Manōmasa Serrano Chilli & Yucatan Honey

Mmmn this is a tasty crispy snack.

Don’t get put off by the Mayan Yucatan honey from the mountains of Puebla (I am not sure how different it is from any other kind of honey, but like tortillas it comes from Mexico), because these tortilla chips aren’t actually that sweet. But without the honey I think this would be a different snack entirely.

Yes, you can taste the “traditional” Serrano chilli, and oh look at that… the veriest smidge of star anise. Quite hot, definitely not very hot, and a nice depth of taste. I really liked these tortilla chips because they taste just that little bit different from the norm. Ooh! Imagine eating them alongside some crispy duck and pancakes for texture, not forgetting the all important plum sauce.

The Family Vegetarian tried tentatively, I don’t think she trusts me, but agreed that this is a nice flavour. Not too sweet, not too hot. Actually pretty good. I think the Chef approves of the flavour, but we know he’s not mad about tortilla chips.

Suitable for vegetarians but perhaps not for people who don’t like coriander (cilantro) or anyone who is allergic to lentils (legumes), which I understand is an increasingly common allergy.

And please don’t complain that Manomasa should be written with a line at the bottom of the O. My iPad only features a line at the tōp and I felt it was better to offer you a line in the wrong place rather than no line at all. 

Probably won’t look to buy these again, but only because taste testing crispy snacks is hard work, yes it is!, and we really shouldn’t eat too many. Otherwise, I think you should try a packet.

Manōmasa Limited Edition Pineapple and Habanero Chilli

I suspect you won’t be at all surprised to learn that this Limited Edition packet of Pineapple and Habanero Chilli tortilla chips from Manōmasa just leaped off the supermarket shelf and into my hand this week. 

I was just walking innocently towards the croissant and crumpet department with the Radio Times and a bottle of washing up liquid, but how could I resist the bright yellow packaging or the slightly weird lure of a pineapple flavour crispy snack? 

I confess I was a little bit disappointed by these excitingly packaged tortilla chips. If I had been doing a blind taste testing I would never have guessed there was pineapple involved. The blurb on the back of the packet does say they went through 30 different variations before settling on a final version, and they are tasty, but… the bright yellow packet does give one the impression that there will be a great big pineapplely taste. And there isn’t.

I think what we have here is something I have seen more than once on the Great British Bake Off. The contestant produces a cake flavoured with, let’s say, raspberries, cherries and elderflower. The judge says yum, delicious, but I can’t taste the elderflower. And the contestant says, yes I know, but I tried it without the elderflower and it wasn’t so good. 

Actually, I think you can taste the pineapple here. But only if you know it’s there. You can taste the chilli though, and very nice too. There is, in fact, a nice lot of tasty flavour dust. And then there’s the scattering of quinoa which I have no idea if I can taste it or not, because I never tried it before. At least, I don’t think so. The little quinoa grains do have a tendency to drop off though. I couldn’t work out what the little red things on the kitchen work top were. Could have been insects. Turned out to be quinoa. I hope.

Anyway, not what I expected, but I would happily eat this crispy snack again. Probably brilliant with a dip, but I didn’t have one so I just snacked in anyway. The Chef was not impressed but cheerfully admits he would far rather have a potato crisp. He doesn’t really like tortilla chips.

NB I have read that increasing numbers of people are allergic to quinoa, so take this into consideration.

Waitrose Turkey & Stuffing Christmas Tree Shaped Tortilla Chips

Regular readers will probably remember that Turkey, or Turkey & Stuffing is a pretty good flavour for potato crisps. Well, it turns out the flavour works very nicely with tortilla chips too.

This tasty Christmas Tree-shaped snack from Waitrose is an excellent offering. The flavour is good (although your first thought may not be ‘ooh! Turkey & Stuffing’ but that doesn’t really matter), the bite works well, and there isn’t any of that floury effect you find so often with tortilla chips.

