Food Finds: Nocilla, Tyrrell's and Danone Griego

I was browsing through my photos, deleting most of the images to free up some disk space and noticed that I've taken pictures of most of my yummy food finds from Madrid's supermarkets but have forgotten to write about them. Here's some of my recent food finds from Spain and the rest of Europe. Enjoy!

Nocilla Duo Hazelnut Spread
Nocilla is a chocolate hazelnut spread made locally in Spain. This is an old brand, churning our hazelnut spreads since 1962. Here in Spain it is preferred over the more globally known Nutella.

I have tried Nocilla's original chocolate hazelnut spread months ago but because I have been buying jars and jars of these for Pinas the past few weeks, the temptation to savour Nocilla's sweet spread was just too great. I bought one Nocilla Duo jar for myself last week and this has been my daily breakfast treat.

Nocilla Duo Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

Nocilla on buttered and lightly toasted bread is a great way to break the (evening) fast!

Nocilla is not as sweet or as hazelnutty as Nutella, but the chocolate flavor is more pronounced. I prefer the black and white Nocilla Duo variant more than the original chocolate flavor because the duo has the white milky spread section with a very pronounced vanilla flavor which I really like.

Tyrell's UK Hand cooked Crisps
If you love Kettle Chips, a US brand of kettle fried potato chips, then you will most certainly like Tyrrell's. I have long wanted to try Tyrell's but it always slips out of my mind to pick up a bag when I'm at the grocery. But last week, after a particularly long day at work, I roamed through the grocery to pick up dinner ingredients and then I saw the Tyrrell's goodies and picked a bag:

Tyrrell's come in different flavors: Sea Salt, Sweet Chili & Red Pepper, Mature Cheddar and Pickled Onion, and Honey Roast Ham & Cranberry. I picked up Mature Cheddar and Pickled Onion because it seems that this is the closest to Sour Cream and Onion. And I was pleasantly proven right!

The chips themselves are obviously handout potatoes wit the potato skins still intact. These are extremely crunchy chips! Maybe too crunchy for some, but I liked how they shattered, a loud crack in every bite. However, the best part of these UK made chips is the flavor. The tang of cheese and the slight sourness of the pickled onion was spot on delicious. I would definitely buy another bag of this Tyrrell's flavor soon. But first I'll try the intriguing Honey Roast Ham & Cranberry first then compare which one is more scrumptious.


Danone Griego Greek Yoghurt Mediterraneo
Ever since I've tried the thick, creamy, tart deliciousness of Greek style yoghurt I have eschewed other types. To my mind, nothing really compares to the thick, almost cheesy consistency of greek yoghurt.

What's the difference between greek style yogurt and the conventional yogurt? Well they are almost the same, except that there's an additional step in the making of greek style yogurts. The greek style yoghurts are strained to remove most of the liquids, the lactose and the sugar, thus leaving it with a less sweet, less calorie laden, more protein rich yoghurt. That and the super creamy, thick consistency.

Because Greek yoghurt is really tangy, most greek style yoghurt here are swirled with a little amount of sweetened fruit marmalade which acts as sweet syrupy foil to provide a sweet balance to the tang of greek yoghurt.

There are greek yoghurts with chocolate swirls, raspberry swirls, and even blueberry swirls but after months of trying out these different greek yoghurt variants, my favorite is still this greek yoghurt with a citrus swirl. A slightly sour, sweet fruit swirl of lemon and oranges. Delicious!