Vico Street Food Saveur Poulet Tex Mex

Nouveau! And for a change I think this actually might be a new crisp flavour. I only saw it in one service station, but to be honest I wasn’t looking very hard this year.

And Street Food! That’s not very French sounding, is it? Although the French world of marketing and advertising has been thoroughly infiltrated by English, or maybe American. So perhaps the French way of life has been infiltrated by eating street food rather than having lunch at a nice little bistro on the corner?

To be honest I’m not a big fan of eating outside, and therefore don’t really go for street food. Too many wasps. And I have never knowingly eaten Tex Mex food. Oh how boring you must think me. So what I am trying to say is I am poorly qualified to review this particular crisp flavour.

A nice narrow ridged crinkle cut crisp (compared to the wider or perhaps broader ridge usual for U.K. crisps), a good bite, hot and spicy but not too hot, a fair amount of flavour dust: quite nice. I’m not sure there is any detectable taste of chicken but perhaps there’s a faint aftertaste of synthetic crispy snack type not actually chicken flavour. Mysteriously moreish. I can’t really decide why.

The Chef agrees these crisps are spicy and hot, and definitely don’t taste of chicken. But I can see he will probably finish the packet.

Vico is a French company owned by snack giant Intersnack. It’s based in Picardy in Northern France, which is notable for huge gothic cathedrals and lots of war memorials. 

This is the first review I have written since my blog has passed 500,000 hits. That’s a bit of a surprise considering I only began writing about crispy snacks because I was bored on a rainy day in August 2003.

And on reflection… I don’t think I would bother to buy another packet of Poulet Tex Mex.

Migros M Classic Triangles Paprika

Another packet of crispy snacks from Swiss supermarket Migros (but manufactured in The Netherlands). And this time not shaped like tiny turtles, but like triangles. It really is unusual. I have never seen a triangle shaped snack before. Well, yes, tortilla chips are triangular, but not like this.

Normally I would say I love an extruded smooshed up maize based snack. And these triangles certainly do have a nice bite. And what’s more, they don’t gum themselves to your teeth like so many such snacks do. 

But, most unfortunately, I don’t really like the taste. The paprika taste I am used to is slightly sweeter and nothing like so smoky. I know smoky flavours are all the rage these days, but I am not convinced. I can do without the smokiness thank you. And let’s get rid of the slightly greasy aftertaste please.

I did manage to eat almost an entire packet in one sitting out of a sort of addiction to the triangle crunch, and for my pains I got smelly orange fingers. The smell lasted through several thorough hand washings, an overnight sleep (not just a quick nap) and a bath. 

I really would like to try this crispy snack in a different flavour; but I think it only comes in paprika.

A good try though: the shape is great.

M&S Collection Hand Cooked Crisps Prosciutto & Formaggio

 

We stopped at the last sensible motorway service station on the way to Dover and bought sandwiches, plus this packet of Prosciutto & Formaggio crisps.

Well, Marks & Spencer… possibly not your finest hour. Not very big crisps but still, a good crunch. But, tell me gentle reader, are you wondering if this combination of flavours is going to work?

And… these Prosciutto (uncooked, unsmoked, dry cured ham) and Formaggio (basically cheese) flavoured crisps are surprisingly moreish. You start off thinking oh… I don’t really know, I’m not at all sure, but before you know it you’re having another delicately flavoured crisp, and then another.

I am not at all sure they actually taste of prosciutto and formaggio (honestly, how can I really tell? I don’t think I have ever actually tried this mix of flavours in a crisp before), but you know, erm, quite nice,

Not the best crisp ever, but not bad. You can tell, can’t you? Not bad.

And remember. You might like this crisp combo more than I do.

Migros Party Mini Turtles Gesalzen

The Chef and I recently shopped at a motorway service station in Switzerland, at Bavois. It’s the first in Switzerland if you arrive from France through the Jura. Anyway, we found a very nice packet of salami (direct from the farmer by the looks of things), an extremely good bottle of local wine, and this packet of turtle shaped crispy snacks. If only one could shop so well in service stations in Britain.