Plus it works amazingly well with our favourite sour cream and chive dip.

I tried these on the Chef: he liked them. I tried them on Cliffs of Moher Taste Tester: she liked them too. Even the Family Vegetarian liked them, and usually she prefers not to eat crispy snacks when they’re named for any kind of meat... even if they are labelled vegetarian: this she once explained to me at length. To be honest I was a bit surprised because I know she eats vegetarian sausages, which after all look like meaty sausages,  but there you are. Anyway, oh the triumph, in this case she seemed quite enthusiastic.

As so often with a shaped snack there were a number of breakages, although not as many as you often get, so good marks for that. And the tree is a great shape that works really well with a dip and is slightly larger than shown on the packet.. And feels Christmassy to boot.

We’ve worked our way through several packets (and several pots of dip), so a successful snack but sadly bad for our combined waistlines.

Obviously a special flavour for Christmastime so snap yours up now.

Manōmasa Green Lemon & Pink Peppercorn Tortillas with Spirit

These fancy oval tortilla chips were on special recently so naturally I put a couple of bags in the trolley. And when two of the reluctant taste testers came round for Cinema Night - we watched Arsenic and Old Lace - this was what I reached for. And a tub of dip.

Although I am never quite sure about tortilla chips these are rather good. Apparently this is recipe number 86 (although I am not convinced Manomasa makes 86 different products) and is called the tostada.

They do have that weird floury bite I’m never really sure about, but the citrus zing is pretty fabulous. A very nice flavour with lots of flavour dust. Slightly Red Haired Bristolian and Cliffs of Moher taste tester ate quite a few and the Chef warned me to take a photograph before he ate them all.

Very nice indeed. I would prefer them to be less floury. And not so nice as the Quesa Blanco & Lemon Drop Chilli chips.

And farewell to Slightly Red Haired Bristolian Taste Tester as she has now moved home to Bristol. Happy snacking Charlotte.

M&S Fire Roasted Chilli Tortillas

Gasp! Cliffs of Moher taste tester has been eating crisps unknown to the rest of the taste testers without telling anyone.

Not even giving me the opportunity to taste a crumb or photograph the packet. And I only found out because I chanced to take a photocopy while she was eating her lunch.

Fire Roasted Chilli Tortillas with baked in pieces of red bell pepper and jalapeño chillis. Sounds a bit complicated. Tastes fabulous. I bet these tortilla chips would be tasty with a dip too.

M&S Lightly Salted Tortillas

Made from an authentic corn 'masa' to bring you a true taste of Mexico says the packet.

Managerial taste tester, who does not often contribute to this blog, bought these tortillas for his #crunchatlunch and almost at once complained that he had bought just about the most boring crisps in the world. And then ate about ¾ of the 175g packet in one fell swoop. I must say, he has a highly professional crunch.

This certainly is a crunchy tortilla. I find the tortilla crunch can sometimes be a little dull. The taste here is a little dull but not nasty by any means... it's just not that exciting. I'm sure they would be nice with a dip, and of course probably good for anyone on a low salt diet. Also great for a gluten free diet.

Amaizin Organic Natural Corn Chips

Tall elegant taste tester visited the health food shop at lunchtime and came back bearing this packet of simply flavoured corn chips in triumph.

And the girl done good (which is something I don't think I have ever uttered before) because this is a stunning, simple (three ingredients only), yet delicious crispy snack. You really cannot go wrong if you get simple right, and Amaizin have certainly got it right.

Gluten free, wheat free, GMO free, palm oil free, organic and suitable for vegans these corn chips are made to an original Mexican recipe. The reluctant taste testers were rather impressed. Even new Bookkeeper taste tester was pleased to approve. And I think he thinks we're a bunch of nutters.

Very nice indeed. And probably wonderful with a good dip.

