Snackspert’s week: ‘I really do love local snacks’
Eke Bosman, better known as Instagram phenomenon @snackspert, ate his first frikandel as a baby, hates vlammetjes, has devoured at least 1,000 burgers in his lifetime, suspects there is more mayonnaise in his body than blood, and shares his best and worst snack reviews on FavorFlav every other week.
Without a doubt heavenly
Cheese meatball, Café de Plak, Nijmegen
Nijmegen is a beautiful city, and you know what makes it so great? The city also has a local snack. While Groningen can rightly be proud of its eierbal, the people of Nijmegen can genuinely be happy with their cheese meatball. Developed by the wonderful and quirky Café de Plak; apparently it’s a household name in this city, and I get it. Contrary to what the name suggests, the cheese meatball is NOT made of meat, so vegetarians can indulge. Is it a cheese soufflé? No, not that either. It’s a deep-fried ball containing cheese (duh, by the way, you should read this à la Billie Eilish, you know) and a few other ingredients that make the ball wonderfully creamy. A little broth-like, if you know what I mean? And it’s so delicious on a bun. Although the roll is slightly dry and the tomato and cucumber may be a little too fresh, the flavor of this deep-fried cheese meatball is as rich and soft as an average character from Despicable Me. I really do love local snacks. Come to the rest of the country soon. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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?: Café de Plak, Nijmegen
?: @cafedeplak
?: 7.95 euros
Without a doubt heavenly
Vegan frikandels from Beckers, Mora and VanReuzel, Horecava
This year’s Horecava snack hall (the trade fair for A LOT OF FOOD) is mainly focused on vegan and vegetarian products, which makes sense because snack manufacturers have a lot of catching up to do in that area. After all, we already have perfect meat snacks, so the good vegan and vegetarian options should definitely follow. This month, the battle seems to be over the ultimate vegan frikandel, with no fewer than three manufacturers introducing a new one: VanReusel, Beckers (in collaboration with Flexitarian Bastards) and Mora (in collaboration with De Vegetarische Slager). Let me give them a short but powerful review per frikandel:
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Beckers launched a vegan frikandel before, but unfortunately it wasn’t well received. It tasted more like pulverized plants, which should never be the intention. That’s why they enlisted the help of the Flexitarian Bastards, and that was definitely a good idea: the bite of this vegan frikandel is now incredibly good and reminds me of the original frikandel, although I still find that it tastes a little like soybeans. In other words: the bite is perfect, the flavor is fine.
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Mora’s (and De Vegetarische Slager’s) is excellent in terms of flavor; you immediately taste the herbs that give the frikandel its heavenly taste. The bite is somewhat less impressive here, though: you do miss the tender feeling of meat in your mouth. In other words: the bite could be better, the flavor is perfect.
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Funny enough, VanReusel lands exactly in between: the bite is fine, and the flavor is good too. The flavor could be better—it could certainly be a little more expressive—and the bite could still improve a little. But they’re on the right track.
In conclusion: Mora and Beckers need to make some adjustments to deliver a perfect vegan frikandel, while VanReusel is on the right track but could push a little harder. But if I have to choose one, it would be Mora. Purely because of the flavor (even without curry, mayo and onions).
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Beckers bite: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beckers flavor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mora bite: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mora flavor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
VanReusel bite: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
VanReusel flavor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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?: Horecava in Amsterdam
?: @mora_nederland & @beckerssnacks & @vanreusel_snacks
?: n/a
Food for the trash
Frikandel speciaal salad, Jumbo
You’re away in America for a while and, my God, Jumbo launches a frikandel speciaal salad. At first I thought it was another crazy meme, but this crazy meme became reality because I got my hands on one. The frikandel speciaal salad—I’m already willing to predict that next year we’ll have frikandel speciaal lollipops, and I’ll be the first to stick one of those things in my mouth. Mark my words. But anyway, what is the frikandel speciaal salad like? Well. It’s a bit like all those other salads, from chicken curry salad to Johma’s tuna salad. It’s all just not quite there, you know? A bit of the reserve goalkeeper of salads. A real student meal, yes guys, love you, but when I was a student I really only ate these kinds of disgusting salads. That’s possible. And Jumbo actually takes the wrong approach: it’s a bit like chicken curry salad, but with pieces of frikandel in it. I didn’t get a ‘wow, this is really a frikandel speciaal moment’. Although it isn’t disgusting, I really expected more from it. Now it’s like any other salad, and if everyone takes the same exit, you end up in a traffic jam. ⭐️⭐️
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?: Jumbo
?: @jumbo
?: 1.99 euros
