Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Jerky Made Out of Mushrooms

      Okay, admittedly this one isn't that exotic, but it is kind of weird, at least.  I've reported on various kinds of jerkies before, such as on January 4th, 2025, and one on vegetarian jerkies on September 25, 2021.  But today I thought I'd cover one made from mushrooms.  Specifically, the original mushroom jerky from Pan's.

     For a change, I was easily able to learn some about the history of the Pan's brand, and the company behind it, which is Panco Foods, Inc., out of Portland, Oregon.  In 2006 Michael Pan visited some relatives in Malaysia.  The folks were vegetarian Buddhists, so clearly they didn't eat meat.  But they did make a dried snack out of mushrooms.  Michael was dazzled by this, and remembered the great taste when he returned back home to Oregon.  He was an engineer by training, and he continued this career for quite some time.  However, in 2018 he launched Pan's mushroom jerky, inspired by his relatives' creation.  Initially there were four flavors, but this has expanded since.  In late 2020, Pan was a guest on the ABC television program "Shark Tank."  Once the judges and potential investors tasted his mushroom jerky, they were interested enough to get involved.  Mark Cuban made a deal with Pan, and others invested as well.  That financial boon, and the national exposure helped Pan's business spread, and thrive.  As of now, beside the one I tried, Pan's also makes mushroom jerky flavors of teriyaki, curry, salt & pepper, applewood barbecue, zesty Thai, and a limited edition kind that uses sichuan mala mushrooms instead of the usual shiitake mushrooms as the base.  The Pan mushroom jerkies are also obviously vegan-appropriate, and free of gluten, soy, and GMOs.  Additionally, they're "Earth Kosher," which I just learned is an organization founded in 2004 that assists companies in earning kosher certification in an affordable and accepted manner.  (I don't know if some super hardcore Jews refuse to accept this Earth Kosher designation, so that's up to the consumer to decide, I guess.)  There is a warning on the Pan label about California's Prop 65 act, based on the safety legislation from 1986.  Pan claims that the mushrooms they use may absorb minute amounts of cadmium, lead, and mercury from the soil they're grown in, but that these levels are not high enough to be dangerous for people.  Again, I suppose potential customers can research this and decide for themselves if they want to eat Pan's products.

Pan's mushroom jerky, original flavor:  Had a brownish-black color.  Earthy odor.  It was stems and caps chopped up, so the shapes and sizes were variable.  The texture was quite chewy, even though the pieces were dry.  Pretty good.  I like mushrooms in general, so this wasn't a big surprise.  This was a new, and different way to enjoy them.  Kind of odd, but more than decent.  I would definitely recommend them, unless you really hate mushrooms.

     Pan's website mentions that their mushroom jerky is "satisfyingly umami."  Which, once more, I had to look up.  Well, umami is a word coined by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda.  In 1908 he identified a fifth basic taste, to go along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.  Umami is savoriness, as is produced by glutamate and some nucleotides like inosine monophosphate and guanosine monophosphate.  These substances help form the overall tastes in foods like beef, cheese, seafood, and soy sauce.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two French Mini Toasts

      One of the additions to my local grocery store in the past year or two is a new, expanded specialty cheese section.  To go along with this, they also started selling more crackers, spreads, etc.  A few months ago I saw that they'd begun selling mini toasts.  From the names of the products, Joan of Arc and Egalite, along with the French flag colors on the latter's label, I assumed that they were probably French in origin.  A closer read of the labels confirmed this.

     I wasn't able to find out much of anything about the makers of the Joan of Arc toasts.  The label read "Since 1918," but that about it for the history of the company.  After a while of online sleuthing, I was unable to discern the name of the company that made them, even (assuming it wasn't also "Joan of Arc").  All I got was that they are distributed by the mammoth cheese company Saptuo, of whom I've covered many time before on this blog.  (See my post on June 27th, 2020 for more info on Saputo's history.)  The Egalite story (or lack thereof), was similar--no details at all about the actual manufacturer, and a bit about the distributing company, Gourmet Foods International.  For that, Russell McCall started working as a Greenwich, Connecticut cheese shop at the age of 16.  Eight years later, in 1967, he knew enough about the cheese game that he opened his own cheese shop.  Then he borrowed money from his grandmother to open up another store in Atlanta, Georgia.  However, due to the industry switch to wholesale businesses becoming hugely successful, McCall sold his retail stores in 1971.  From then on out his company focused on importing and distributing European cheeses and gourmet specialty items.  There are now 10 Gourmet Foods International distribution centers around the U.S.  The firm sells cheeses, lunchmeats, crisps, crackers, and pates.  And like I mentioned, I wasn't able to discover anything about the French baker of the toasts--not even the start date, like for the Joan of Arc ones.  But I can tell you that "egalite" is French for "equality."