A Visit to Bern in 2015 (Switzerland)

I am still mostly not at work (so far I've managed two hours at a time, two days last week: it was exhausting) but I am feeling better enough to attack all the tasks that have been sitting uncompleted on my own computer.

Way back in in 2015 I started a photobook. I usually make one for our proper holidays; a visit to Florence or Venice or somewhere, but I don't usually make a book for day trips. But in 2015 we didn't go away. We stayed home, either in the UK or in Switzerland, and made some amazing day trips.

Why am I telling you this? Because the first was a visit to Bern. Just for the day. By train. And while we enjoyed looking at the fabulous clock (800 years old according to wikipedia) and the weird statues Bern has to offer, and the fascinating way that restaurants in a city full of politicians and tourists are so reluctant to serve lunch at lunchtime (we eventually found a charming cafe run by Italians who seemed to know most of their customers by name), and the trams, and the bears (no longer thank goodness kept in a horrible concrete pit), and the fountains, we were delighted to end the day at a department store. What's better than a little light shopping?

Globus doesn't have a branch in Sion which is our nearest city, so I wasn't aware what a lovely shop it is. And I didn't know that in the basement it has a wonderful food department. Globus is handily close to the railway station so we knew we didn't have far to drag our purchases. So we bought delicious fresh pasta, and wine from the canton of Bern, and could I resist investigating the crisp department? What do you think?

Look, here's a reminder of what we found at Globus. The top shelf has Boxerchips (from Ireland) and the bottom row has Burt's (British, from Devon I think), Nandos (not sure but certainly available in the UK) and Roger's, which are from Belgium.

Globus does also sell own-brand Globus tortilla chips. but as I noted in my post they are not made in Switzerland at all but in the Netherlands. And if you like you can read all about my purchases by clicking on the links.

Monomasa Tomatillo Salsa

Monomasa do have the nicest designs I really like the way they make a fancy pattern from the ingredients. So I guess what we are looking at here is a tasteful arrangement of Peruvian Amarillo Chillies, some green Mexican tomatoes, and a sprinkling of Quinoa.

I'm not a mad keen fan of tortilla chips and these are particularly floury which is not a texture that really appeals to me, but some of the reluctant taste testers were happy to snack into this high quality product. The taste was quite nice.

Manōmasa Chipotle & Lime

I'm so bored with chipotle sighed Dutch taste tester, and I didn't expect much myself as I don't usually care for crispy snacks made with lime. But. actually, I thought this combination or chipotle chile and lime wasn't at all bad. Pretty tasty in fact.

These tortilla chops are quite tasty. Very nice indeed. And despite my usual dislike of lime as a flavour (it tastes blue); I really did like this flavour. Although, having said that, I don't really get tortillas; the bite isn't right and then there's that odd floury texture.

Not all the reluctant taste testers were mad keen on this flavour. Giraffe Fan particularly told me she didn't fancy these crisps (tortillas). Got to say I was quite surprised because I had thought Giraffe Fan would rather like them.

Some of the reluctant taste testers thought these were rather good. Some didn't. So I guess you have to make up your own mind. And as always with Monomasa the packaging design is lovely.

Manōmasa Limited Edition Cinnamon & Muscavado Sugar

This packet of unusual crisps was a generous donation from Tall Elegant taste tester.

Not actually a crisp; more of a circular tortilla made with finest white masa, this really is a pretty unusual snack.  The flavour is made from cacao nibs (Tall taste tester asked if they were embedded with chocolate chips and it does look like it), maple sugar and cloves in addition to the advertised Muscavado sugar and cinnamon. Oh, and buttermilk.

Weirdly these tortillas are not particularly sweet. Not particularly cinnamony either. What particularly struck me was the texture. The bite is a bit dull and then as you crunch through you are left with a mouthful of kind of gritty flour. Not ideal.

