canned milk popcorn and a new home
unsnackable vol. 35
I am trying to do more multitasking. Not on some girlboss bullshit, but in the slower, quieter ways that this past year required. Attempting to learn from the days when accomplishing a single task was a reach. I've never had the attention span necessary for linear thinking but it feels like the only way to reacquaint myself with days when I am doing more than waking up, washing dishes, and sleeping. You start a task, and you finish it. Wash and repeat. Easier said than done.
If you haven't noticed, this newsletter has a new look and a new home at unsnackable.com. If you're reading this in your inbox, the email should have come from folu@unsnackable.com (and if you don't want to miss any unsnackables in the future, please add that address to your contact list!) My dreams have been few during quar but I dreamed about switching newsletter platforms because it was a psychologically harrowing experience. So once again, I must ask for your patience as I clean up the transitional odds and ends.
I'm excited about the future of this newsletter and features like tags will make it easier for you, as readers, to explore the whole wide world of unsnackables. If you want to support this newsletter by becoming a paid subscriber for $5/month, you'll also receive at least one extra newsletter each month. The paid subscriber newsletters won't stick to the usual sweet/savory/thirsty format but will still deliver plenty of snack-related goodness.
My newly linear, task-oriented mindset hasn't kept me from finding time to tuck a little guilt into my daily routine. But maybe learning to ignore a bit of that guilt to do things like go to bed at a vaguely acceptable hour or grab outdoor drinks or dive into the singular language of a rapid-fire group chat. But I am still guilty about this newsletter not making it to your inbox last week for the first time in eight months.
For that reason, I selected this week's snacks with the misdirected overcompensatory self-loathing of a parent who doesn't know how to apologize. I could say sorry, but instead here are some unsnackables
the unsnackables
sweet
PIPOCA MICRO-ONDAS COBERTURA COCADA EDIÇÃO YOKERMESSE(Brazil)
I grew up in a condensed milk household but we always canned milk. A can opener used to puncture two holes through the shiny metal so the thick liquid could be poured into tea and occasionally watered down for bowls of cereal that were better dry. The Brazilian dessert uses slowly caramelized condensed milk, sugar, and shredded coconut to make a creamy sweet treat. Somehow those flavors are translated into a coating for this microwave popcorn. I'm intrigued, but I earned a bit of lifelong popcorn skepticism when I helped run the concessions stand in high school. The smell created by half-hearted unpaid teenage labor that never cleaned out the popcorn machine...sticks with you.
savory
湖池屋 スコーン 黒胡椒の刺激 唐揚げレモン味 (Japan)
I'm acknowledging a few of the cravings that I had suppressed in the depths of my coping mechanisms. High on that list is the esteemed culinary category of vaguely bougie overpriced bar food. I fired up my air fryer to make some tater tots with a creamy brown butter Havarti sauce and leftover pastrami. Admittedly it banged but I still know these cheeto-textured black pepper & fried chicken snacks tailor-made to pair with Lawson's Lemon Sour capsule collection are the pinnacle of the category.
thirsty
SEMTEX CACTUS (Czech Republic)
One of my favorite aughts packaging and branding eccentricities was the NOS energy drink bottle that mimicked the packaging of the Automotive Performance Nitrous Oxide System of the same name. Admittedly, I do not know what the product does outside of the "haha cars go zoom" placements found in the most important film franchise of this young century. This energy drink is a bit more hardcore because it draws its name from a plastic explosive. My adolescent brain would undoubtedly find that thrilling, but it freaks me out a bit as an adult. Only a bit. I'm a sucker for prickly pear-flavored beverages.
boozy
FIZZ CLOUDBERRY (Estonia)
Maybe it is because I was raised on a steady drip of Veggie Tales, but there are certain types of produce that I cannot help but anthropomorphize because they just look cute and tasty. The vivid ombre clusters of cloudberries are so adorable and I want them to have rosy-cheeked faces that are turned into a tasty apple wine cider. It feels weird to admit that but I want to use this platform to spread the truth instead of hiding behind pretense.
I’m still figuring this out, but hopefully, you enjoyed v.35 of unsnackable.
If you didn’t please don’t tell me, tell your friends to subscribe because they hopefully have better taste than you.
Think you’ll miss me before unsnackable v.36 comes to your inbox? follow me on other parts of the internet and tell me about what you’re snacking on
I’ll try any snack at least once, so don’t be shy if there is something you want to send me to try.
I like sending something nice to your inboxes for free every week, but if you’d like to support my snack related endeavors you can upgrade to a paid subscription, find me on venmo at thefolu, or on paypal