Egalite mini toasts:  The toasts were about 3.5 cm square, or about 1.5 inches.  They were a whitish yellow color, with a light brown crust.  There was no real odor.  They looked like tiny squares of toasted bread.  Their texture was dry and crunchy.  No strong flavor to them.  With some fruit spreads on them they tasted better, but still not great.  With cheese on them they were much improved, but isn't everything?  In conclusion, there are many better canape bases than these.  Unless you really like Melba-like toasts such as these, I wouldn't recommend them.  Use a cracker or something to put your cheese or jam on instead.

Joan of Arc mini toasts:  These were about the same size, shape, and color as the Egalite ones.  Maybe a tad more darker yellow.  The texture was also the same--dry and crunchy.  And very bland when eaten plain once again.  With fruit spread on them, and then cheese, the taste was improved, but like the previous one, the overall effect wasn't great.  They were probably a little bit better than the Egalites, but still not enough for me to recommend them, unless you're mad for Melba like toasts.  To me, toasting bread, especially twice, almost always is worse than just having the bread fresh, and nice and soft.

     Since this post has been so light, I thought I'd go on a tangent about the food type itself.  The mini toasts I ate strongly appear to be a form of Melba toast.  Which, refreshingly, I was able to learn a few facts about.  Back in 1897 the famous opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba, was ill while in France.  A sympathetic hotel chef, Auguste Escoffier, came up with a dish that she could eat in her delicate state.  It was a variant of rusk, or dry and crunchy twice baked bread.  Auguste took some sliced bread and grilled it on both sides.  Then he sliced it laterally and did it again, resulting in tiny, thin, hard and crunchy bread pieces.  Hotel owner Cesar Ritz suggested that Escoffier continue making this concoction, and they decided to name it after Ms. Melba.  Enough people enjoyed it that it spread to other countries, and continents.  It's apparently called "French toast" in the U.K., while we Americans save this moniker for the soft, syrupy, breakfast treat.  Escoffier seemed to have a lot of respect for, or perhaps an obsession with Ms. Melba, since he named three other invented dishes after her.  These were Peach Melba (a peach, raspberry sauce, and vanilla ice cream combo), Melba Garniture (chicken, truffles, and mushrooms stuffed into a tomato, with a savory sauce), and Melba sauce (a raspberry and red currant puree).  The chef also named dishes after actress Sarah Bernhardt, actress Gabrielle Rejane, and composer Gioachino Rossini.  Nellie Melba had a long and distinguished career, living from 1861-1931.  And Nellie Melba was a stage name, as she was born Helen Porter Mitchell, in Australia.  The "Melba" from her stage surname was a tribute to her home city of Melbourne.  Finally, I couldn't determine this exactly, but I think Nellie Melba might hold the record for most food dishes named after a person, excluding royals like kings and queens.

  

Horrorsmith: The Magazine Issue #3 is Out!

     I've been talking about pending magazines or anthologies that are scheduled to publish one of my stories for months now.  Well, the day is finally here for one of them.  My story, "Blissful Knowledge," is part of the most recent issue of Horrorsmith: The Magazine.  "Blissful Knowledge" is a throwback zombie tale, back in the pre-George Romero days when zombies were forced labor in the Caribbean.  But, with enough twists to keep things interesting, I think.  I actually wrote this story back in 2001, so it's nice to see it finally get a home in print.

