I like Idaho. Road trips have taken me through northern parts of the state, as well as down through the south, en route to Utah. It’s a pretty corner of the U.S., and, as any American will tell you, it’s known for one thing: potatoes. Yes, Idaho is to America what Prince Edward Island is to Canada.
And yet I’d never heard of Idaho Spud, a chocolate candy bar that has apparently been made by the Boise-based Idaho Candy Company since 1918. The company’s website claims Idaho Spud is one of the 100 most popular candy bars in the northwest U.S.
The Pitch: “The candy bar that makes Idaho famous.” Named, of course, after the potato, which itself has made Idaho famous. There’s nothing on the wrapper to indicate what it’s supposed to taste like.
The Journey: This particular Idaho treat arrived at NEAROF! HQ through my dad, who has been known to make road trips to the U.S. to watch baseball games.
The Look: The packaging looks borderline homemade, vintage, and not at all slick. The spud itself looks like a log of chocolate rolled in coconut.
The Taste: Biting into the Spud reveals … a cocoa-tinged marshmallow centre! The mallow is soft and springy, and is coated with chocolate and coconut. It’s sweet and not at all salty, and I find it a bit cloying. The coconut/marshmallow combination gives a mouth-pleasing difference in textures.
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RATINGS AND DETAILS
Cost: $1.09 for a 43 gram (1.5 oz.) candy bar at a shop in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, U.S.A. (Supplied to NEAROF! as loot from a U.S. road trip.)
Value for cash money: Good.
Availability: America. Not sure how far and wide. Is it available in Kentucky? I have no idea.
Nutrition?: Per 1 bar (43 grams): 180 calories, 8 grams of fat (of which 4 grams are saturated), 8 mg of sodium (TINY!), less than one gram each of fibre and protein.
The verdict: Not my favourite chocolate bar, but good.
