EATING FAITHFULLY

For those of us who are not chosen, the best thing about Passover is that this is the time of year when my local supermarket stocks Bamba Peanut Snacks, made by Osem Food Industries of Shoham, Israel.

They’re one of the strangest and most oddly compelling snacks I’ve ever had.  You eat one and it seems rather bland and nothingy, certainly doesn’t seem to taste of peanuts, but you have another and that tastes a little better, but only a little, and then you eat another and another, and suddenly you’ve consumed a big bag of the stuff and you’re still not satisfied, and you’re in a demented peanut snack-eating frenzy.  Really.

I’m not sure what the mystery is here – the “all natural ingredients” are just  peanuts (50%), corn, palm oil and salt.  No MSG or flavor enhancers, no mystery chemicals, though the bag does come with a warning “Allergens! Contains peanuts.”  Which is good to know.

My bag also came with the above sticker bearing various other bits of information: “Gluten Free for Passover,” and “Kosher for Passover for ‘Ochlel Kitniot’ Only,” and “The Badatz Supervision on the packaging is good for all year round but not for Passover.”  Ah, the mysteries of faith.

         You’ll also see that 50 cents from the sale of each bag goes to the Jewish National Fund “Your Voice in Israel.” I didn’t know I had a voice in Israel, and I’m not sure I want a voice in Israel, and I definitely don’t know what I’d want to say in Israel, but I suspect it would be the wrong thing, whatever it was.

Great for soccer-playing babies too!!