Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--a Swedish/Norwegian Lingonberry Jam

      Over a decade ago, on September 23rd, 2013, to be exact, I did a post on lingonberries, in jam or spread form.  At that point in my blog history, I concentrated mainly on the food or drink type itself, and not on the brand or company that made the product.  Therefore, I don't think I tried the lingonberry jam from the Felix brand, but because I didn't mention it, I'm not 100% sure of this.  At any rate, in this post I won't discuss lingonberries as a plant and food, and will mainly cover the brand and companies behind it.  So either way, it will be new information.

     The history of the Felix brand goes back to the 1930's.  A man named Herbert Felix arrived in Sweden, from what's now the Czech Republic.  Some sources say he originally came here in 1930, while others list it as being 1938 or 1939.  Reportedly, Herbert was fleeing the Nazis, indicating that he was probably a member of a group that the Nazis persecuted, such as the Jews, Romani, the LBGT community, Jehovah's Witnesses, trade unionists, etc.  Anyway, before this Herbert had worked for a pickling business back home, in what was probably a family business, since it had "Felix" in its name.  So, when the Swedish AB P. Hakansson company needed help with their own pickling/vinegar company, Herbert was a natural choice to hire.  Together they formed the Felix company.  Initially the firm marketed pickled cucumbers, but it gradually expanded its product list.  By the 1950's Felix was also selling meat soups, porridge, pastas, and its two signature products, meatballs and ketchup.  As the decades passed, Felix was sold to several other companies in turn--AB Cardo, Cavenham Foods, and Beijerinvest among them.  In 1995 it was acquired by the Norwegian company Orkla, which is the current owner.  Orkla, in turn, has an ever longer history.  The ancestor of the business was a pyrite mining company, that dated all the way back to 1654.  In 1904 Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag was founded by a man named Christian Thams.  At first this firm was also involved in mining and smelting.  But over the years they changed their focus, buying up various newspapers and forming a media empire, and then by acquiring various food and beverage brands around the turn of the 21st century and beyond.  Currently Orkla owns about 30 brands, and makes over 500 food/beverage products.  Aside from Felix, some other brands it owns include Abba (yes, the same as the band), Bob, Fun Light, Grandiosi, Jokk, King Gustaf. Pauluns, and Svennes.  I labeled this post as being both Swedish and Norwegian since the parent Orkla company is Norwegian, but the jam itself is designated as being a "delicacy of Sweden," and was processed in one of Orkla's Swedish factories.

Felix lingonberry jam:  This looked like canned cranberry sauce.  It had a deep red color, and a gel-like texture, or also like canned cranberry sauce.  It also tasted a lot like cranberry sauce.  It was tart, and good.  I preferred it on some seeded crackers rather than plain, as this mix added to the flavors.  Overall it was a fine jam/spread.  I would definitely recommend this, and would have it again.  If you enjoy cranberry sauce, I think there's a good chance that you will also like this. 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Pickle Whiskey

      I found this one near the checkout area at one of my local liquor stores.  It was my favorite situation for trying a new booze--a small, inexpensive bottle of a mere 50 mL capacity, which cost a dollar or two.  Meaning if I didn't like it, I wouldn't be stuck with like 700 mL (about 24 ounces) of something I abhorred, nor would I have wasted $10, or $12, or more.  This was the pickle whiskey from the T!lted brand.  (And yes, I'm going to use that stylized spelling using the exclamation point throughout this post.)

     T!lted is a brand of the mammoth Sazerac company, which I've covered several times before.  (See, for example my posts on several 99 brand liquors, on December 19, 2020, and on June 11, 2022.) So I won't repeat this business's history again.  T!lted appears to have begun in 2005, as a design, branding, and digital work studio.  Which evidently means they mostly designed logos for other products.  But, in 2018 they partnered up with Sazerac to make a flavored rye whiskey line.  It's a little unclear whether T!lted just designed the logo and marketing scheme for this liquor, or was involved in the creation of it in the first place.  Given their history, I suspect the former is more likely.  Moving on, there are at least two other kinds of T!lted whiskey--a banana-flavored one, and a chocolate kind.

