French Fry Diary 643: More Crisps from the UK via Canada

You might remember I got a wonderful gift from my big sister a few months back, who in turn got these chips from her friend Kelly in Toronto who had recently visited the UK. Here are the rest of those chips.

Walkers Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips - full name Distinctively Salt & Vinegar with Real British Vinegar - The Bride went right for them, as she really likes salt and vinegar chips. She liked them, stating, "Salt and vinegar chips are good." Ain't she cute? I asked for one, and she replied, "You're not going to like them." She was right, but not in the way that say some of the Lay's Do Us A Flavor chips were not liked. They were okay, but not my cup of tea, or um, even chips.

Speaking of Do Us A Flavor, another of the bags from Kelly was from the UK's version of the Lay's (Walkers there) contest. These potato chips, or crisps, were flavored thus: Scrumptiously Smoky Bacon with Pork from Norfolk. Wow, that's specific. When the bag was opened there was a very pleasant smoky aroma, a good sign. They were quite good, and reminded me of the chips I'd had a while back at the British Chip Shop, only better. The Bride likened them to Bacos. Thumbs up for these.

The bag o' chips, I mean crisps, are from The Real McCoy's and are advertised as 'man crisps,' thick with deep ridges full of flavor. The flavor in question is Flame Grilled Steak. Biting into them, they have more of a thick crunch than might appear from the pics. I don't really taste the steak, and neither did The Bride, but they did have a pleasant smokey flavor like the other meat chip on this review. The company also puts out Flavors like Thai Sweet Chicken and Sizzling King Prawn among others.

Again special thanks to my sister Bobbie and Kelly for sending these along.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #118

One of Ruffles' new advertising campaign, this one for Ultimate Sweet & Smokin' BBQ Ruffles. Awesome.

French Fry Diary 408: Ruffles Loaded Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins Flavored

Yeah, I know that's quite a mouthful, Ruffles Loaded Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins Flavored potato chips. I've tried a lot of different bizarre flavored chips like the various rib chips, the steak chips, and even the chicken chips. There's even a hot dog flavored chip from Herr's I've been trying to track down. At least these are sorta tater related.

I had only a couple chips. I'm not a big fan of sour cream or Romano cheese and those flavors jumped right out immediately. There is also bacon and cheddar in there, but the former two flavors are overpowering. These chips were definitely not my cup of tea, and so not my bag of chips.

I had initially picked them up for The Bride, but she only thought they were okay. If you're into this kind of thing, go for it, but Ruffles Loaded Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins were just not for me.

French Fry Diary 346: Lay's Kettle Cooked Mesquite BBQ Flavored Potato Chips

I had just purchased ice cream at the local Wawa and was perusing the snack aisle looking for something to dip with it. Yeah, I know. I do that, get over it. I was wondering why, for like the hundredth time, they don't have BBQ Ruffles in my area, when I saw this bag of Lay's Kettle Cooked Mesquite BBQ Flavored Potato Chips and decided to go with them. There were a dozen other choices, but I wanted barbeque.

Now usually ridges are best for dipping, but kettle cooking makes a thick hard break easily chip that is also good for dipping. The only problem with this particular chip is, as you can see from the picture, kinda on the small side. Still they work, not as well as I would have liked, but they work.

For those looking for the health info, there's good news. These chips are free of MSG, transfats, or bizarrely enough, anything related to pigs. They are also a good source of Vitamin C, yeah, right, but I guess that shouldn't be a surprise based on their orange color.

The flavor is a good sweet barbeque flavor, but without a burn or an aftertaste. That's a win-win situation in my book. Not the best BBQ chips I have ever had but pretty darn good ones. And they were terrific dipped in the ice cream.

1983 Ruffles TV Commercial

Ruffles have that something extra - ridges, from 1983.

French Fry Diary 76: Herr’s Kansas City Prime Steak Flavor

I just saw these new Herr’s chips the other day at my local Wawa and decided I had to try them. Their full product title is Herr’s Kansas City Prime Steak Artificially Flavored Potato Chips. My first question about these is do they taste like the meat or the stuff that tastes like the meat?

Upon reading the back of the bag I learned that Herr’s tops them "with the flavor of thick and juicy steak," a bold flavor hard to find "outside of your favorite steakhouse." Interesting. How exactly does one do that?

First things first, the picture on the bag is misleading. The chips are not wide ripples but tight thin ripples, not waves but ridges in other words. Waves are better for dipping in my opinion, just saying.

The chips do in fact have an interesting taste. The pepper is strong and they do have a steak vibe, it’s just not a taste one would expect on a potato chip. It is similar to the phenomenon of Jelly Bellys that have Buttered Popcorn or Bubble Gum flavors – yeah, it’s good but there’s something weird about it in that form.

Thee are tasty and different, but maybe not on a regular basis. Well worth a try though.

Space Chips