Soffle's Pitta Chips Cheese & Spring Onion

Most unusually Managerial taste tester brought in this packet of Pitta Chips which he purchased in Dalston or wherever it is he lives in a far flung part of London that I have never visited.

People who have only visited London for 5 minutes to see Big Ben and Harrods probably have no conception how vast a place it is (like other massive cities of course), and how the different parts have wildly different characteristics. The area just 10 minutes walk from where I live has a completely different feel from the area 15 minutes drive in the other direction, both completely different from here, and as for Dalston: it might just as well be in another country. So Managerial taste tester was very surprised I had seen this brand of crispy snack before.

Actually it was at Waddesdon Manor which we visited together. No NOT a secret tryst: it was a work day out looking at architecture - and there's enough and to spare of that at Waddesdon. And it was a different flavour Pitta Chip.

Turns out I don't like Pitta Chips. I think the texture is too hard and the flavour too floury. I don't really get it at all. And the only one of the reluctant taste testers who claims to like them is Slightly Red Haired Bristolian. So not all these chips were eaten during the course of the morning (always a sign of popularity). Pretty packaging though.

Michel et Augustin Petites Pitas au Romarin et Pointe de Sel

Now I nearly didn't buy this interesting packet of crispy snacks because I don't like the British style of Pitta Chips. However, because the reluctant taste testers and I had never tried anything made by Michel & Augustin I plunged in and bought a packet anyway.

And guess what? Delicious.

I think all the reluctant taste testers were impressed, even Slightly Red Haired Bristolian who didn't think she liked rosemary. Oh, but Tech taste tester said he found this crispy snack dry and dusty. Well, OK, but most of us were quite happy.

A very fine crispy snack, so much nicer in my opinion than the nasty thick UK pitta chip (I know Tech taste tester disagrees with me on this) and a beautiful salty, rosemary taste. I have to admit there are a lot on broken bits in the bag, but I guess that's because the texture is so thin.

So we can find out more about Michel et Augustin on their website. They seem to have a banana farm. Or maybe not. And operate in Paris, Lyon and New York. Augustin is the one with the hat and they seem to make a chocolate mousse. Interesting combination.

The packaging tells us: Notre Aventure: gourmand ET souriante, pleine de peps, de projects fous, et surtout HUMAINE. Vous, le livreuer, le bananier qui pique du nez, le commerçant, nous; chacun a son mot à dire faire grander l'aventure.

The Chef and I tried this crispy snack with a dip. This tastes great but the pitas are so thin that if you aren't careful they break with a glob of dip on.... so much licking of fingers.

Tasty.

Soffle's Rosemary & Thyme Pitta Chips

I confess I am not mad about pitta chips but I saw this little packet in the wine shop at Waddesdon Manor and felt sure that the reluctant taste testers and I should try it out. I mean, how can one resist this fascinating design? What are the birdies clutching in their beaks? Rosemary, obviously, and er... watches. Presumably because a naive drawing of thyme looks far too like rosemary.

Not very many in this 60g packet (but pitta chips are a lot heavier than potato crisps), a little bit hard in the bite department, but lots and lots of herby flavour. The reluctant taste testers weren't quite sure about this crispy snack but Senior taste tester told me he felt they were growing on him. Anyhow, they all got eaten.

This is Waddesdon Manor. Amazing eh? Not in darkest France but an hour from London and a fascinating place to visit.

M&S Red Pepper Pitta Chips

So somebody or other bought a packet of M&S Red Pepper Pitta Chips and left it in the kitchen at work. This was about 3 weeks ago. I asked everyone who owned the packet - not because I wanted to try (because I really dislike red peppers) but because I am nosy. And no-one admitted ownership.

However, this morning Tall taste tester said it might have been him. Sometimes he does his shopping, puts most of it into the fridge until home time, but leaves his crispy snacks (if any) on the side because let's be honest; you don't file your crispy snacks in a fridge.

Anyway, we thought we'd open the packet and apologise to the real owner should they ever come forward. Seriously, it's a small office: I think everyone has had the chance to claim ownership if they wanted to.