     When I first saw this bottle, I was surprised, and intrigued.  A pickle-flavored whiskey seemed pretty strange.  But T!lted isn't the only brand to make such a thing.  I found at least three others online.  There's Doc Schmickles's Pickle Whiskey, Whicked Pickle Spicy Pickle Flavored Whiskey, and Skatterbrain Crocodill Pickle Whiskey.  But all of these are probably based on a mixed drink, whose history I'll go into in the next paragraph.

     Many mixed drinks and specialty shots have rather vague histories.  It might be known approximately when the beverage was invented, or the general location, but often it's disputed, with several possible candidates.  This is one of the exceptions, mostly.  For starters, drinking booze while eating a pickle has presumably been going on for centuries, as long as there have been alcoholic drinks and pickles.  Reportedly drinking vodka along with a pickle has been popular in Russia for a long time, for example.  But, a related, but somewhat different series of shots is much more recent, and fairly well documented.  On March 12th, 2006, bartender Reggie Cunningham was enjoying a jar of McClure's pickles while behind the bar at the Bushwick Country Club, in Brooklyn, NY.  A lady came in and observed this.  She then asked for a shot of whiskey, along with a chaser shot of the pickle brine from Cunningham's jar.  He obliged, and this duet of shots became a thing at this establishment, and then it spread across the country, and maybe even into other countries.  Reportedly the original whiskey used was the rather cheap Old Crow brand, but since most folks go for a more respected brand, often Jameson's.  The type of whiskey used is apparently fluid, as some other consumers prefer the more sour George Dickel No. 12, or Jim Beam.  Some people substitute another kind of alcohol, such as mezcal or tequila.  And thus was born the Pickleback.  I also find it kind of weird that so many of the details of the first Pickleback are known, but not even the first name of the woman who originally had the idea.  Maybe she left before they could ask her, or maybe they thought if they included her name in the story that she'd sue for a share of the proceeds, or something.  The important point to take away from all of this is that it's a pretty sure bet that the Pickleback led to the development of pickle-flavored whiskeys like T!lted.

T!lted pickle whiskey:  Just as a review, I'm staunchly pro-pickle.  Many times I've sat down and eaten an entire jar of pickles in one sitting.  I like sour, dill-flavored kinds, and sweet, gherkin-style ones too.  So I thought that this drink might be a winning combo, that it might make for a rare whiskey that I could drink straight, and like.  (I usually can only stomach whiskeys as parts of mixed drinks, or if they're say, peanut butter flavored, as I reported on in my July 17, 2021 post.)  Anyway, this whiskey was 70 proof, or 35% alcohol.  Its color was a normal whiskey one, a honey brown.  It had a pickle-ish odor.  The taste was....just awful.  A complete abomination.  Even the tiny amount in this bottle was tough to finish.  I loathed this.  Normally I hate whiskey straight, and this added pickle flavor somehow made it even worse.  A terrible pairing.  Unless you really like the Pickleback shot, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, ever, under any circumstances.

     If you'd like to read my thoughts about another pickle-flavored beverage, this one with no alcohol content, see my post on August 19, 2023.  Although much of the post is about the famous Eagles-Cowboys game in which pickle brine figured prominently.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Some Spanish/American Canned Fish

