Glad there’s only one of: Idaho Spud
I really don’t know much about these except that they’re made by the Owyhee Candy Co. in Boise. I disovered them while visiting my sister in Oregon and brought one home for Ethan and I to evaluate.
Evaluation: It’s kind of ironic that I’m watching Caddy Shack while I write this because when I took the spud out of the wrapper I immediately thought of the scene where a Baby Ruth bar falls into the pool and Spaulding yells “DOOTIE!”
The outside of these are chocolate with coconut flakes. The inside is an…odd, firm, bouncy blob of something that seems like it should be marshmallow but isn’t.
I looked at the ingredients and they say it contains “agar agar” which is a seaweed-based gelatin. I can appreciate that hooves (or whatever gelatin is usually made of) aren’t used, but the texture of the blob wasn’t pleasant. Ethan noted that it also had a very coffee-like taste, which seemed mismatched with the chocolate and coconut.
Wrap up: It just seems like something is off. Ethan couldn’t even finish his half. I finished mine but I think it was just out of curiosity because I like chocolate and coconut, but was trying to pinpoint how this gelatinous/pasty/coffee center really threw off that flavor combo. I have to say though that Idaho Spuds do have a strong following. They even have their own fan club listed on the Owyhee site which features recipes people made up from melting these down. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the Spud is disgusting, but it’s definitely something I am glad there’s only one of.
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October 27th, 2008 at 3:31 am
Agar agar is used a lot in Japanese snacks. The main benefit over it rather than gelatin is that it stays firm at room temperature so you don’t have to refrigerate gelatin-style products made with it. It really doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that should be robed in chocolate and coconut though.
This has to be a product that was originally made differently and was modified in the last 30 years to use cheaper ingredients. I can’t imagine agar agar was commonly used in 1918 when the bar was first introduced. Still, if I saw it (and I never will), I’d try it.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
That’s supposed to be a marshmallow center in there. Sounds like Owyhee is making the stuff as cheaply as possible.
October 31st, 2008 at 4:04 am
Ugh,it looks like something that you pulled out of a litterbox.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
S. Almond (oh, the irony) profiled this “delicious” snack in his book Candy Freak. You can learn all about how they are made along with profiles of a couple other regional candies. I highly recommend it.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m from Boise, and just happen to live here - and strangely enough JUST ['m talking 30 seconds] finished a conversation about the Idaho Spud - I don’t like them as-is, but they’re incredibly delicious FROZEN - they crackle like freeze-dried ice cream and are a good treat every once in a while - they’re also good for a marshmallow replacement in rice crispy treats but take more work [and money].
November 8th, 2008 at 3:14 am
I have a friend who loves these, and I have to get him one any time I go out west. The conversation after his first one went like this:
“This is really good! Where did you get this?”
“Wyoming.”
“So I can’t get another one?”
“No.”
“YOU BASTARD!”
November 9th, 2008 at 4:45 am
I saw an episode about these on “unwrapped” with Marc summers on the food network. Very odd idea but kinda cool. I’m not so eager to try them since im not a big marshmellow fan.
April 5th, 2010 at 1:44 am
No comment,just a face. X(
July 25th, 2010 at 5:07 am
My dad always buys tons of these when he goes to Idaho. We don’t really like them, but they always seem to disappear anyways.