Snack

"Midnight snack" redirects here. For other uses, seeMidnight Snack.

For other uses, seeSnack (disambiguation).

Trail mixis a classic snack food from America; here it is made withpeanuts,raisins,andM&M's.

Asnackis a small portion offoodgenerallyeatenbetweenmeals.A snack is often less than 200calories, but this can vary. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.

Traditionally, snacks are prepared from a number of ingredients commonly available at home without a great deal of preparation. Oftencold cuts,fruits,leftovers,nuts,sandwiches,andsweetsare used as snacks. With the spread ofconvenience stores,packaged snack foods became a significantly profitable business.

Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick, and satisfying.Processedsnack foods, as one form ofconvenience food,are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared foods. They often contain substantial amounts ofsweeteners,preservatives,and appealing ingredients such aschocolate,peanuts,and specially designed flavors (such as flavoredpotato chips). Aside from the use ofadditives,the viability ofpackagingso that food quality can be preserved without degradation is also important for commercialization.

A snack eaten shortly before going to bed or during the night may be called a "bedtime snack", "late night snack", or "midnight snack".

Asia

India

Main article:List of snack foods from the Indian subcontinent

Indian snack foods are typically called "chaats".Indian snacks likePani Puri,Samosashave become world famous enticing people with its complex and robust flavours. Most of the traditional snacks are home-made or sold by street vendors. As for packaged traditional Indian snacks,Haldiram'sis one of the top-selling and famous Indian snack brands around the world.

Indonesia

Kue

Main article:kue

Indonesian snacks, such astahu isi,pisang goreng,risoles,timpan,lemper,andkue pisang

Indonesiahas a rich collection of snacks calledkue(cakes and pastry), both savoury and sweet. Traditional kue is usually made fromrice flour,coconut milk, andcoconut sugar,and is mostly steamed or fried rather than baked. Traditional kue are popularly known askue basah( "wet kue" ) that has a moist, soft texture because of rich coconut milk.Kue kering(dried kue) is the local name for cookies. Indonesia has several variations of kue, both native and foreign-influenced.

Traditional crackers

Main articles:krupukandkripik

Krupuksin air-tight tin cans

Traditional crackers are calledkrupuk,made from bits of shrimp, fish, vegetables or nuts, which are usually consumed as a crunchy snack or an accompaniment to meals.These crispy snacks are sometimes added to main dishes for their crunchy texture; several Indonesian dishes such asgado-gado,karedok, ketoprak, lontong sayur, nasi uduk, asinan and bubur ayam are known to require specific types of krupuk as toppings. There are wide variations ofkrupukavailable across Indonesia. The most popular ones would bekrupuk udang(prawn crackers) andkrupuk kampungorkrupuk putih(cassava crackers).

Other popular types includekrupuk kulit(dried buffalo-skin crackers),empingmelinjo(gnetum gnemoncrackers), andkripik(chips/crisps), such askripik pisang(banana chips) andkeripik singkong(Cassavachips).Rempeyekis a flour-based cracker with brittle of peanuts, anchovies or shrimp bound by a crispy flour cracker.Rengginangorintip(Javanese) is a rice cracker made from sun-dried and deep fried leftover rice.

Japan

Main article:List of Japanese snacks

Japan has a very wide range of snack foods, some of which are internationally popular, ranging fromonigiritomelon pan.

Malaysia

• Cincin- a deep fried dough pastry-based snack popular with East Malaysia's Muslim communities.
• Roti john- a spiced meat omelette sandwich, popularly eaten for breakfast or as a snack.
• Bakkwa(Chinese: Nhục càn ) - literally "dried meat", bakkwa is better understood as barbecued meat jerky. While this delicacy is especially popular during theChinese New Yearcelebration period, it is available everywhere and eaten year round as a popular snack.
• Idli- made from a mashed mixture of skinned black lentils and rice formed into patties using a mould and steamed, idlis are eaten at breakfast or as a snack. Idlis are usually served in pairs withvadai,small donut-shaped fritters made from mashed lentils and spices,chutney,and a thick stew of lentils andvegetablescalledsambar.
• Murukku- a savoury snack of spiced crunchy twists made from rice and urad dal flour, traditionally eaten forDeepavaliin South India.
• Vadai,vada or vades - is a common term for many different types of savoury fritter-type snacks originated from South India with a set of common ingredients. The most common ingredients are lentils, chillis, onions and curry leaves.
• Tebaloi - is asagobiscuit snack which is traditionally associated with the Melanau people of Sarawak.
• Pisang goreng- a common snack sold by street vendors, battered fried bananas are also served in a more elaborate manner at some cafes and restaurants as a dessert. Cempedak and various tuber vegetables are also battered and fried in the same manner as variations.

Taiwan

• Taro ball- a traditional Taiwanese cuisine dessert made oftaro.
• Suncake (Taiwan)- is a popular Taiwanese dessert originally from the city ofTaichung,Taiwan.
• Aiyu jelly- is a jelly made from the gel from the seeds of the awkeotsang creeping fig found in Taiwan.
• Pineapple cake- is a sweet traditional Taiwanese pastry containing butter, flour, egg, milk powder, sugar, and pineapple paste or slices.

Thailand

• Miang kham– dried shrimp and other ingredients wrapped incha pluleaves; often eaten as a snack or a starter.
• Sai ua– a grilled sausage of ground pork mixed with spices and herbs; it is often served with chopped fresh ginger and chilies at a meal. It is sold at markets in Chiang Mai as a snack.

North America

Canada

In 2010, the average Canadian ate 300 snacks.Canadian identity is often associated with snack foods that are sold in Canadadue toeconomic nationalism.Some Canadian snacks includeketchup chips,Smarties,Coffee Crisp,Kinder Surprise,Jos Louis,Big Turk,andNanaimo bars.

United States

In the United States, a popular snack food is thepeanut.Peanuts first arrived fromSouth Americaviaslave shipsand became incorporated into African-inspired cooking on southernplantations.After theCivil War,the taste for peanuts spread north, where they were incorporated into the culture of such popular events as baseball games andvaudeville theaters.

Along withpopcorn(also of South American origin), snacks bore the stigma of being sold by unhygienicstreet vendors.The middle-class etiquette of the Victorian era (1837–1901) categorized any food that did not require proper usage of utensils as lower-class.

Pretzelswere introduced to North America by theDutch,viaNew Amsterdamin the 17th century. In the 1860s, the snack was still associated with immigrants, unhygienic street vendors, and saloons. Due to loss of business during theProhibition era(1920–1933), pretzels underwent rebranding to make them more appealing to the public. Aspackagingrevolutionized snack foods, allowing sellers to reduce contamination risk, while making it easy to advertise brands with alogo,pretzels boomed in popularity, bringing many other types of snack foods with it. By the 1950s, snacking had become an all-American pastime, becoming an internationally recognized emblem of middle American life.

Middle East

Nuts are a staple of snacks in theMiddle East.Among the many varieties available within the region, the most popular arealmonds,walnuts,hazelnuts,pine nuts,andpistachios.According to archeological evidence, nuts have been part of the Middle Eastern diet for centuries with ancient civilizations taking advantage of them for their health benefits.The health benefits of nuts comes from them being good sources of protein, healthy fats, fibers, vitamins and minerals.Nuts have now become a regular snack with a 119 billion dollar market as of 2022 that is projected to continue growing into 2023.Nuts can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as by roasting them with spices and lemon juice or incorporating them into food and desserts such asbaklava,knafeh,andkibbeh.

Hummus

Mouhammara

Spreads and dips are eaten withpita bread.The most popular dip in the middle east ishummus.Hummus is a blend ofchickpeas,tahini,lemon, and garlic usually served with olive oil and paprika on top.Hummus's origins can be traced back to a Syrian cookbook from the 13th century.Other dips are also popularly served such asmouhammaraandbaba ganoush.Mouhammara is a walnut, tahini, and roasted red pepper dip served with olive oil on top originating from the Syrian city ofAleppo.Baba ganoush is a spread made from roasted eggplants, olive oil, and other vegetables.The origins of baba ganoush are not clear with many conflicting pieces of evidence pointing to multiple countries of origin.A sweet dip is Ashta, a cream made from milk, rose or orange blossom water, and ghee, which is usually accompanied with honey.

Falafel sandwich

Many popular snacks in the Middle East are obtained from street vendors due to low cost and convenience of eating on the go.Many of these snacks consist of a protein with bread.Falafelconsists of many little fried balls of ground chickpeas orfava beanswith herbs, spices served in pita bread with tahini sauce and a choice of vegetables.Falafel is believed to originate from Egypt around 1000 years ago byEgyptian Copts.Shawarmais served in a similar fashion to falafel, pita bread with sauce and vegetables, but instead prepared by slowly cooking layers of meat on a spit before thinly slicing it.

Chicken shawarma sandwich

Nutrition

See also:Grazing (human eating pattern)

Government bodies, such asHealth Canada,recommend that people make a conscious effort to eat more healthy, natural snacks, such asfruit,vegetables,nuts,andcereal grainswhile avoiding high-calorie, low-nutrientjunk food.

A 2010 study showed that children in theUnited Statessnacked on average six times per day, approximately twice as often as American children in the 1970s.This represents consumption of roughly 570 calories more per day than U.S. children consumed in the 1970s.

Types

Further information:List of snack foods

• Bagelwithcream cheese
• Bitterballen
• Candy bar
• Carrot Chips
• Chaat
• Cheese,a larger cold prepared snack
• Cheese puffs/cheese curls
• Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats
• Corn chipsandTortilla chips
• Cocktail sausage
• Cookies
• Crackers
• Deviled eggs
• Doughnuts
• Dried fruits
• Drinkable yogurt
• Edamame,fresh or dried
• Granola bars
• Falafel
• Flour tortillawith a filling
• Frozen berries
• Fruit,whole, sliced,Fruit salad,Fruit cocktail
• Ice cream
• Jell-O
• Jerky
• Kaassoufflé
• Latiao
• Lunchables
• Milkshake
• Muffins
• Nuts
• Pound cake
• Papadum
• Peanuts
• Pitabread
• Popcorn
• Pork rinds
• Potato chips
• Pakoda
• Pretzels
• Raisins
• Ratatouille
• Rice cake
• Rice crackers, distinguished from the above
• Samosa
• Seeds
• Shortbread
• Smoked salmon
• Smoothie
• Teacake
• Trail mix
• Vegetables(e.g.,carrots,celery, cherry tomatoes)
• Yogurt

Image gallery

• 
  Irachikkaya
• 
  A rack ofChip (snack)
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  Popcorn
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  Trail mix
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  Cheez-It,a popular cheese-flavoredcracker
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  Candy
• 
  Snickers,a popularchocolate bar
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  Chocolate chip cookie
• 
  Fruit
• 
  Pączki
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  Potato chips
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  Pretzels
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  Pretzel sticks
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  Doughnuts
• 
  A blueberrymuffin
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  Ants on a log
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  Dutch bitterballen
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  Peanuts
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  Taro ball
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  Aiyu jelly
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  Pineapple cake

See also

• Canapés
• Junk food
• List of brand name snack foods
• List of foods
• List of Indian snack foods
• List of Indonesian snacks
• List of Japanese snacks
• List of snack foods
• List of snack foods by country
• Savoury (dish)

References

Sources

• Thiessen, Janis (2017).Snacks: A Canadian Food History.University of Manitoba Press.ISBN9780887555275.