      For once I won't be talking about how I discovered this blog post topic in my local supermarket, or regular liquor store, or even one of these further away, or in another state.  I didn't find this one at all--it was a holiday gift from some relatives.  Specifically, it was albacore tuna in spicy olive oil, from the Fishwife company.
     The story of the Fishwife company started off a little run-of-the-mill, but got juicier later.  I'll start with the more mundane facts.  Fishwife was founded by two women in 2020--Becca Millstein and Caroline Goldfarb.  Their goal was to make, "ethically sourced, premium, and delicious tinned seafood."  The product list on their official website was a little incomplete, and oddly organized.  But, as near as I could eventually piece together, they make various kinds of tinned, or canned, fish:  salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, tuna, and anchovies.  Some are plain-ish, while many others have spicy seasonings.  Only one of their products is currently kosher, but they're working on expanding this.  Similarly, only one of their wares contains gluten.  I also saw a "Proposition 65" page, which turns out to be part of California law.  Products that may contain carcinogenic chemicals have to publicly warn potential customers.  In this case, some of their fish may contain lead or cadmium.  Staying on potential hazards, while the Fishwife products don't seem to have these things, the facilities where they're processed also handle common allergens like shellfish, soy, sesame, and wheat.  Finally, if you're wondering how to make a tasty dish or meal out of Fishwife tinned fish, you're in luck--the website sells a book with 80 recipes.

     Now here's the dirt.  If you looked up Fishwife online during the past couple of years, you'll probably only see references to Becca Millstein.  There's a reason for this--the two ladies had an ugly split.  Several articles called this a "divorce," but it appears that this was wordplay about the company's name, and not a literal end of a marriage.  I'll use qualifying words for the rest of this paragraph, for obvious legal reasons.  Anyway, in early 2024 Becca sued Caroline Goldfarb, alleging breach of contract, civil theft, and cybersquatting.  Supposedly, by 2021 Goldfarb was only devoting a few hours a week to Fishwife, while Becca was toiling up to 90 hours plus a week.  Becca also accused Caroline of unfairly controlling the company's Google ad account and domain account.  The final straw was when Goldfarb was reportedly offered a final 8.75% share of the company, and supposedly agreed, while later demanding 35%.  And metaphorically holding the Fishwife company hostage while this dispute dragged out.  The lawsuit was eventually settled, although the terms were not reported.  Moving on, Caroline Goldfarb has had an extensive career, but more in the entertainment and online presence worlds rather than fishmongering.  She has written for and/or executive produced several television programs, including "Tiny Nuts" (2014), "The Late Late Show with James Corden" (2018-19), "Chad" (2021-24), and "The Sex Lives of College Girls" (2021-present).  She also co-hosted a podcast called "Glowing Up" with comedian Esther Povitsky, which was about makeup and beauty, which may still air.  All in all, that's a lot more drama than I usually read about the company that made the foods or drinks that I tried.

Fishwife tinned seafood, albacore tuna in spicy olive oil:   The tuna was caught and then made in Spain.  There was a slight spicy odor.  The color of the oil, and therefore the fish chunks in it, was orange.  The taste was a bit disappointing--I thought it would be spicier than it was.  At least the oil ensured that the fish wasn't dry.  Still, tuna is pretty much always good.  I had some plain, and some on a cracker.  The latter way was better.  Overall, then, this canned tuna was alright, but not spectacular.  While looking up Fishwife online later, I saw that its prices are extremely high--well over $8 a can, sometimes even $10 or more.  (My can was 3.2 ounces/92 grams.)  Considering that you can get other canned seafood for half of the price, or probably even a third of it, I can understand folks not buying it for financial reasons.  Given that the fish itself was just okay, or solid, I doubt I'll buy any more.

     Fishwife also included a brief history of the term "fishwife" itself.  According to them, the term dates back to the 16th century, and at first literally referred to the spouses (or daughters) of fishermen.  Gradually, though, it became a gendered insult for women that were "brash, foul-mouthed, and brassy."  About this the website noted, "we relate."  In my experience, I've heard the word used more to denigrate women, or sometimes men, who eagerly engage in gossiping.  Which is kind of close to the three negative qualities that Fishwife mentioned.  This all makes me wonder how this negative stereotype got started.  Some brief online checking indicated that some of these qualities were probably true, as fishwives had to be outspoken and attention-grabbing to sell their very perishable fish at the outdoor markets.  Additionally, though, maybe another contributing factor was because the wives of fishermen were left alone more than other wives, and thus had more control and agency of their own lives.  Which was seen as bad to conservative misogynist men, I guess.  Anyway, it does make for an effective company name--it has a direct, main meaning, as well as an ironic, somewhat subversive double meaning.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Thai/American Rice Crackers

      I actually bought and ate these like a year ago, but for various reasons I didn't get around to discussing them until now.  Anyway, these were two types of rice crackers from the Ka-me brand--their original, and their wasabi kind.