At first crunch I thought this was going to be rather a dull snack. I mean, the only flavour is salt. 

But, the more you snack, the tastier these crispy little turtles seem to be. And eventually they seem to be absolutely delicious. In fact, yum yum.

The texture is shiny (if that can be a texture), polished and slightly slippery in your fingers, and the brown side has a sprinkle of salt.

I really liked these turtles. Each one is about the size of a Penny. I’d take a picture for you, but unfortunately I ate them all. If I ever manage to buy another packet I promise to try and remember to take a photo. And I have already tried 2 different branches of Migros but so far no luck.

Bought another packet. Ate the lot. Sorry.

Croky Explosions Mac’n Cheese Flavour

This packet of Croky Explosions Mac’n Cheese crisps may have been bought in France, but apparently it comes from Belgium. Here’s the Croky Belgium website. I expect I chose these crisps off the shelf because this flavour looks a bit mad.

OK, do you know what? I am not convinced that Mac’n Cheese is a traditional Belgian dish. I know it’s not traditionally British, I’m pretty sure it’s not French, and I have a feeling it’s not even traditionally Italian either. Every so often I make macaroni cheese from scratch and it doesn’t taste anything like this. In fact, on first bite I thought this flavour was cauliflower cheese. Oh dear. 

So I suspect that this Mac’n Cheese flavour may be based on the ‘delicious’ sounding Mac’n Cheese ‘food’ that comes in a cardboard box in North America. The stuff you see people feeding their kids on paper plates on Instagram.

Who even wants a potato crisp that tastes of a bland flavour like pasta and cheese? Perhaps the people who loved the fabulous Marks & Spencer baked potato flavoured crisps from back in 2013. What? Yes I know that sounds like a rubbish flavour for a crisp, but they were brilliant and really did taste of baked potatoes. Don’t knock a flavour if you haven’t tried it. Such a shame M&S discontinued this fabulous crisp. I remember them with great affection.

So, these crisps are not super exciting. The crinkle cut crunch is nice, but I can’t help feeling that they taste of some sort of highly processed ingredient like cheese powder. I dare say all crisps are highly processed but you don’t always notice it so much.

Not nasty, not horrible, but I don’t think I would recommend them.

The Chef finished off these crisps before I got around to photographing a little bowl of them. I still don’t think he would recommend them though.

Takis Fuego Chilli and Lime

You may recall that earlier this year when we were in Switzerland I tried Takis Volcano crispy snacks. I rather enjoyed them. They are hot and spicy, but not too hot to be eaten and enjoyed. The Chef missed out on the taste test because he wasn’t feeling at all well. In fact he was rushed to hospital the next day so no wonder he didn’t fancy a piquant snack.

While the Chef was in hospital (horse casserole for lunch one day) I acquired a packet of Takis Fuego chilli and lime flavoured snacks.

Well now, I did not scrutinise the hot/piquant-ometer carefully enough before trying this Fuego snack…. and was a bit thunderstruck at how extremely hot and spicy this crispy snack is. Ridiculously hot if you ask me. I am a bit surprised that Fuego (fire) is hotter than Volcano (volcano). You might think it should be the other way around. And I am honestly not sure if I could detect the lime. Definitely could detect the chilli.

Ski Instructor taste tester tried one. I think he probably eats considerably hotter curries than I do so has a palate better accustomed to heat, but he was not at all impressed, and pronounced this crispy snack a ‘waste of time’ . Well, so it is if you can’t bring yourself to eat it.

No surprise then that we ditched the packet. Do not buy these unless you really really really love lots of chilli. I wonder if Barry from In The Chips would appreciate this snack? I follow him on Instagram and he really seems to enjoy hot flavours.

You will be pleased to know that the Chef is now recovered from the virus that laid him low. It is unfortunately easier than we think to pick up a virus so all we can do is try to be careful.