     The cover above lets you know several of the authors featured in this issue, along with their story titles, as well as some other writing-related articles.  But, I'll let you know some of the other tidbits in the magazine.  There's a story titled "The Vulture King," by James Oakley.  There are also two publisher spotlights, one for Slashic Horror Press, and the other for Crystal Lake Publishing.  Additionally, there are two reviews of recent horror/thriller books--Dathan Auerbach's "Bad Man," and William Rose's "Itsy Bitsy Spider."  Then there are a Recent Releases section, and an article about the Best Indie Book Covers.  All of this was spearheaded by Horrorsmith's Editor in Chief Lyndsey Smith.  So, do yourself a favor and head on over to Horrorsmith's website ( https://www.horrorsmithpublishing.com ), and pick yourself up a copy.  There's no risk, since the magazine is free.  And while you're on this website check out Horrorsmith's many available books, in a range of categories.  Their imprints include Fear Forge (horror), Thrill Forge (thriller), Teen Forge (young adult), and Spiced Forge (romance).  Or, something for practically everyone.

     

     Switching topics a bit, speaking of published stories, my other accepted story for this year, with RDG Books, now has a scheduled release date of October 10th, 2025.  And I believe some of my co-contributors for this anthology may be doing an interview or two on my blog.  So get ready to read about this upcoming anthology quite a bit in the coming weeks.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Organic Snack/Protein Bars Made by a Killer

      A while ago I was shopping for protein bars, and saw something new.  I'd seen television ads for Dave's Killer Bread before, and had even seen some of its loaves on the shelf.  But I didn't know they also made bars.  The label had some rather startling information about the Dave of the brand's name, saying he had an extensive criminal background.  This was different enough, so I got a couple of them.  I tried the oat-rageous honey almond organic snack bar, and the peanut butter chocolate chunk amped-up organic protein bar.

     I often complain that the companies whose food and drinks I'm trying have little to no information about the business's histories, and founders.  Sometimes it's not even included on the official company website, and I have to track it down elsewhere online.  Well, Dave Dahl, who founded Dave's Killer Bread, is admirably forthright that he's an ex-con.  (Although some of the finer criminal details were found elsewhere, to be sure.)  So here's the history.  In 1955 Jim and his wife Wanene Dahl bought the Midway Bakery, in Oregon.  In 1984 Jim renamed it NatureBake.  Evidently he was ahead of his time in some ways, such as experimenting with sprouted wheat bread, and using organic ingredients long before it was popular.  In the interim, one of the Dahl's sons, Dave, had a troubled childhood, and troubled young adulthood.  (I guess the rest of this paragraph should all be "allegedly," since I read it from sources other than the Dave's Killer Bread official website.) Born in 1963, Dave started using drugs as a teen, and became addicted.  He was jailed in 1987 for burglarizing a home.  A few years later, during a stint in Massachusetts, he again was convicted and incarcerated, this time for armed robbery.  While in prison, he received treatment for his drug addiction, and behaved well enough that he got an early release in about 2004.  Dave, along with his nephew Shobi, went back to work for the family bakery in Oregon.  In 2005 he developed a new kind of organic bread, which he started selling at the Portland Farmer's Market.  Since it was so appreciated, he started his own company, calling it Dave's Killer Bread.  The business prospered.  So much so that when Dave sold the brand to Flower Foods in 2015, he got $275,000,000.  By 2016 the bread was being sold in Mexico and Canada.  Alas, Dave's brushes with the law were not over.  In 2013 a friend called the police because Dave was having a mental health crisis.  When they arrived he tried to flee, and rammed two cop cars, and then fought with the arresting officers.  In 2014 he was found guilty except for insanity of two counts of assault, and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.  Because he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he avoided jail because he agreed to be put under the supervision of the Psychiatric Security Review Board, and to avoid driving and going into bars.  (Presumably if he avoids treatment or meds or whatever he would void the agreement and return to jail.)  I also read that at some point in his life, perhaps the 1980's or 90's, he was convicted of drug distribution.  But, fortunately, since this incident he appears to have cleaned himself up entirely.  And I don't mean to be cruel--people sometimes change, and Dave certainly seems to have done so.  And I used the title I did for sensationalistic purposes, since no source held that Dave really killed anyone.  It's "Dave's Killer Bread," after all, not "Killer Dave's Bread."  (And presumably the bread itself hasn't murdered anyone, either.)

