Snackrite Thick Cut Ridged Ready Salted

 Kind neighbours were going to Aldi and asked if I wanted anything. They brought home a variety pack of thick cut ridged crisps.

This is one of the Ready Salted packets. A whole 25g. Which is not very many crisps.

This is a very simple crisp. The only ingredients are British potatoes, vegetable oil and salt. And very nice too. Some of these fancy modern flavours are too complicated and weird for their own good. But a lot of the time you can’t beat going back to basics. And this is a very good basic.

Thick cut but not too thick, ridged or crinkle cut, and just the right amount of salt. This is a very good crisp.

Snackrite is an Aldi brand, exclusively available at Aldi.

Walkers Squares Ready Salted

And here, plucked from a multi pack, is the unadulterated version of Walkers Squares. Well, it’s what we in the UK call ready salted. Because in the olden days, the first years of crisp manufacturing, you got a packet of fried potato slices and a little blue bag of salt which you untwisted and added the salt yourself. Only then was the huge technological leap of the ready salted crisp invented. Or indeed the ready salt & vinegared or ready cheese & onioned crisp, but of course we don’t call them that.

Anyway, with just salt as the flavour, you can taste just how different reconstituted potato products are from potato crisps. Nice texture, easy to eat. I rather like the flavour but would I want to eat them every day? I think not.

Here’s another square snack I think I must have liked better, from Marks & Spencer.

In other matters, recently someone was referred to this blog by Wikipedia. I wish I knew how that happened. Oh look at that… it’s here. Scroll down. I wasn’t expecting ever to be a reference on Wikipedia. 

Trader Joe’s Organic Kettle Style Potato Chips

Most unusually this packet of crisps sent by Instagram friend in her exciting parcel from Missouri (let’s call her Missouri Taste Tester), doesn’t have a flavour. In fact, if you read the back of the packet you can see they’re seasoned with just the right amount of sea salt. But it’s most unusual to find a crisp packet without the flavour front and centre.

To be extra kind, Missouri Taste Tester sent a Trader Joe’s brown paper bag too.  So here it is in the background. In fact I already have a Trader Joe’s bag, which is famed and hanging in our spare room. A form of recycling if you will.

I sent this packet of crisps to the office via my ex-colleague Noble Friend. Because of social distancing and the Rule of Six I can’t see most of the Reluctant Taste Testers IRL, but I value their opinions.The report is that these crisps have just the right crunch, and just the right amount of saltiness. So I think that’s a recommendation.

Tesco Potato Chips Ready Salted

Wow this is an old fashioned crispy snack! When I was very small we used to call them chipples. And somehow they seemed just the right size for a child's fingers. Now I am grown up they seem very small and actually quite hard to pick up.

Slightly Red Haired Bristolian was a big fan. I suspect several of the other taste testers were big fans too but they did not admit to it. However, since most of a large bowlful went missing during the course of the day I deduce that someone, indeed several someones, was eating this crispy snack. And I cannot let Slightly Red Haired Bristolian take all the blame or the credit.

Very small. Very simple. Rather crunchy. Called "Ready Salted" but I'd thought could qualify as slightly salted. Just not very exciting.

Ikea Potatischips Saltade

Noble Friend went to Ikea to buy who knows what and carefully rang me up to find out which of their crisp flavours we had tried, because last time she bought the same flavour again. And this is the other one that we hadn't. Tried.

Plain salted potato crisps. And very nice too. Made of nothing but potatoes, sunflower oil and salt.

A very slightly thick cut, a bit kettle chip, a bit hand cooked with a hearty crunch. And a great big whack of tasty salt. A very nice crisp I thought, and the reluctant taste testers thought so too.

Probably no-one will read this review because all you lot out there seem to be irresistibly drawn to the crispy snacks I really didn't like, but if you go to Ikea any time soon check out their crisp selection. Maybe not a reason to visit Ikea, but perhaps a reason to check out their food section while you are there. Really, this is very tasty crisp and you would be hard pressed not to enjoy it.

I bet they work well with a dip too.

Oh and these crisps did not require any styling. Because they all looked equally crispy and hand cooked I did not feel the need to arrange a "pretty one" on the top of the bowl before I took the photograph. Well, you know, some crispy snacks have lots of breakages and obviously your correspondent (that's me) wants you to see the snack at its best; hence the need for a little tidying before the snackshot.

Signed

Your internationally renowned food writer and part-time food stylist.

Golden Wonder Ready Salted

Wow!

Who knew Golden Wonder crisps were still going? Not me. Not any of the reluctant taste testers. Not even Glamorous Hotelier from Tetbury who lives mere steps from a bakery that actually sells Golden Wonder crisps!

I saw the Golden Wonder crisps through the window and rushed in to engage bakery assistant Roxie (I think that was her name) in conversation. She tells me that she loves Golden Wonder crisps and was super excited to get a job in a shop where they are sold. Plus, she told me that writing about crisps would be the "best job ever!". Sadly it's not my job. But Roxie is right. It would be a great job if anyone ever wanted to pay me.

Anyhow, all the reluctant taste testers were thrilled to see a packet of Golden Wonder Crisps. Yes, indeed. Some of us remember Golden Wonder from when we were growing up. I remember Golden Wonder from before I ever saw a packet of Walkers crisps and I'm not the only one.

Lovely old fashioned salty, oily taste. Very nice. Nothing fancy but we liked these crisps a lot.

Walkers French Fries Ready Salted

For ages I've been wondering what Walkers French Fries would be like but I've only ever seen them in packs of six or more and who buys a pack of six somethings not having any idea if they are going to be nice or not. So when I saw this little bag in the Post Office I thought why not? And then the guy behind the counter gave them to me for nothing because the packet was past its sell-by date.

So I didn't know what to expect: some past their sell-by crisps are absolutely fine while others are not so nice.  So I was pleasantly surprised because these seemed perfectly fine and tasted delicious.

You know those shiny little expanded polystyrene packaging peanuts? French Fries have a very similar silky feel to them and also a similar foamy texture. Because they are made of potato granules and not slices of potato. Whatever it is that Walkers do to turn potato granules and starch into a tasty snack via some sort of extruding machine gives them an amazing shiny feel. Although if you bit into a polystyrene peanut I imagine it wouldn't have a yummy salty taste. Or a satisfying crunch either.

French Fries are not so long and spindly as shown on the packet, but they are still fairly long. A little bit (but not too) thin. And a little bit curvy. And really and truly they are delicious. This is a great traditional ready salted flavour.

OK, so one of the ingredients is MSG (surprise!) but as I'm not intending to eat these crispy crunchy tasty snacks every day I don't really care. Moderation is everything. I would like to try French Fries in another flavour though.

Once again the design department at Walkers has played with the little guy who disposes of his rubbish responsibly. And to go with the spindly thin design of this snack the little guy is now terribly thin and spindly. And it looks as though he's throwing away several French Fries.

I really enjoy these little guys and (perhaps a little sadly) I've started to look out for different designs. It's a harmless pursuit I suppose. But all credit to Walkers for going to the trouble because they don't need to.