Nabisco Ritz Crackers (4 oz. box)

Item Purchased: Nabisco Ritz Crackers (4 oz. box)
Location Purchased: 7-Eleven / 1350 S. Halsted / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.79 + tax

Review: I'm not sure when in my history it became a pairing. Perhaps it was during the years I lived in a lonely studio apartment that I paid far too much for, spending lonely nights watching foreign films on my video monitor and eating several different pasta products. Regardless of the specifics, I once took the remnants of a box of Ritz crackers and heaped some of my macaroni and cheese on top of it. The next time I bought a box of mac n' cheese, I instinctively picked up another box of Ritz. That time I crumbled a few of the buttery crackers in my hands and sprinkled them over my cheesy dinner. Ever since, I have rarely had a bowl of cheese-dusted pasta without a few of these crackers alongside.

Another memory I have is of spending Sunday afternoons at my grandparents' house where my grandmother would set out several plates with crackers and toppings to snack on while my grandfather and I watched golf. There were Triscuits and other crackers, but I remember reaching for the Ritz the most. I have also heard several stories claiming that when Ritz became popular in Europe, men would fill heart-shaped boxes meant for chocolates with Ritz and give them to their girlfriends (the wikipedia entry for Ritz says that this is how they proposed to their girlfriends. The girl probably just slapped the guy and said "Where's my ring?...More importantly, where's my chocolate!?").

Why all of this nostalgia and invention over a simple little cracker? I'm not sure. Maybe it is the buttery, salty and crisp qualities that so delicately melt in your mouth when you bite into one of these crackers. Maybe it is the red box that stands out when you walk down the primarily brown and white cracker aisle at the store. Maybe it is just a killer marketing campaign consisting of everything from whole wheat crackers to tiny versions of the cracker, filled with peanut butter and made into sandwiches. I don't know. All I know is that I had to have some Ritz crumbs on the Easy Mac I bought for lunch today. Since Nabisco is also owned by Kraft (who made the Easy Mac), I suppose my meal was very 1984. Now if I only had some Marlboro cigarettes to smoke since Kraft is owned by Altria (formerly Philip Morris).

Since I only bought the 4 oz. (1 tube of crackers) version of the snack, by the time I was done with lunch, all I had was a slippery butter tan cellophane wrapper and a few crumbs left. With potato chips I can just eat one. Not with Ritz. Someone messed up their slogans back in the day.



Rating: 4 / 5

Buy some Ritz crackers from Amazon.com: Consume.