Lay’s Paysanne Saveur Fromage Frais, Ail de Garonne et Fines Herbes

 

Oh my goodness I very nearly failed to post this packet of fromage frais, garlic and herbs flavour crisps. Apparently I carefully filed the packet on one of the bookshelves, so that I would know where to find it, and then totally forgot. I was just sitting in my usual spot on the sofa today, vaguely watching Death on the Nile (with Peter Ustinov and David Niven) for probably the 14th time, while I downloaded a podcast about ancient Egypt, when I glanced across the room and saw the packet. Oh look. Where did that come from?

So when was it exactly that the Chef and I tried these crisps? Who knows? Some time last year, I suppose. There’s no trace of a sniff of the flavour left. Life zooms past at such a rate sometimes it’s hard to keep up. 

Well, the packet says Nouveau. But if this crisp flavour is still available it won’t still be new will it?

Thinking very hard, I seem to remember this was rather a nice flavour. Fromage frais to give a lovely cool background; ail de Garonne, which is garlic, presumably grown somewhere in the Garonne region (it’s a great big river that meets the sea at Bordeaux); and Fines Herbes, which is a French catch all for lots of finely chopped herbs for when you make an omelette or want to add flavour to a casserole or even a salad. 

A nice combination. And the addition of a nice crinkle cut crisp made it a very good crispy snack.

French potatoes. Probably a French supermarket. Not entirely sure how these crisps qualify as Paysanne. It doesn’t really matter.

Seafood Wholefoods Thai Chilli Crackers

 

I confess I was deeply suspicious of this rice based crispy snack which was part of a Christmas present to the Chef. I think rice cakes are disgusting and I was worried that would be the overarching taste.

However, I was completely wrong. 

This little snack has a pleasing hit of chilli heat and a nice sweetness. It sounds all the sort of flavours I don’t like in a crisp doesn’t it? But, I admit it, I really rather enjoyed this snack. Not sure about the bite which is a bit odd, but don’t let that put you off. I’m also not sure I could detect the flavour of any pizza sauce.

I see you can buy a very similar looking product from our local supermarket, possibly an exactly the same product but packaged differently, so I am sure they can be found all over the place.

E.Leclerc Pom’Lisse Chips Saveur Barbecue

We must have bought these French crisps from a E.Leclerc operated motorway service station last summer. And I have to admit that by the time we taste tested, they were rather out of date, although not soggy or nasty in any way. 

The circular logo Marque Repère means they are an own brand product.  Pom’Lisse looks as though it should be for flat/smooth crisps, but I have found images of obviously crinkle cut crisps with the Pom’Lisse label on the Lerclerc website, so I don’t really know what to make of that.

Anyway, this is a very fine cut crisp in the Swiss style with a pleasant but not very barbecuey flavour. I think I put off the taste test because I don’t really like barbecue flavour. Not sure why I picked this flavour off the shelf really. But service station shops often have entire walls of crisps and it’s hard to make a decision. 

To be honest, I don’t really like barbecues either, but that’s mainly because I hate eating out of doors. And, this is a puzzle, why has barbecue become such a successful flavour? It doesn’t taste of barbecued meat does it? Is this what barbecue sauce tastes of? Obviously I have never bought any, and probably never tasted any. Oh dear, I’m going round in circles here and not getting any answers.

To sum up: a fine cut crisp with a light bite. Not really the flavour for me. Maybe if I find the roast chicken flavour one day…