again. (BR- make Saffron Escapade flavor of the month again!) In any event, I will remember it as one of the weirdest ice cream flavors I’ve tried.

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January 3, 2009 by traveler.

Time for round one of Weird Food. For the series’ premiere, we are looking at chocolate bars with, well, interesting ingredients. Theo Chocolate brings us the 3400 Phinney Chocolate line, featuring organic chocolate from Fair Trade certified cocoa beans. These are not your mother’s chocolate bars. These flavors will challenge the most adventurous candy connoisseur.

Coconut Curry chocolate
I am a huge fan of coconut curry. Coconut curry chicken, that is. Coconut curry chocolate is not my idea of a tempting treat. With great trepidation I unwrapped the bar, half expecting evil spirits to be unleashed. I dutifully took a bite and was surprised that the curry flavor wasn’t as overpowering as I expected. I took a second bite and realized that the curry does kinda build up from bite to bite. After my third bite, the curry flavor exploded in intensity, blocking out any pleasant chocolate flavor. There wasn’t a fourth bite. The only person I can imagine might like this ‘chocolate’ bar is someone who…actually, I can’t imagine anyone liking it. Shame.

Fig Fennel & Almond chocolate
I shook off my unpleasant memories of the coconut curry and moved on to this more palatable-sounding flavor. Those with adventurous tastes might enjoy the flavors in this chocolate bar. The almond slivers and fennel interacted nicely with the bittersweet dark chocolate. I was relieved to eat this candy bar, because it reaffirmed my faith in 3400 Phinney. While this bar might not become my new favorite (hard to beat a simple peanut butter cup), I can see it satisfying a craving for unique chocolate flavors. Try one for yourself and see what you think.

Based on their website, 3400 Phinney has a number of other unique flavors. If I get to try any others, I will let you know. Also, stay tuned for further Weird Food posts- a loved/hated Baskin Robbins experiment is coming up.

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December 27, 2008 by traveler.

This food-induced coma is a killer. Such awesome food, but I can’t take much more of the ‘holiday spirit’. Gotta be good…next year the only coma you’ll find me in is a Christmas cauliflower coma.

I found some weird food items this holiday season, and I’ll share some of them shortly…right now I’m too full to type anymore. Merry Christmas!!

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November 29, 2008 by traveler.

Blech. Too…much…turkey… On a day like this, after a huge meal, your stomach needs something normal and soothing. Like Lay’s Rotisserie Chicken potato chips. Not your style? Maybe you’d prefer their Ham & Cheese chips. No? Then you’d love their Mustard & Pickles chips. BARF! If you’re crazy enough to try them, you can find them in Tunisia. (As in Luke Skywalker’s house, and home of the real Tatooine). Here’s a video featuring a Tunisian Star Wars set.

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June 6, 2008 by traveler.

I was browsing the candy aisle when I stopped abruptly in my tracks. Elvis Presley Collector Edition Reese’s Peanut Butter & Banana Creme Cups. The marketers did their job- they convinced me to part with my change to purchase a product that I guessed would be terrible.

A few minutes (and several grams of saturated fat) later, the candy exceeded my expectations. It was even more terrible than I had guessed. Of all the artificial fruit flavors out there, I have always hated fake banana flavor the most. Fake banana flavor is so bad, it makes me hate the taste of actual bananas. Burying that flavor among enjoyable chocolate and peanut butter doesn’t work well. Skip the ‘collector’s edition’ and go with the tried and true PB cups. These Peanut Butter & Banana Creme cups are so bad they beg the question- is this what killed Elvis?

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May 25, 2008 by traveler.

I didn’t know all-you-can-eat baseball seats were popular. Apparently tickets are selling briskly for these seats, which feature a range of free concessions from popcorn to hot dogs. If only baseball were fun to watch, this would be a great deal.

I remember going to Wrigley Field as a kid and watching the Cubs play. Wrigley is a great historic park to visit, but the action was so slow I resorted to throwing peanut shells into a woman’s hair to keep entertained. (Note to self: bored kid + projectiles = trouble) If they had all-you-can-eat peanuts back then, just think of the carnage.

This USA Today article lists the stadiums that have all-you-can-eat seats for 2008. If you’re a baseball fan and you live near one of these stadiums, check out their all-you-can-eat seats. Just keep your peanut shells to yourself.

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May 11, 2008 by traveler.

Wow.  I just wrote a post about Baskin Robbins, and they are in the news again.  This article in USA Today details Baskin Robbins’ latest plan- selling soft serve ice cream.  

Ever since its introduction, Baskin Robbins has focused exclusively on hand-scooped ice cream.  Generations of scoopers have the Popeye-style forearms to prove it.  NPD Group’s research shows that soft serve represents 70% of ice cream servings, though.  The International Dairy Foods Association says that soft serve sales topped $4.6 billion in 2006.  I personally eat more soft serve than hand-scooped ice cream.  I don’t know, however, how Baskin Robbins will convince me to buy their soft serve.  Baskin Robbins will have to establish its own niche to differentiate itself from established soft serve shops like Cold Stone, Dairy Queen, Pinkberry, and more.   Going soft can be surprisingly hard (sorry- couldn’t resist).  Everyone does the soft serve/mix-in thing- will B-R go down that route or forge its own path?  

The timing of this announcement is notable because of Irv Robbins‘ recent death.   This announcement is likely a result of Baskin Robbins’ assessment of the marketplace.  Seeing this growing market segment, they probably hope to grab market share based on their brand identity.  Hopefully they bring something fresh and we have more ice cream options coming this summer.

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May 7, 2008 by traveler.

Raise your Jamoca Almond Fudge in honor of Irvine Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins. Valerie Nelson’s article in the LA Times chronicles Robbins’ contributions to ice cream fans everywhere.

Robbins opened his ice cream shop, Snowbird, in Glendale after leaving the Army in 1945. Mr. Baskin started his own shop, Burton’s, in Pasadena in 1946. The two became business partners and by 1948 they had 8 shops between them (5 Snowbirds and 3 Burton’s). In 1953, they rebranded the company as Baskin-Robbins and introduced the concept of 31 flavors (not to be confused with 21 Choices, another great Pasadena spot).

What really grabbed me about the article was Robbins’ focus on innovative flavors. When the Dodgers moved to LA, Baskin-Robbins celebrated with Baseball Nut, Lunar Cheesecake marked the ‘69 moon landing, etc… Being a longtime Gold Medal Ribbon fan, I am grateful for the creation of new flavors and for convincing Americans to expand their ice cream tastes. Of course, this innovation comes with its share of ill-fated experiments. I had never heard before that Baskin-Robbins attempted Lox & Bagel and Ketchup ice creams. Barf. Then again, I guess you can get garlic ice cream at The Stinking Rose, so to each their own.

This weekend I think I’ll celebrate Irvine Robbins’ life with a scoop of Gold Medal Ribbon. Without Mr. Robbins, we wouldn’t have the abundant ice cream choices from numerous companies that we have today. Who knows- maybe we wouldn’t have modern-day classics like Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream.

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