Second question of the week: tasty crunchy dirt, and bitterness

June 14, 2024 3:46 PM

I love yummy crunchy dirt flavors, like cacao nibs and carob. Help me find more?

I suspect the cacao nibs / cacao beans are triggering my headaches. (Fermented and non fermented both… I’ve been eating A Lot)

What other tasty dirt like flavors can I consume?
I like
- unsweetened carob chips
- cacao nibs
-99% Lindt chocolate bars

I also love bitter stuff like
- Pataks Indian pickles
- crunchy green olives

And general crunch like
- kiwi seeds
- dried fig seeds
- soaked chia seeds (but I do not like boba tea tapioca)

What other snacks would I like?

posted by St. Peepsburg to Food & Drink (43 answers total)

Roasted sunflower seeds, maybe?
posted by humbug at 3:48 PM on June 14 [2 favorites]

Best answer: It’s a beverage, not a crispy snack, but have you tried shou puerh tea? It’s got all kinds of delicious loamy flavors.
posted by mismatched at 3:51 PM on June 14 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Beet chips, or kale chips?
posted by zeptoweasel at 3:53 PM on June 14 [6 favorites]

Best answer: I find açai tastes a bit like dirt. If you really like dirt, you could always try kratom.
posted by wheatlets at 3:58 PM on June 14

Best answer: Chocolate covered coffee beans?
posted by Iteki at 4:08 PM on June 14

Response by poster: Sorry my comma game was off today
It can be dirt flavor OR crunch (pop like a kiwi seed) texture !
The dirt doesn’t have to crunch. It’s ok if it does though!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:13 PM on June 14

Best answer: I also love these kinds of flavors. Since pu ehr tea has already been mentioned, I will second that and also recommend buckwheat honey, which has a beautiful malty "barnyard" flavor, and which you can use to top many crunchy things.
posted by darchildre at 4:38 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Seconding beetroot chips!

Chocolate covered coffee beans, but that probably wouldn’t help you, only others looking for similar.

You can get charcoal snack crackers which is kind of fascinating to me. The thinner the crunchier.

Oh my god, poppyseed cake. But specifically the Polish one, makowiec, where it’s a rolled cake with the centre being crunchy poppyseed paste.
posted by lokta at 4:52 PM on June 14 [6 favorites]

Best answer: I think I remember correctly that I got a bunch of interesting crunchy snacks from the Persian supermarket.
posted by lokta at 4:54 PM on June 14

peat counts as dirt. go to a scotch tasting at a higher end place.
posted by j_curiouser at 5:08 PM on June 14 [3 favorites]

roasted pumpkin seeds have that dirt thing going.
posted by The_Auditor at 5:33 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Best answer: mole negro Pasilla and mulato chilis have an intense earthy, smoky taste without the heat of more flamethrower chilis. There are many different types of moles for different regions that have special blends that include olives, dark chocolate, nuts.

Pasilla chili is sold in powder and makes an excellent topping for scrambled eggs with cheese. Trader Joe's used to make a black bean dip with Pasilla chili that was awesome and would be easy to make at home to go with chips.
posted by effluvia at 5:58 PM on June 14

Some people's tastebuds apparently make beets taste like dirt because they're more sensitive to the geosmin in them. (My daughter is one; to me, they're practically candy.)
posted by stormyteal at 6:07 PM on June 14

I would go to the Asian grocery. Try wasabi peas or seaweed rice crackers. I don’t like shrimp crackers but you might.
posted by shock muppet at 6:11 PM on June 14 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Crunchy black sesame butter
posted by meghosaurus at 6:36 PM on June 14 [7 favorites]

Coffee beans? Don’t eat too many; they’re caffeinated. Tamari-roasted chickpeas or sunflower seeds. I’m fond of fougasse bread coated in poppy and sesame seeds. Maybe bread with matcha tea flavoring?
posted by theora55 at 6:46 PM on June 14

Passionfruit.
Pomegranate.
posted by lulu68 at 8:16 PM on June 14

Yep, matcha, yerba mate maybe. I find raw radishes, turnips, and celery earthy. Roasted carrots and parsnips, especially older tougher ones. Buckwheat crackers if you can find them. Hemp hearts.
posted by Knicke at 8:35 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Black sesame definitely. Especially those super decadent fried dough balls with black sesame filling rolled in the toasted seeds and completely covered you can get at dim sum and Chinese pastry places. For more savory, but still very carby, short grain black rice (that actually comes out purple) liberally sprinkled with black sesame and nori crumbles. Nomnomnom

Genmai cha can hit this note for me if it’s actually good, look for the kind with matcha mixed in instead or alongside the regular green tea, for a more intense flavor. Check caffeine though, matcha can be a bit higher in that than whole leaf tea depending on grind and your extraction, although the toasted rice helps mitigate it depending on ratio.

Sumac goes in this direction when it’s been grilled or baked. Try eggplant and zucchini cut into thick slabs and coated with oil, sumac, salt and pepper, and whatever other spices you think you might like with that (I would go for some garlic and onion powder, sweet paprika, cumin, turmeric) and roast or grill your veggies.
posted by Mizu at 8:41 PM on June 14

Best answer: Do you like pu-erh tea?

For crunch don't miss corn nuts.
posted by slidell at 8:51 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I love these flavours and I love this question!