     So, that's more interesting and exciting than most founder's bios, isn't it?  Not shockingly, given his personal history, Dave is more than willing to hire ex-cons at his company, in their Second Chance program.  You can read the histories of many of these employees on the official website.  Other products made by Dave's Killer Bread include, not shockingly, several kinds of bread, such as "21 whole grains and seeds," "white bread done right," and "100% whole wheat".  Many of these are also sold in a thin slice version.  Furthermore, the brand also markets various kinds of bagels, English muffins, burger buns, sandwich rolls, and snack bites.  Alternate flavors of the protein/snack bars include cocoa brownie blitz, trail mix crumble, amped-up chocolate coconut, and amped-up blueberry almond butter.  All of the Dave's products lack GMOs, and all but some of the snack bites are vegan-appropriate.  But all have gluten.

Dave's Killer Bread oatrageous honey almond organic snack bar:  It was square, about 2.25 inches by 2.25 inches (or about 5.5 cm. by 5.5 cm), and was a light brown color.  The outer appearance was rough and there was a slight oat-y odor.  It had a dense, chewy texture.  It did taste oat-y.  But it wasn't very sweet.  I couldn't really detect the almonds, or the honey.  It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't that good.  It was bland, and too tame.

Dave's Killer Bread peanut butter chocolate chunk amped-up organic protein bar:  This one was the same size and shape as the other one.  It also had a rough appearance, this time with visible chocolate chunks.  The smell was like peanut butter, slightly.  Once again, the texture was dense and chewy. And also once again, the flavor was lacking--it didn't have a very strong taste.  I usually enjoy peanut butter and chocolate combos, but this one was bland.  So also disappointing.

     Overall I was quite underwhelmed by these bars, and wouldn't recommend them.  But, to be fair, I didn't try Dave's specialty, which of course is bread.  I'll try to scare up a loaf, and report back on it.  

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Canadian/American Flavored Liqueur

      A week or two ago I decided to do some browsing in the hard liquor aisle at one of my local liquor stores.  I've seen various Dr. McGillicuddy offerings over the years, but I didn't really take much notice.  But this time I did.  And I saw that it was made in Canada.  Which is exotic enough, I think.  So I got one--the apple pie flavor.

     According to the label on my bottle, Aloysius Percival McGillicuddy was born in 1808.  He was a barkeep and part owner of the Shady Eye Saloon.  In his will he bequeathed his home, livestock, and half interest in the saloon to his 5th wife, Hermione, aged 22.  To his (unnamed) son, he left his watch, dueling pistols, and favorite pipe.  And then, to quote it exactly, "To the world I present the recipe for Dr. McGillicuddy's, whose refreshing taste has made me a bit of a legend in these parts.  To your fortune!"  The bottle also is embossed with "Est. 1865."  And the provided info on the official website adds that the "Dr." title might be honorific rather than literal.

     Except, none of the above is true.  Ha!  I had a little fun with you.  Dr. McGillicuddy is the invented character for a liquor brand.  The real history of the brand is much more murky than the fictitious one.  It started as Dr. McGillicuddy's Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey in the mid 1980's, for the Seagram company.  However, in 1989 Seagram sold it to the giant Sazerac liquor firm, of which I've reported on a few times before, on December 19th, 2020, and June 11th, 2022, and March 22nd of this year.  This brand makes quite a few flavored liqueurs, and some flavored whiskeys.  Examples of the former are root beer, cherry, peppermint, raw vanilla, coffee, mentholmint, peach, butterscotch, and wild grape.  Examples of the latter are honey whiskey, peach whiskey, apple whiskey, and blackberry whiskey.  Also, if you're curious about what you would look like with various old timey mustaches, the official Dr. McGillicuddy website has a "mustache machine" feature where you can see this, using 6 different styles, and several different hair colors.