Here's the interesting thing: I really don't like pitta chips, and I actively dislike red peppers, but I really rather enjoyed this crispy snack. They almost qualify for a yum!

My photograph somehow fails to show just exactly how fabulously red these pitta chips are, and I don't think the pack shot does them justice either. A hard crunch as always with pitta chips, and a very tasty covering of red pepper flavour dust.

A lot better than I expected so (given my prejudices) you might enjoy them a lot.

M&S Monterey Jack & Chutney Pitta Chips

Marks & Spencer seem determined to run with pitta chips which I'm not mad for. The texture is all wrong and much too crunchy. And I get the feeling that the taste is all on the shiny top of the chip, and not on the rough bottom.

And why they have chosen Monterey Jack as the cheese part of the flavour is a total mystery. As far as I know this is a cheese from the United States. And not normally marketed in Europe. Or not in the cheese sections of my local shops.

Crunchy baked bites made from authentic pitta bread with roasted onion pieces says the packet. And on the back it says Monterey Jack cheese and apple chutney flavour pitta chips with roasted onion pieces. Mind you, the packet also says Motel. Let's hope these pitta chips don't taste of motels.

But there's no apple on the list of ingredients (or chutney either), and I'm not sure where the dried roasted onion (1%) comes in. Maybe that's what the odd brown spots on some of the chips are? It's all a bit of a mystery.

As for the Calcium Carbonate in the list of ingredients... CaCO3 is limestone, limescale, chalk, and a major ingredient of paint and antacid tablets. So why is it included in this crispy snack recipe? Seriously, don't look to me for an answer because I have no clue. I think it's probably a preservative but it does seem odd. Don't read about the effects of too much CaCO3 because you might be alarmed, but I doubt this packet of pitta chips will cause you to suffer health problems.

The taste I like. Very tasty. The cheesy, oniony, cinnamony taste is pretty good. But the texture is way too hard until the packet has been open at least 24 hours. And leaving your food lying around for 24 hours probably isn't ideal. So basically I'd lick the taste off, and throw the chips away.

Not the best review in the world. I don't think the reluctant taste testers are mad for pitta chips either.

M&S Sour Cream & Onion Pitta Chips

I have to admit right from the start that I'm not mad keen on these pitta chips from Marks & Spencer. They seem very hard - perhaps they're meant to be hard but that doesn't seem such a good thing - and once you get past the seasoning it's a little like eating one of those famously hard biscuits, the Bath Oliver. Never had a Bath Oliver? What about a Rich Tea? Both of them taste of nothing but plain biscuit with a hard crunch. Bath Olivers definitely win in the hardness stakes although they are rather more buttery. (There is a Chocolate Oliver biscuit which has a very thick layer - very hard - of dark chocolate over the plainness that is the Bath Oliver. Rather good. You can nibble the chocolate off so you don't actually have to eat the biscuit if you don't want.)

These crisps are supposed to be square. Or squarish. The top (or front) is shiny and toasted, with a scattering of onion flavouring. The bottom/back looks like badly toasted bread. In my packet the square chips were few and far between. It seemed that many of them were broken which was a shame.

The oniony part of the flavour seems to be mostly on the shiny toasty top. So that all gets licked off at once. Then when you bite there is a waft of sour creaminess which is quite an interesting sensation - and a good taste. And then there's all the dry biscuityness.

Apparently they are baked with genuine pitta flour. Yes? So how come pitta bread isn't all dry and biscuity?

I find online that you can buy pitta chips made by a company called New York Style. They appear to be an American company although it is very difficult to tell from their website: they have no address or any other details. The only thing that makes me fairly sure is the recipes which feature cups. English recipes never feature cups as a scale of measurement.

Perhaps Marks & Spencer sent their product testing team to the USA and brought back a suitcase full of pitta chips and thought it a good idea to develop their own? On this evidence I'm not certain that was such a top plan.

So. Really hard and rather dry and biscuity.
Not nearly enough flavour, although I like the onion a lot.

Unless this is what pita chips are always like I feel this is a missed opportunity to introduce the UK to something tasty and new. I left these a week and went back and tried again. No. Sorry. Not worth the effort.

And seriously, if pitta chips are all like this, the question is why?