Tall taste tester said "this is just wrong!" after his first bite, and then ate several more tortillas. Slightly Red Haired Bristolian said "they aren't exactly horrible", damning them with extremely faint praise. Sadly nobody told me they liked them. But I noticed that a large bowlful was very nearly finished. Not an enthusiastic response but somebody, probably more than one somebody, was eating them. So, no, not exactly horrible.

Extra weird (could it get weirder?) the packet suggests that these tortillas might best be enjoyed dipped into melted dark chocolate. And thinly sliced strawberries should be added for a little slither of heaven. Well! Not what you expect from what looks like a packet of crisps.

 "Not salty enough" complained Tall taste tester. And therein lies the rub. The reluctant taste testers have tried 700 different crisps and crispy snacks over the last three and a half years, but even they were not prepared for what the lovely people at Monomasa call Recipe No: 31.

Obviously we have tried other crispy snacks we were not prepared for, like Lay's Cappuccino for example (seriously weird), but this Cinnamon & Muscavado Sugar tortilla is what we are considering today.

I guess that a lot of people will buy a new or limited edition packet of crisps (or tortillas) out of curiosity. The question here is will they buy it again? In this case I'm not sure. But don't take my word for it. If you spot a packet give them a try and prove me wrong.

Fabulous packaging design though. I really love it.

M&S Chorizo & Red Pepper Tortillas

[Deep breath] And yet another crispy snack from those energetic guys at the Marks & Spencer crisp development department.

And a wonderful rich red they are. Reflecting, no doubt, the chorizo, smoked paprika and red peppers in the ingredients. Except there isn't any chorizo because these crisps are suitable for vegetarians.

Well, that's fine by me, because although I adore salami and eat far more of it than government recommendations would allow (processed meat is so bad for you they say), but I don't care much for chorizo.

I think this packet of tortilla chips was purchased by History Graduate taste tester. He doesn't cut open the packet in a careful "I'm going to scan this later" sort of a way. No; he rips them open any old how. So there's a rip in the packet although you may not notice it.

Why do you suppose M&S used an image of an old wooden door with an Apsley House green grill? Apsley House is the London house of the Duke of Wellington (known as Number 1 London) and the railings have always been painted a wonderful blue green now called SC329 Apsley House Railings.

Well, that may be useful information if you are looking for a great paint colour for your railings, and it doesn't help that I used to live in a flat with the front door and the railings painted this colour, but it also doesn't explain why the packaging department chose this image to illustrate these tortilla chips.

Image from patrickbaty.co.uk

Ah Well. Surprisingly tasty (even to me with the I don't like chorizo or red peppers attitude) and they seemed to be quite successful with both History Graduate and the rest of the taste testers. Not bad at all. And really, a gorgeous colour. Much richer than the packaging shows. Imagine these with guacamole.

M&S Lightly Salted Christmas Tree Tortilla Chips

I'm not sure that I'm tremendously impressed by these Christmas tree shaped tortilla chips. They look great... but I don't know. They just don't work as well as they might.

So we have lightly salted Christmas tree shaped corn tortilla chips, half with added spinach and red pepper pieces. Yes, nice idea. But for some reason the spinach chips don't hold their structural integrity at all well (they break) so the packet seemed to contain mostly plain trees with a scant third of spinach flavour chips. Plus a lot of very broken bits.

I've said it before, and no doubt will feel the need to say it again, but a shaped chip or crispy snack must hold its shape because without the advertised shape it loses much of its reason for being. I mean, ordinary potato crisps don't claim a shape so if they break it somehow doesn't matter, but Christmas tree shaped snacks that are not Christmas tree shaped just don't work.

This is not a very exciting crispy snack. The plain ones are lightly salted and quite pleasant. And the green ones have a slightly more interesting flavour. The crunch is fine. We've discussed the shape already. At home the Chef and I tried them with a dip. Still not very exciting.

But, if you are looking for a nice plain crispy snack (and I know that's what some people prefer) this might be what you're looking for.