Dr. McGillicuddy's apple pie liqueur:  It had a strength of 21% alcohol, or 42 proof.  The drink had an apple-y odor, and a yellowish hue, like apple juice.  It tasted....like apple pie.  It starts off tasting strongly of apples, and ends with a cinnamon, somehow pastry-like flavor.  So, overall it was very good and I quite enjoyed it.  I would recommend it to anyone wanting a different kind of shot, especially if they like apple pie.  (Which, when you get right down to it, doesn't pretty much everybody?)  So unless you really hate sweet alcoholic drinks or something, you'll probably like this.  I plan to try other Dr. McGillicuddy offerings in the future, as well.

     After I checked around a bit on the official website, I tried to figure out if there had been an actual person named Dr. McGillicuddy, or at least a historic inspiration.  And I think I have a good candidate.  There was a Valentine Trant McGillycuddy, who lived from 1849-1939.  He was a graduate of a real medical school, and spent much of his life as a surgeon.  He went into the American West, acting as a doctor, topographer, and surveyor, on various expeditions.  Initially he seemed unusually progressive about American Indians.  He tried to save Crazy Horse after he was mortally wounded, and lobbied the American government to treat Indians better.  Alas, later, when he was the Indian Agent at the Pine Ridge Agency (in South Dakota), his reputation with the Indians plummeted.  They accused him of mismanagement, and various forms of corruption.  Still later, in 1879, he was the first Surgeon General of South Dakota.  And in 1897 he was briefly mayor of the South Dakota community of Rapid City.  When World War I broke out McGillycuddy re-enlisted, and helped treat influenza patients in the Western states and Alaska.  I can't be positive that Dr. McGillycuddy was the impetus for the fictional liquor brand Dr. McGillicuddy, but the similarities sure seem suspicious. 

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Thai/American Fruits

      A while ago I was perusing the dried fruit aisle in my local Shop-Rite.  Something caught my eye--tangerines.  I've had them fresh, but I don't think I'd ever had them dried before.  Looking at the label I saw that they were grown in Thailand, so I not only got something to eat, but something I could post about.  I also picked up some coconut from the same company.  These were both from the Nutty & Fruity brand, out of California.

     It's getting to the point that I wonder if a lot of people who are put in the Federal Witness Protection Program then decide to start food or beverage companies.  Or, in other words, the official company websites for the products I bought contained very little information in general, and none on the company's histories and owner(s).  One of the websites for the parent Food Castle Inc. company had a "history" link, but selecting it led nowhere.  It was a cruel tease.  There weren't even decent product lists on these websites.  The Nutty & Fruity band one was one of those where they show most, or all of their products together in a big group photo, but it keeps switching to something else, so you only get a few seconds at a time to see everything.  The Facebook page for Nutty & Fruity was underwhelming as well.  The first post was from 2013, and the last one in 2018.  So, all in all, I'm not impressed with the company and brand's online presence.  After a lot of mostly unsuccessful searching on business-related websites, I was able to (possibly?) learn that Food Castle Inc. began in 2010, and its CEO is Eliyahu Levy.  But I wouldn't testify to this in court.  (One website indicated that Food Castle/Nutty & Fruity may be affiliated with the Paramount company, which I discussed before, in detail in my post on August 12, 2023.  Not shockingly, I wasn't able to get confirmation on this, so it may well be incorrect.)  Other Nutty & Fruity offerings include mangoes, kiwis, blackberries, several different forms of bananas, apples, hibiscus, pineapples, pomegranates, papayas, passion fruits, strawberries, oranges, and perhaps grapefruits.  (You may notice that this list lacks any nuts, but maybe it's incomplete.)  Other Food Castle products include several kinds of nuts, and other types of dried fruit.

     Moving to tangerines, this fruit's nature is also a bit imprecise.  Some classification systems have it as a subtype of a mandarin orange, while others categorize it as a separate, but related species of this orange.  Genetic testing revealed that it has some pummelo (see my post on February 20, 2014 for more information on this fruit) in its lineage.  Tangerines were first grown in the U.S. in the early 1800's, by a Major Atway, in Palatka, Florida.  In 1843 Atway sold his groves to a N.H. Moragne.  The name of the fruit was reportedly taken from the port city from which Atway first acquired it (the Moroccan city of Tangier), combined with the last name of the second owner.  Whatever their heritage, and true nature, tangerines are usually smaller and less round than mandarin oranges, and have a stronger, and sweeter taste.  China is the leading producer of tangerines, and it's not even close--China grows 25,000,000 tons of them annually, while #2 Spain cultivates 2,000,000 tons.

