What is that you might ask? Well the short story is maggot cheese. The final forbidden flavor is that of Casu Marzu. Not my favorite of the bunch, but flavor preference is subjective so dive into a bag of these with an open mind. If I were to compare it to a more common chip flavor I guess I’d have to harken back to my Canadian roots once again and say they kind of taste like Ketchup chips, but missing the sweetness and with a bit of beef bouillon added in for kicks. There is an odd sourness with an earthy/iron like aftertaste. Think the cheapest cut of steak dipped in the cheapest red wine. And I wasn’t entirely wrong, though it is a much more discernible flavor. Not being a monster and all, I have no clue what horse meat tastes like, but before tasting these chips I would have guessed “beef-ish?”. Friendship is magic as they say so My Little Pony meat is off the menu. Since it’s too hard for Uncle Sam to regulate which horses are being used for meat there is just a nationwide ban. Apparently the big taboo comes from the fact that horses are potentially highly drugged animals, that can then in turn make their meat toxic to humans. other than the moral implications of “don’t eat your pets”. Though I did look into why exactly horse meat is illegal in the U.S.
Horse meat seemed like the most innocuous of the illegal flavors, though only in the fact that I actually KNEW what a horse was and it required no research beforehand to know what I was getting my taste buds into, unlike with the fugu and casu marzu. In this case the very clever use of Szechuan peppercorns copies that sensation nicely. Eating blowfish isn’t just popular because it’s a delicacy afterall, but there is also a reportedly particular mouthfeel that goes along with it from the trace amounts of tetrodotoxin that come through in the meat. The extra neat little surprise that comes with the fugu flavor is after you eat a few you can feel a very distinct tingly/numbing sensation on your tongue. Anyway, they are uniquely savory, just like these fugu chips. Which I’m now realizing probably sounds like a weird flavor in and of itself to non Canadians, but they are indeed delicious I swear. In fact, all my Canadian compatriots will be excited to know that they taste amazingly similar to the underrated national favorite, fries and gravy flavored chips. My immediate worry with these would be that they would taste like fish, but much to my surprise they don’t at all. I think it’s safe to say that most people know that it is highly poisonous if not prepared by only specially licensed chefs, usually only in Japan, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. Blowfish is illegal for the most obvious reasons. Once it has been culinarily prepared it is referred to as fugu. Fugu for those of you not in the know is pufferfish or blowfish.
Our extra one was fugu so that’s what we tried first. The particular box we ordered came with a bag of each flavor and then one extra bag of one of the flavors. Actually both the fugu and horsemeat chips are vegan, while the casu marzu is vegetarian and all of the flavors are kosher certified. And though arguably the Casu Marzu DOES technically contain casu seasoning, that’s just a flavoring agent. So, hang on tight to that weird, mismatched plastic bowl you always put your snacks in and get ready to take a walk on the wrong side of the law with Illegal chips.īefore we start let me assure you that although these chips have some wild sounding flavors none of them actually contain any of those ingredients. And if you aren’t starting your day off with a little slice of Rhett and Link or especially Josh in this case, we heartily recommend you rethink your morning routine! Or your afternoon or evening routine, you do you but put more GMM in it! So, naturally once the announcement hit the internet-verse that Mythical Chef Josh was releasing a limited lineup of chip flavors there was no doubt that we needed to procure each of these undoubtedly odd taste sensations and maybe even talk a little about them while we’re at it. We are big fans of all things Good Mythical Morning here in the Backlog Odyssey household.
Snacks, they make the world go round don’t they? Well, maybe not but they definitely make the world a better place! One thing I can say with complete certainty however, is that a snack-less world is not one I want to be a part of, that’s for sure!