A margarita in a goober: Ford’s Margarita Mix Wine Nuts are peanuts flavored with salt and lime. A great idea, an even greater taste. Photo by Melody Lan.
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JONATHAN STEIN is a writer and blogger based in Detroit.
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July 2005
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Ford’s Margarita Mix Wine Nuts
Super Fusion Snack
Margarita lovers rejoice! In a world of specialty-food-meets-nouvelle-nuts, Ford’s Margarita Mix Wine Nuts is a wonderful nouvelle creation: part food science, part art. You know that you are in possession of a can of peanuts, but they taste like a Margarita. The salt is there, balanced by a blend of sweet and sour, coming from sugar lime. (There’s no alcohol in these nuts, by the way, and they don’t taste like alcohol. They just have margarita seasonings.)
On the palate, the tart flavor of the citrus predominates, with the salty and sweet flavors singing harmony, and this is the key to the Margarita Mix Wine Nuts’ uniqueness. Most roasted nuts have a dominant salty flavor, making them fairly predictable. They are often excellent, but they still taste like roasted, salted peanuts. Wine Nuts differentiate themselves by offering a familiar product, the peanut, wrapped in a taste you do not expect, lime. It is more than fusion food: it is fused.
Wine Nuts are crunchy, with a highly audible munching noise accompanying each bite. This would probably be a subtle impression if eating Wine Nuts at a cocktail party; it is more noticeable when reading The 20-Minute Gardener on the couch. Many people enjoy a good crunch: it just serves to remind you that you are snacking on food worth noticing. If anything, we would be alarmed if these nuts were too quiet.
 Like many snacks, the recommended serving size is one ounce; and like many snackers, we consumed four or five times that to enjoy our fill. As if munching on peanuts isn’t enough of a compulsion, the sweet and tart flavor compels you further: we just could not put down the peanuts.
The Wine Nuts line also has tasty offerings in Chardonnay, Merlot and Mocha Coffee. There’s an appropriately named Fire Dancer Jalapeño Nuts product as well (where you most certainly need to employ a few margaritas to douse the flames).
All Ford’s nuts are all natural, gluten-free, and certified kosher.
After faithfully serving our readers by working through half a can in an evening, we heartily recommend Margarita Mix Wine Nuts for both casual snacking and with cocktail accompaniment. Keep napkins handy, because the lime-salt seasoning tends to stay on your hands. Most definitely buy at least one five-pack, because a single can will not linger for long. Creative cooks will use up the five-pack even faster, tossing the nuts into salads or chicken salad, sprinkling on yogurt and fruit salads, and topping vanilla ice cream and citrus sorbets. And how often do you find a gift for less than $10 that will make you as popular as these will?
FORD’S GOURMET FOOD
Chardonnay, Margarita Mix, Merlot and Mocha Coffee Wine Nuts & Fire Dancer Jalapeño Nuts
Kosher Certification: (U) Pareve
Named Best New Snack Item at Kosherfest 2003
- Single Can
11 ounces
$8.99
- Five-pack
55 ounces
$35.99
Purchase online at
http://thencstore.com
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| Wine Nuts are available in four delicious flavors: Chardonnay, Margarita Mix, Merlot, and Mocha Coffee. For those who like their haute nuts hot, there’s Fire Dancer Jalapeño Nuts. You’ll want to try a can of each flavor, but get a few extra cans of Margarita Mix. |
Or telephone 1.800.446.0947
Shipping and tax additional. Prices and flavor availability are verified at publication but are subject to change over time.
Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.
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