Boy Bawang Garlic Cornick

I confess that I bought this product only because of the name and the angry-looking bulb of garlic that appears to have violent tendencies. I did not know what "bawang" meant when I bought this, but the graphic seemed to indicate that it might just be a noise that is made when one punches a foe, like the words that used to pop up on the screen during the campy Batman series. I'm guessing that a garlic bulb would like to do combat with an onion for the affections of a shapely pineapple or tuber. If it's mortal combat, well, then its got to be his arch-nemesis the garlic press. It strikes me that, if a cartoon series had been adapted by Julia Child, this might be the character list.

This 3.5 oz. (100 g.) packet was available at Walmart for 69 cents (54 yen) and caught my eye during my very first visit to said shopping establishment in my life. I must say, it lived up to my expectations and was a reflection of economic and sociological differences. The people of Walmart are a specialized tribe, and they have plenty of access to the cheapest junk food in America. My husband and I marveled at how low the prices were if you wanted to buy chips, Mexican snack cakes, and, in this case, Philippine corn nuts.

The exterior packaging does not reveal that these are corn nuts and I didn't use logic to determine that "cornick" may be corn nuts, but the first ingredient is "fried corn" (mmmm, nutritious!). I looked up "bawang" and it means "garlic" in tagalog. Essentially, this is named "garlic boy". They had me at "boy".

When you open the packet, you are  hit with intensely strong garlic aromas. It smells good, actually, at least if you love garlic. They are immensely savory with strong garlic flavor, MSG, salt, and chili pepper. There is just the tiniest hint of heat, but I think it comes as much from the strong garlic as the chili pepper.

I liked these, but I confess that I'm not a huge fan of corn nuts since deep fried things aren't first on my list. That being said, these are very tasty and satisfying as a savory snack. If I was having a salty food craving, I'd absolutely be happy to pop a few of these in my mouth to satisfy it. The main problem is that I'm guessing that the rate at which I personally eat such things will mean they'll go stale before the bag can be finished. If you're a fan of corn nuts and garlic though, these are the bee's knees.