I eat far too many duded-up granola bars, sometimes known as 'energy' or 'sports' or 'diet' bars when not by brand name. They're all sweet. Some of them should be savory, in the culinary sense of salty, herbaceous, spicy.
I don't actually need them all to be sweet, since I am not eating them because I need to 'carb-load in the protein window before I bonk', or whatever. I eat them instead of meals because they don't go bad when left in a bag or a desk drawer for weeks. Hard cheese and a rusk can usually survive in a desk, but not a backpack.
Many an early culture had its version; pemmican with berries pounded in or not, dried flesh softened under a Mongol saddle, etc etc. Surely modern marketing could produce something less alarming than MREs and more meal-like than "Double Fudge Protein".-- hello_c, Nov 08 2001 Cybercandy - Tequila lollipop http://www.cybercan...dbc=22&dbtc=0&pic=1Extreme candy [hippo, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004] Bad Candy http://www.bad-candy.com/Related link - see reviews of "Bomvaso", "Sabrosos" and "Tamarind" [hippo, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004] Sandwich Marzipan http://www.halfbake...Sandwich_20MarzipanAmounts to the same, doesn't it? [jutta, Nov 08 2001] yeah, I'd go for this. Things you could eat with tomato juice or other non-sweet drinks. Same goes for lollipops - I eat a lot of these when I go out dancing, and they're all sweet too. A hot or salty lollipop would make a lot of sense to me.-- AllenGrace, Nov 08 2001 Can I get some in tapenade flavour? Or pesto?-- angel, Nov 08 2001 I've been running for two miles, sweating bullets, in the early stages of palpitations and feeling lightheaded … jerky? Croissant.-- reensure, Nov 08 2001 [AllenGrace] How about a Tequila lollipop? (contains genuine worm). See link.-- hippo, Nov 08 2001 What PeterSealy said. Sugar is the "quick" energy agent.-- bristolz, Nov 08 2001 There's tons of sugar in lots of savoury food as it is. If you add anything spicy or sour, it'd lessen the sweetness.-- pottedstu, Nov 08 2001 PeterSealy--i thought sugar was a carb, just not complex. i wonder if there are other kinds of simple carbs... or the not-as-sweet sugars (glucose or something? maybe? don't know the med background here) that could be disguised by other flavors...-- Urania, Nov 09 2001 Hey, how bout nuts? Lots of energy, naturally light in sugar, multiflavored, ie: peanuts, almonds, cashews, brazils, walnuts, pecans. veggie oil. Can be processed down like a nut butter stick or some such thing. Can add spices and other outside flavor profiles too.-- bobzaguy, Nov 12 2001 The sweetness depends a lot on the particular carbohydrate used. Dextrose, sucrose etc. all taste very sweet; fructose tastes less sweet (while still giving the immediate energy hit), but what you really want are the more complex carbohydrates/starches found in cereals. There are plenty of oat-based energy bars around with all the energy you need, but without the sweet taste. The problem of course is that with all processed food, they add lots of sugar to replace the flavours lost in the processing. I find that health-food shops are good places to look for foods that aren't drenched in sugar (but if they're still heavily processed, then you will still have lost lots of the flavour).-- vincebowdren, Nov 12 2001 I can't think of any non-sweet oat bars, and I do shop in earthy crunchy granola stores. Some are less sweet than others, but they sure aren't savory.
I really like the ideas of curry bars (based on rice & dal or oats & dal), or savory nut ones.-- hello_c, Nov 12 2001 I think that between dried cranberries, yeast, and orange meal there is a happy medium for a wonderful curry snack with or without nuts (there's that daunting allergy problem for many folks).-- reensure, Nov 13 2001 I recommend Bombay Duck.-- Aristotle, Nov 13 2001 Pemmican?-- angel, Nov 13 2001 random, halfbakery