Brownie Points

I’m a sucker for packaging. Cool containers just want to be fondled, and nice design gets to come home with me. It can be an expensive addiction, though knowledge is the first step right?

So, I tried some restraint with these cute nut blends called Sahale Snacks. They’ve actually been in the grocery store for several months now, and I am only now trying them for the first time. The packaging itself is a straight-forward pouch, but the image of the nuts is quite enticing! Staged like a severly lit still life, each package front spotlights the contained goodies cuddled by a petite small bowl (the images in this post are from their gorgeous website). I love little bowls, and nuts, so I swooped three of their expensive (right around $3 for 2 oz) little blends into my shopping basket.

Sahale is the name of a nearby waterfall, one of many that tends to spoil Oregoneans. Sahale (pronounced Sa-hall-ee) is a Chinook word meaning “High”… which gives me a good idea for my own homemade version of Sahale snacks for next year’s Burning Man!

Each variety is named to honor the region of an ingredient in the nut mix:

• Valdosta, a town in Georgia graces the pecan mix.
• Socorro, a city of New Mexico, gives a nod of appreciation to the chipotles in the mango-macadamia blend.
• Ksar, an Arabicword for groupings of houses, hails the home of harissa, which spices up this sesame seed mix.

 
 
Ksar Blend: pistachio, sesame seed, pepita, fig, harissa

• - spicy like chili peppers, almost smokey, “meaty” flavors,. Not sweet, deep to middle range of flavor notes (not top). Pieces well clumped together, so you get all the flavors in your mouth at once.

 
 
 

 
Socorro Blend: macadamia, hazelnut, mango, papaya, chipotle

• - immediate cumin flavor top note, reminds me of good Indian food. Sweet, with a nice mellow middle ground flavor contributed by the macadamia. The macadamia also provides a nice satisfying texture- a fatty crunch. The dried fruit bits clump themselves separately from the nuts, so different flavors float to the surface depending on what you grabbed.

Valdosta Blend: pecan, sweet cranberry, black pepper, orange zest

• - the whole pecan halves are glazed helping retain their roasted crunchiness. The earthy roasted nuts work well with the slight bite of pepper (I wanted more pepper). This mix is also not clumped together- but there are only pecans or cranberries to grab- so the flavor facilates from crunchy roasted peppered nuts, to sweet and tangy dried cranberries. I had a difficult time tasting the orange in this blend. As these are my favorite stuffing flavors, (as in bread stuffing, not as in over-eating!) I wonder how candied pecans would do tossed in this coming Thanksgiving…

These little gourmet snacks are a fun vacation for the mouth. They’re a bit expensive for casual snacking, but would be wonderful sprinkled in salads, on top of ice cream, or around fried fish.

These snacks are after my heart, I think I’ll let them in.

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