Junk Food Nation, it’s a happy happy Monday!  Well, it’s happy here anyways.  And by happy, I mean coffee.  Coffee makes me happy. That made sense…I think. Need more coffee. Let’s talk about a few things:

1) So, I’m not a huge fan of Mixed Martial Arts fighting, but then again, I’ve never seen it live either, so maybe my opinion would change then. I’m not against MMA, but don’t get off on it (ring girls Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste? That’s a different story). And trust me, I’ve been familiar with UFC since the beginning – I remember being a little kid over at a friend’s house watching bootleg copies of UFC 1 and 2, seeing Royce Gracie kick everyone’s ass.  That and Faces of Death.  Ah, the VHS days.

Anyways, despite my sort of meh attitude towards MMA, Deadspin recently turned me onto a NEW MMA sport – TEAM MMA.  Holy moly – if you’re thinking, “Wow, this…this CAN’T just be a GROUP of dudes fighting another group of dudes in one arena…can it?” OH IT CAN (Fast Fwd to 2:30 mark for the action, the first 30 seconds is just women dancing):

Right?  RIGHT??? How is this a thing?  And the worst/best part is once a guy taps out or is eliminated, the now-free assailant just goes and helps another teammate beat an opponent’s ass until you’re left with FIVE ON ONE ACTION.  The guy at the end just submits RIGHT AWAY once five dudes are kicking the sh*t out of him.

Anyways, it appears that this “sport” is in international waters only for the time being.  How long before it reaches Mark Cuban’s desk?

2) Sometimes I like to highlight emails that get sent out on my neighborhood listserve.  This one, sent recently, was great:

My mother was crazy about the sitcom Frasier and years ago copied a lot of her favorites onto videotapes. This was waay-pre-DVD. Our family has selected a few and is giving up the rest. Does anyone still have a VCR? These are yours, if you want them.

I chuckled at so many things re: this email. First, Frasier was a great show back in the day; the half-hour sitcom lasted 264 episodes and 11 seasons!  Recording them on a standard 4-hr play VHS back in the day would mean you could fit 8 episodes on each tape, meaning this person likely had 33 VHS tapes of Frasier. 33!  I’m not sure if I have 33 of ANYTHING.

Second, they’ve decided to keep a few and give away the rest?  Which choice episodes did they pick?  The season finales of each season?  And if so, YOU’VE RUINED THE COLLECTION FOR WHOEVER YOU’RE GIVING IT TO.  What, I’m going to watch eight hours of Frasier only to be left hanging because the last eight episodes of each season are gonzo? NOPE.

3) Oh yeah, listen up, because THE NOSH SHOW EPISODE 27 IS OUT TODAY:

This week, “[w]e express disgust over Sonic’s Chocolate Jalapeño Shake, show love for Dunkin’ Donuts Bacon Donuts, discuss some of our Taco Bell Waffle Taco experiences, and talk Easter treats with Candy Blog’s Cybele”  Listen embedded here:

You can subscribe to The Nosh Show using various services: iTunes, Stitcher, Swell app, SoundCloud, TuneIn, RSS, or, you can also download the episode. Thanks for listening!

Today’s junk food: J&D Foods Black Truffle Crisps!

J&D Foods Black Truffle Crisps were sent to me by the good folks at J&D Foods, makers of the famous Bacon Salt products.  It was weird for me to see a company so committed to bacon release a truffle product, so I was curious about these.  Plus, everything is written in French.  FANCY.

From the J&D Foods website regarding these Black Truffle Crisps:

We started with Bacon. Then we made some amazing things that taste like Sriracha. Now, we’re completing the culinary hat trick with the third flavor in our personal food pyramid, black truffles.

…

J&D’s Black Truffle Crisps are made with real Italian black summer truffles, and are best served with your favorite gourmet cheeses, cured meats and hor d’oeuvres or bushed with melted butter or olive oil as a side to a soup or main dish. These delicately toasted crostini are great as an appetizer or as a gourmet snack!

Ok, so Black Truffle Crisps are J&D Foods attempt to get into the gourmet circle of food?  I can dig it.  I happen to love truffle, so why not?

For those unfamiliar – it’s hard to describe the flavor of truffle except that it has a very potent mushroom taste that is extremely aromatic and flavorful.  Most people like it, though it is a distinctly powerful flavor.

J&D Foods Black Truffle Crisps look like standard baked crostini  – no black specks or anything.  The box, when opened, did smell like truffle.  Infusing oil with truffle is often the best way to transfer the flavor of truffle evenly onto a food, so that’s likely what happened here.

J&D Foods Black Truffle Crisps tasted VERY MUCH like truffle, so if you like that flavor, you’ll like these.  When I placed a crisp into my mouth, it crunched nicely like you’d expect a good piece of toasted crostini to crunch.

The flavor of the truffle was immediate and filled my mouth with the first bite.  There’s a little bit of salt on each crisp that helps carry the flavor.  However, the flavor diminishes rapidly as you chew, the natural consequence of the overall breadiness of a crostini mixing with the truffle flavor, which is presumably only on the outside of the cracker.  Still, I think these crostini accomplished what they were meant to – to give that initial pop of truffle, perfect for whatever cheese or meat or tapenade you want to put on top of this.

So, I’d say the flavor was on point. Delivery system (the crostini)? Nothing special, just a nice crispy crostini.  All in all, pretty good – I’ll look forward to having these with some salami and brie.  Thanks, J&D.

PURCHASED AT: Buy it here online.

COST: $9.99 currently

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy