Pretz – Beef Tongue Giant Edition

I call this giant edition because it definitely is worth mentioning the sheer size of these. I recall seeing these as a child and wondering what it would be like to eat a giant version of the already long sticks of the standard sized packs. I also recall seeing them behind a special counter, because apparently they were harder to find and more of a novelty back then, so obviously they had to keep it in a spot where it would be harder for random people to steal. It added a sense of mystique to it, and made me want it that much more. But no shot a little kid like me could afford something like that, so I had to wait and bide my time. Until now.

These come in individual wrappers because these are big, and you probably don’t want to eat them all in one sitting or have them lose their freshness. It feels weird opening a giant box and seeing 13 individually wrapped sticks, but I’m also a little cautious about handling them because what if they snap in half from just being picked up? It’s a little anxiety-inducing.

Unfortunately I don’t have a great way to impress upon you the sheer scale of this, but what I can tell you is these measure roughly 25cm. If you’re not sure how long that is, it’s almost the full length of a typical regular sized ruler that you would have used in school. Do kids still use rulers these days?!

The flavour is on the saltier side, so similar to Cratz in that way. The seasoning is also very generous, and its everywhere. It has a strong, savoury beefy flavour with notes of black pepper, and a marinade that reminds me of a soy based sauce. While indeed a bit on the saltier side, unlike normal Pretz you aren’t expected to eat more than one of these in a sitting so I find it to be about even as eating a whole pack. These would go great with a nice cold drink, also like Cratz.

The texture is very spot on to what I would expect of a Pretz, but maximized in size. The big thing I find different is that these giant sticks have a more noticeable swirl in the stick. They visually look the same but these are less dense and so they have more airy texture to them, not having quite as clean a snap. These are more like a really thin and crisp bread stick. Similar to a normal Pretz stick it’s light overall, so it doesn’t feel substantial or make you feel full after. Probably a smart idea if you wanted people to eat more…Understandably the snap and texture is harder to scale up to this size, but I find what they did with this works well overall, and captures the essence of Pretz stick.

These are an absolute banger of a novelty item, and truth be told I would do this more often if I had easy access to these at a reasonable price. As it stands, if you love Pretz, it’s worth trying at least once but given the rarity of these, best to sate that Pretz craving with normal flavours.