Food Find: Pretzel Crisps!

There few things in life better than a well made pretzel. As I think about the foods I have a passion for, the word "pretzel" comes back again and again.

My favorite ballpark fare? The hot, soft pretzel. Even though I am constantly disappointed by cold, slimy, and tiny soft pretzels, or the mediocrity of the mass-produced, not-so-super "Superpretzel," when a soft pretzel is made right, nothing beats it. The best ones are barbecued over charcoal briquets, and for some reason the entreprenuers found in stadium parking lots roasting pretzels out of a shopping cart that has been converted into a mobile grill beats anything found within the stadium at thrice the price.

My favorite casual dining entree? Bennigan's Turkey O' Toole. This is a hot turkey sandwich served on a pretzel roll. Yummmmm.... There are no Bennigan's where I live, and I believe the chain's restaurant total may be dwindling nationwide, but it would be a sad day if the Turkey O'Toole met its demise. Live on, Bennigan's! Slainte!

And of course, I love a good, old-fashioned hard pretzel. Purists will tell you a pretzel must be twisted to be a true pretzel, but I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the pretzel nugget. The best ones are made by UTZ. Utz is a brand out of Pennsylvania, and if your local supermarket doesn't carry Utz pretzels you should do yourself a favor and order some online! Trust me, there is a difference.

The pretzels don't need to be twisted theory is taken to the extreme by USAirways though. On filghts they give out these tiny bags of snacks that stretch the definition of pretzel to the extreme with an abomination they call Pretzel Minis or something like that. These are basically pretzel crumbs, and are not unlike the shards of pretzel you usually would find at the bottom of a bag of pretzels.

Enough about air fare though. The purpose of this posting is to tell you about a new food find that we discovered at Harris Teeter supermarket yesterday. They are a new development in pretzel technology! They are called Pretzel Crisps, and basically the best way to describe them is to picture your basic bite sized pretzel, remove the white middle, leaving only the tasty brown exterior. Then flatten the pretzel, so it's like a pretzel shaped cracker! The company boasts these treats as the world's first spreadable pretzel, easily accomodating your favorite cheese for example, but these little gems are delicious all on their own. Check them out!!!