     Well, we're once again returning to companies that seem oddly reluctant to provide information about who founded them, or even where.  I did get the start date, though, which was 1970.  Ka-me is currently owned by Panos Brands.  Of which I was able to find out a little.  In fact, I reported on another one of Panos's holdings, MI-del, years ago, in my November 21, 2020 post about gluten-free cookies.  Aside from Ka-me and MI-del, Panos also owns Amore, Andrew & Everett, Tessemae's, The Santa Barbara Smokehouse, Sesmark, Chatfield's, and Walden Farms (who I also tried a product from, and wrote about back on January 2nd, 2014).  Panos's current CEO is a lady named Darcy Zbinivec.  Although the company's beginning date is disputed.  One website claimed it was 2009, while LinkedIn has it at 1926.  I'm not even sure when Panos acquired Ka-me--it could have been recently, or it could have been decades ago.  So what did the Ka-me website and product label tell me?  Reportedly, the brand's name is from the Japanese word for "turtle."  The company chose this name because in Japanese folklore turtles are associated with longevity and a respect for tradition, qualities the business wanted to express.  The website also noted that Ka-me could stand for the "Key to Asian Made Easy."  Ka-me is dedicated to bringing many different kinds of Asian cuisine to the world, from places such as China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietname, and more.  Aside from rice crackers, the business also makes dry and fresh noodles, sauces and condiments, fried rice, cooking liquids such as oils, vinegars, and wines, coconut milk, other crackers, and canned vegetables.  Ka-me's crackers are free of gluten and GMOs, and I think most (or all?) of the others are, too.  They also make some kosher-appropriate and organic items.

Ka-me rice crackers, original flavor:  The crackers were round discs, about 1.75 inches (about 4.5 cm.) in diameter.  They were white in color, with a pebbled appearance.  They were salty and crunchy.  And pretty good.  Not bland like a lot of rice crackers.  I had some plain (which were decent), and some with cheese on them (which clearly improved the experience).  Overall, this was a quality, good cracker.

Ka-me rice crackers, wasabi flavor:  These were the same size, shape, color, and texture as the originals.  The wasabi gave them a nice spice bite.  Not too overpowering, but enough to give them some zest.  As with the previous, they were good plain, and better with cheese on them.  Therefore, I came away pretty impressed with both of these crackers.  More than solid on their own, or as a base for canapes.  Two definite recommends.

     Just to flesh this out a bit, I was amused to learn that in Japanese folklore, turtles are capable of living for 10,000 years.  Which is obviously as wild exaggeration, but they are long-lived.  I decided to look up the actual champ.  He's actually still with us, living on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena.  He's a Seychelles giant tortoise named Jonathan, and his estimated age is about 192.  There have been other contenders for this longevity crown, including one candidate who was supposedly 255.  But that case was not confirmed.  Jonathan has shown some effects of his great age--he's now blind, and unable to smell.  But his hearing is apparently excellent.  He spends most of his time with his mate Frederik.  So evidently, Jonathan is a member of the LBGT community.  Also, if the name Saint Helena is ringing a bell, it's the isolated island that was the second, and successful location of Napolean's exile.  He spent the final 6 years of his life there, dying in 1821.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--American/Turkish/Belgian Dessert Cones

      I wasn't really shopping specifically for blog post fodder when I found these--it was just a happy coincidence.  They were near some other cookies and snacks, and they looked unfamiliar.  And when I saw that they were made in Turkey, I bit, so to speak.  These were the waffle cones filled with white chocolate, from the Just the Fun Part brand.