Globus Tortilla Chips au Chili

When we were in Bern in the spring I picked up this packet of crisps from the Food Hall at the big department store Globus. It wasn't so much that I thought these tortilla chips would be fabulous, more that they were the only Swiss crisps on offer.

Only, they aren't Swiss at all. Globus, based in Zurich, have their tortilla chips made in The Netherlands.

So finally I have dredged these crisps out of my basket of goodies because it's about time we tried them. Don't worry. They aren't months past their sell by date so we won't die a horrible death. Or not on account of this crispy snack.

I am really very impressed at the chilli taste of these tortilla chips. You won't be surprised to learn that I'm not mad about chillies. But that doesn't stop me being impressed at this taste. It's absolutely right.

According to the Blogger search function, over the last 3 years or so we have tried 42 different crisps and crispy snacks featuring chilli. And this is the first to taste like a fresh chilli. Remarkable.

Aside from the remarkable taste this is an ordinary tortilla chip: triangular, orange and crunchy.  The Chef and I tried them with a selection of dips from Waitrose: onion & garlic, pecorino & basil, and sour cream & chive. All of them worked very well and I think we were pretty happy with our taste test.

The packaging is clear with a very small Globus label so I'm going to show the paper carrier bag we got from the Food Hall instead.

Manōmasa Manchego & Green Olive Tortillas with Spirit

Another donation from another crispy snack fairy. I gather these tortilla-style strips of tastiness came from a large branch of Waitrose. Interesting. I've not seen this brand of crisps before.

Although this is labelled RECIPE No: 15, Manomosa make only six different kinds of tortilla type crispy snacks in 5 different shapes. The company is based in the North East of England. Which I would never have suspected was a hotbed of tortilla manufacturing. But it just shows you never know.

I think the strip-shape tortilla we have here is probably the most fragile of the Manomosa shapes. The packet says SHAPE: a STRIP of tortilla chip that's made for gripping and dipping but rectangular crisps seem to break very readily; although the crispy snack fairy did admit to dropping the packet. So it might be her fault.

But of course broken crisps do not affect the taste. Which is really rather tasty and went down well with the reluctant taste testers; they ate two bowlsful. TASTE: juicy green olives and sweet, mild PIMIENTO are the perfect compliment to tangy MANCHEGO CHEESE, making this an irresistible Iberian delight. Well, the taste testers were pretty impressed. Nice texture, good bite, hearty crunch as demonstrated by the Dutch taste tester (she does this so much better than I do), and lots of favour dust.

Very cheesy and a tasty, fruity, probably olive after taste. Very nice.

Manomosa suggest this would work very well as part of a TAPAS spread, perhaps to dip into a creamy sauce such as AIOLI.

I don't know. They worked pretty well for us in the kitchen at work next to the coffee machine and the toaster. And I think we'd be very pleased to try one of the other flavours/shapes Manomosa make in Gateshead.

Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips Sea Salt

OK, so I often wait for a bus just by a local deli and in the window I spotted these tortilla chips. But by the time I catch a bus the deli is already closed so I had to remember to go in at lunchtime. It took a while.

These tortilla chips are gluten free, all natural and GMO free (verified), corn free, suitable for vegans, oh, and parve. Free of the 8 most common food allergens. And they have an award winning taste says the packet.

Beanfields is a family run firm (the Glidden family) that believes beans are good for our families, good for our farmers, and good for the planet. And these chips contain black beans and navy beans. Plus long grain rice. And that's it. Apart from oil for cooking and some sea salt.

So basically Beanfields has put a lot of effort into creating what looks like a tortilla chip but contains no maize. And is probably a lot better for you than a normal tortilla chip.

And it's true that they do look super healthy. Taste pretty healthy too although I honestly can't put my finger on what they actually taste of. But they are quite nice for something so healthy. Good level of saltiness too. And although the reluctant taste testers didn't nosh these down super enthusiastically, they did eat quite a lot.

