In Praise of Smokis

I've just finished reading Rosie Whitehead's book Travels with my Frontline Family about bringing up a young family in the Balkans during the early 1990s whilst her husband covered the various wars in the region at that time. I have to say that I enjoyed it very much, and not just because I can read it and go That is so true! I found that too!

Obviously there are some enormous differences between our experiences. The region is not in major conflict. My husband is not in danger every day unless you count the walk to the office along icy roads. The early nineties did not have the Internet with email, access to Radio 4 and the cricket commentary or Amazon to deliver to your doorstep. It is now pretty much 20 years since communism fell in the region, and although things are still not quite like a capitalist market, they have moved on somewhat from their communism heritage.

But, of all the deep and profound things that she discussed in her book the one thing that really stood out for me was that her family was also obsessed with Smoki Flips. They are a sort of peanutty Wotsit type crisp and they are good in that really really good sort of way. Balkan children have grown up on them for generations and the Bosnians can't believe that we don't have them in England. Come to that, neither can I.