For dirt flavour in liquid form, maybe try dandelion tea? It has a very earthy taste. I make sure to get one that's roasted (Traditional Medicinals brand does a nice one) or it's too earthy for me.
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 8:52 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Papaya seeds have a nice earthy peppery crunch.
posted by ananci at 8:53 PM on June 14

Response by poster: This are lovely thank you!
Yes I also like chalk texture such as astronaut ice cream !
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:55 PM on June 14

Best answer: Wow, I also love pu erh and buckwheat honey and 100% cacao chocolate (I’ve been ordering the Pascha brand chocolate chips in bulk; Trader Joe’s had some for a blissful year or so but they haven’t in a long time). I never connected all of these flavors before.

You can toast buckwheat groats and they are both crunchy and earthy, and good on a salad.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 9:46 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Any chance you're iron deficient? Craving the taste of dirt and chalk is a symptom (Pica)! I don't really want to encourage this but a lot of iron deficient people love the taste of cornstarch (just eating the powder with a spoon). Also, radishes, and ice crunching. But maybe get your iron checked? If it is low, and you get it back up, you'll feel SO GOOD!
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:06 PM on June 14 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Oh! And chocolate covered coffee beans are great for gritty crunch, if you're ok with the caffiene.
And I just tried this Magic Chili Crisp - freeze-dried chili peppers with peanuts and sesame, and it might give you that taste? It's tasty and salty and not too spicy.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:19 PM on June 14

Best answer: I think you might like crispy fried shallots.
posted by virve at 11:06 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

Roast onion strips until they bubble black. Dirt and crunch.
posted by foxfirefey at 11:41 PM on June 14 [1 favorite]

You could try actual dirt.
posted by flabdablet at 11:49 PM on June 14

Best answer: crunchy
Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grains or granola in general
posted by HearHere at 1:45 AM on June 15

Best answer: I like Japanese genmaicha tea, with roasted brown rice.
posted by socky_puppy at 2:57 AM on June 15 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I have lately been obsessed with the combination of red walnut and dried jujube, a magical combination discovered by accident.
posted by Admiral Viceroy at 3:27 AM on June 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Seaweed snacks (you can also toast your own Nori to save a lot of money)

I put dried shiitake and/or porcini mushrooms in a blender or coffee grinder to make umami/earthy sprinkles that I can add to toast or anything that wants some earthy flavor.

You may also like experimenting with various types of furikake.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:08 AM on June 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Dukkah on bread with a little olive oil. Not too much oil, and don't leave the mixture soaking if you want crunch.

Hummus and lentil dip are very earthy to me. Again with the dukkah and a bit of oil, or you can use za’atar and, yes, sumac like someone mentioned.
posted by BibiRose at 7:20 AM on June 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: for crunch, you can't beat corn nuts or those candy-coated peanuts.
posted by hydra77 at 7:32 AM on June 15 [2 favorites]

Best answer: So, these are exceeding hard to actually search for, because they are the form factor of a chocolate bar, but instead of cacao, they are made from coffee. A local confectioner to me that is long out of business made them, and they're amazing. They fit this brief perfectly; kind of bittersweet, satisfyingly gritty. Other purveyors have tried these; their texture is not for everyone, and not a really widespread available product. They crop up from time to time.

They can apparently been made at home, but I don't have the wherewithal or tools to have tried this recipe, so can't vouch for it, but by accounts it is very close to what I've had in the past.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:59 AM on June 15

Best answer: Purple beetroot chips.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:29 AM on June 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Another vote for anything beetroot, specially chips. You can make these at home, as well as turnip chips and celeriac chips that all have the same flavor and crunch. In the air fryer or wok/deep fryer. It's really easy.
I also had some beet root chocolates one time, but I don't remember where.

Tahini has the earthiness too, so snacks with tahini are good, wether sweet, like halva, or savory like hundreds of middle eastern snacks and dips. Your post inspired me to want to make a nougat-tahini ice parfait. Parfait is the ice cream you can make without a machine, and it has a squeaky texture I think you would like. The basic recipe is 6 egg yolks to 1/2 liter of cream, whipped. You whip the yolks with a bit of sugar and vanilla till they are creamy and very light in color. Then add in whatever you want, like melted nougat and tahini. Then gently fold in whipped cream and freeze till done. If I make the nougat-tahini version soon, I'll report back. I'll drizzle the ice cream with date syrup when I make it.
posted by mumimor at 11:31 AM on June 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Keep an eye out for ginseng candies and the like at Asian grocery stores. They were very, very popular with older Korean women when i lived there and tasted like mud pies. They're supposed to be quite good for you too, I think.
posted by peppermind at 3:11 PM on June 15

Best answer: I agree about roasted seaweed. Lately I found this Nora brand one. It's tempura--v v cronchy and the seaweed is a little earthy. Also Trader Joe's not only has the best corn nuts (inca corn) but also super crunchy super salty a bit oily mochi nuggets.
posted by bookworm4125 at 4:36 PM on June 15

Best answer: Dragonfruit; the little black seeds are very crunchy.
posted by porpoise at 12:49 AM on June 16

Best answer: Zha cai (preserved mustard stem)!

also, raw beet salad
posted by 168 at 6:04 AM on June 16

Best answer: Nipits Pure Liquorice Pellets, a lovely, intense little British confection. About the size of a grain of rice, like a dirt laser on your tongue.

(n.b. unfortunately, similar to the cacao nibs, too much licorice can cause headaches, and even blood pressure and heart issues, so, you know, don't go nuts with the stuff)
posted by drumcorpse at 7:33 PM on June 16 [1 favorite]