Nutty & Fruity coconut strips:  They were small, thin white strips, which kind of looked like pieces of onion.  There wasn't much of an odor.  They had a dry, chewy texture.  The taste was...like coconut, or good.  I like coconut in general, so this wasn't much of a surprise.  They were a nice snack.  Probably healthier than most snacks, such as chips, etc.  

Nutty & Fruity dried tangerines:  They were a yellow-orangish color, and were twisted into random shapes.  Their appearance was rather off-putting--they kind of reminded me uncomfortably of scabs.  There wasn't really a smell to them.  The texture was chewy and dry.  The flavor was really good.  Nicely sweet.  These "tangerine raisins" were quite tasty.  I've already bought them again several times.  I recommend the coconut ones, and highly recommend these tangerines.

     I did find one bit of dirt about Food Castle.  I read an intent to sue notice from May of last year, alleging that there was lead contamination in their chili tamarind bites.  I didn't see the upshot of this, so I don't know if this charge was proven or not.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An Italian/Austrian Cookie

      I went through my blog list recently, and saw it's been nearly a year since I last covered a cookie.  (On September 14, 2024, to be exact, and it was also from Italy.)  Fortunately, a little while ago I bought and tried some cookies, so this problem was easily solvable.  I sampled the dark chocolate flavored Quadratinis from the Loacker company.

     Loacker just recently celebrated their centennial, as the company was founded on April 3rd, 1925.  Alfons Loacker had worked at a local shop since he was a child, and in 1925 he was able to buy it, and run it as his own.  By 1940 the company was selling its first packaged baked goods.  In 1958 Alfons' son Armin took over as the head chef, while his daughter Christine handled the administration and distribution aspects of the business.  In 1974 the main facility was moved upward, to the mountain community of Auna di Sotto, on the Renon plateau in the Dolomites, which in turn are part of the Alps.  By 1975 Loacker products were exported to the Middle East, China, and Japan.  In 1984 the ads for the company began using the characters known as the Gnometti.  And in 1996 the third generation of the family took over, in the form of Andreas Loacker.  Aside from various types of wafer, Loacker product categories include exquisite patisseries, choco snacks, chocolates, praline dreams, gifts and seasonals, and duty free.  Currently the business employs well over 1000 people, and is exported to the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Israel, and China.  The cookies I had, Quadratinis, were developed in 1994, and come in many flavors, such as hazelnut, tiramisu, peanut butter, gingerbread, and coconut.  Loacker is also concerned with various causes and issues of the day.  They're dedicated to using sustainable supplies and packaging, maintaining climate neutrality, practicing social responsibility, while also allowing for "mindful indulgences."  Also, they do have another plant in Austria, which is where my cookies were made.  Hence the mention in the title.

Loacker dark chocolate Quadratinis:  They were squares, about 2 cm. (about .75 inch) to a side, layered, with 5 cookie/4 chocolate filling layers.  The outer cookie had the typical latticed wafer pattern, and the color of the cookie layers was light yellow, and the chocolate filling layers a dark brown, obviously.  They were crunchy, with a soft filling in the middle.  They were okay.  I probably would have liked them better if they were milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate, but the wafers cut the dark chocolate bitterness decently.  Otherwise they were very much like other wafers, except for the added layers, and the smaller square shape instead of a rectangle.  So I would recommend these, especially for dark chocolate fans.  And I'll look for other flavors, especially for flavors I normally enjoy, such as peanut butter.

     The advertising campaign characters called the Gnometti have a fairly extensive back story and, well, fuller characterization than most of their kind.  There are 13 named characters, each with their own specialty and skills.  Mestolo is the leader, for starters.  And Quadratolo is a wafer engineer, who invented the Quadratini cookies.  Finally, if you're tempted to rip off the Quadratini concept, design, and the cookie itself, be forewarned--Loacker will come after you.  In 2003 police raided facilities in Lebanon and Syria that were infringing on Loacker's trademark product.