A Visit to Sion in 2017 (Switzerland)

This is the crispy snack shelf in Co-op City in Sion (which is the capital of Canton Valais) in the French speaking part of Switzerland. The Co-op has quite a big food department downstairs, and upstairs they sell pots and pans, and bedlinen, and a surprising number of scented candles.

This is one of the largest packets of crisps I've seen for a very long time... and such a large pile of them too. Zweifel Nature (basically what we used to call ready salted). A really fabulous crisp but I don't think I would buy a packet this huge. Not even to please the reluctant taste testers.

There are lots of crisps in this photo from Swiss crisp giant Zweifel; can you spot the fabulous Provencal flavour which is one of my absolute favourites?

But you can also see lots of packets from UK crisp company Tyrrell's, and those Eat Real Lentil Chips? I can buy those just across the road from the office. There are Pringles tucked up in the top right corner too. 

I always find it odd that in France and Switzerland you can buy crisps from all over the place (Belgium, Spain, the UK) while in the UK it's almost entirely UK made crisps for sale. Of course here in North London I have access to a vast array of kosher crispy snacks, some of which come from the United States, and others from Israel. Then there are the local "Indian" corner shops selling loads of spicy snacks, the local "Turkish" shop, which may be Kurdish, and sells snacks from Eastern Europe, and the myriad Japanese shops. Plus Polish... don't forget the Polish shops and there are lots of them.

But I think you get my drift. For the most part the crispy snacks available in Britain are British. But since we are obviously invading the continent with British crisps it seems a shame we can't get continental crisps here.

Eat Real Hummus Chips Creamy Dill Flavour

The senior taste tester brought in this packet of hummus chips. At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking you were looking at a bowl of pasta shells. But no. This is a crispy crunchy snack made with chickpea flour.

And the big marketing grab is 48% less fat. 48% less fat? Yes, the fat content is reduced from 10g to 5.5g per serving (when compared to regular potato chips - whatever they may be). However, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope this really is a healthier option.

And I am especially keen to give this crispy snack the benefit of the doubt because the crunch is pretty good (although a little dull compared to that of a potato crisp), and the taste is pretty damn good too. Amazing.

The first taste is all about the cream but then there is a lovely gently aftertaste of dill. Very nice. I think we approve.

This possibly healthy crispy snack option is made by Cofresh and we've tried several of their products before. Like this one. Good for Cofresh.

Eat Real Hummus Chips Sea Salt Flavour

We seem to be having a super healthy week on the crispy snack front chez the reluctant taste testers.

This was a contribution from tall elegant taste tester. As an apology for something... I'm not quite sure what.

Anyway, these shell-shaped crispy snack are made with 45% chickpea flour so I guess they have a right to describe themselves as hummus chips. Gluten free (certified by Coeliac UK), vegetarian, vegan, 48% less fat than regular potato chips. Sounds pretty good doesn't it?

But, and you just know with me that there's going to be a but, I'm not sure these hummus shells taste of very much.

I'd like to say thy had a lovely crunch (it was a bit hard in my opinion) and a nice salty taste. But to be truthful I didn't think they tasted of much. The extremely sceptical taste tester liked them; she says she likes bland tasting crispy snacks.

Most of a 45g packet (I saved a few to take home to the Chef) got eaten up quite quickly. But. But yet another crispy snack that is meant to be a healthier option, and thus better for us than your average snack, turns out to be a bit dull. I thought there was a slightly greasy after taste and the tall elegant taste tester agreed with me.

I have a feeling that with this lovely shell-shape these hummus chips would work extremely well with a nice dip. But then I daresay they would be a lot less healthy for us.