     Since I just mentioned that these cones were made in Turkey, you might be wondering why the title of this post includes two other places.  Well, it's because the main headquarters of the company that owns the brand are in NJ in the U.S., and the chocolate is billed as being 100%, real Belgian chocolate, so evidently that part of the treat is from that European nation.  I'm sure there are reasons for making these in Turkey and importing them instead of making them here in the U.S.  Maybe the wheat is better in Turkey, and/or overhead costs are lower, or something.  I often complain that the official company website doesn't include much or any information about the business's history or founder(s).  Fortunately, this was one of the exceptions, so I can actually go into some detail about it.  First off, we're told that Yigit "loves snacks," and "is an idea machine."  Aytur, meanwhile, "is a businessman," and "loves Yigit's ideas."  Moving on, reportedly Yigit and Aytur were both into specialty foods even while young.  So it was natural that they both got into the food industry when they grew up.  Their company (or companies?  It's unclear.) sent them on an extended business trip to New York City in 2005.  Where the two guys met, and even shared an apartment in Secaucus, NJ.  They bonded, largely due to their shared love of specialty foods.  After this, they parted for a while.  Yigit went to California for a while, while Aytur began his own gourmet food company.  (Which I assume is the Evergreen U.S.A. company that currently handles Just the Fun Part products.)  Years later they met again at a New York City food show.  Yigit decided to join Aytur's business, but he wanted to make a contribution of his own.  After a long period of intense research, during which Yigit talked to other industry professionals, and investigated business trends, Yigit concluded that a snack had a better chance of success if it reminded people of fond childhood memories.  He (and others) recalled eating sundaes and ice cream cones during the hot weather months, and that they especially preferred the point when the ice cream was near the bottom of the cone.  So the new product would replicate this, only it substituted chocolate and other non-dairy ingredients for ice cream.  Just the Fun Part became this treat's name.  There are many alternate flavors, which consist of other types of chocolate, peanut butter, mint, peanut butter and jelly flavor, and so on.  The company also makes "Just the Fun Bites," which are mini butter biscuits, also coming in various flavors.  The company's products are appropriate for vegetarians, are free of GMOs, and are kosher.  Somewhat surprisingly, they're not gluten-free (although the company is currently trying to develop some), nor are they completely allergen-free. (Some of their products have nuts, and even the ones that don't are processed in facilities that handle nuts and dairy.)  Finally, despite the exhaustive story of the company's founding and general history, I couldn't locate Yigit's surname anywhere.  Aytur's is Aksu.

Just the Fun Part, waffle cones filled with white chocolate:  The cones were light brown, and looked like tiny ice cream cones, obviously, with a white chocolate filling.  They were about 2 inches by .75 inches (about 5 cm. by 2 cm.).  They tasted like....a tiny waffle cone filled with white chocolate inside.  Since I like both waffle cones and white chocolate, these were very good.  A tasty treat--sweet and crunchy.  Kind of a cool, different idea for a sweet snack, too.  I would recommend these, and I will definitely look for the alternate flavors.  Especially peanut butter, given my adoration of that food and flavor.

     As you just read, I enjoyed these waffle cones quite a bit.  Even if I disagree with the philosophy behind their creation.  As a kid I liked the ice cream part of the ice cream cone the best, not the bottom within the cone.  (Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike the bottom cone part, but it's not as great as ice cream.)  Also, I was amused to read on the official company website product list that each separate flavor of Just the Fun Part cones had the main flavor, and then a description of what mood it was for.  As in, milk chocolate ones were "for your classic mood," dark chocolate was "for your passionate mood," white chocolate was "for your playful mood," and so on.  None of these descriptions made much sense to me, and they seemed interchangeable.  I sort of hope that they switch the mood descriptions around every so often, to see if anyone notices.  Anyway, as I scrolled down the list, the company seemed to give up on describing intricate types of moods.  Milk chocolate and caramel was just "for your caramel mood," and mint dark chocolate was "for your minty mood."  As usual, I'm probably being unduly nit picky about something minor and innocent.  But, even after acknowledging this I probably won't go against my nature and stop.