The woman in the deli told me she'd been in the food business most of her life and she was searching for products that would be healthier for her customers. I think she's found one.

Here's the Beanfields website.

Plural Bio C'est la Vie Chips Chili

These very nice tortilla chips from Belgium were found in the health food shop in Sion, in Switzerland. On the recommendation of the Chef's healthy eating French friend; the mountain fan.

And what a great crisp this is.

Nice rich colour and a lovely crunch. Generally nicer taste than your average tortilla chip and a wonderfully spicy chilli flavour. Quite a lot of chilli heat but also flavoured with paprika, onion and garlic, coriander, fenugreek and (definitely a first for me on a crisp) lovage.

I was concerned these organic crisps would be dull. And I was quite wrong.

The reluctant taste testers and I really liked these a lot. And there weren't any left over for me to take home to the Chef. We might have to get another packet next time we're in Sion.

Very simple packaging. Which unfortunately doesn't look too pretty in the scan.

Co-op Fine Food Hopi Blue Chipotle Nachos

Hopi Blue Chipotle Nachos says the packet in English. And then Tortilla-Chips mit blauem Mais und Chipotle-Chilli  (German),  Tortilla chips au maïs bleu et au chile chipotle (French), and Tortilla chips al mais blu e al Chili Chipotle (Italian). Because everything in Switzerland comes in German, French and Italian.

I wonder why they are called Nachos in English but tortilla chips everywhere else?

The first trouble with these Hopi Blue tortilla chips is that they aren't blue. It would be lovely to think they were blue. But they're not. They're a sort of dried-blood dark red with small black and white spots. This is not an attractive colour; actually quite off-putting.

The second trouble is that you can't really taste much (any) chipotle chilli. Basically all you get is tortilla chip flavour. Which I find quite dull.

Nice big pointy triangles, the crunch is good and the chips do work well with a dip - provided it's the right dip (I tried two different dips and one of them was a disaster) - but otherwise I couldn't find anything special to say about them. 

This is a 150g bag that thinks quite a lot of itself. I'm not that impressed.

Poco Loco Crispy Salted Tortilla Chips

This must be the heaviest (and largest) packet of crisps I have ever bought. 450g! That's very nearly 1lb (one pound to anyone who doesn't read imperial measurements). The bag is giant and stuffed full.

I found these at the Turkish shop down the road. Some local people say the shop is run by Kurds not Turks. I've not asked (it seems intrusive) but they do have a great shop, open from dawn until very late indeed and just crammed full of stuff. And this packet was on such a high shelf I had to get a man to help me reach.

Although the Turkish shop sells a mass of fabulous pastas and spices and fruit juices and goodness knows what that you can't find anywhere else, they aren't terribly good at crispy snacks. But I hadn't seen this brand before so I thought I'd give it a go.

And why haven't I seen this brand before? Because it's from Belgium. I haven't been to Belgium but maybe I should because I found some very nice Belgian crisps in Switzerland. Well, you know, the international crisp market is pretty... international.

There were not so many reluctant taste testers in the office the day we tried these but I was impressed that the most sceptical tester of all really liked them. They are her favourite she said. And I think she was quite impressed.

Especially after I laid in some dip. Because you can't go wrong with tortilla chips and dip.

Very nice crunch, lovely taste - not too much maize in the taste but a good toasty flavour - and an acceptable level of saltiness.  Pretty good really. Yes, we liked these.

The only trouble is it's such a gigantic amount of chips. I mean, absolutely massive! If you are throwing a big party with a selection of dips then check these out. If it's only you... then maybe look elsewhere because you'll be eating them for weeks.

Unfortunately I don't have an A3 scanner so the top and bottom of the bag are missing but I don't think there's very much to miss. And here are some white roses from my garden.

Tesco Snowmen Tortilla Chips

Oh dear. What a shame. And oh dear again, how annoying, because it's now May 2015. And I started writing this post at the end of May 2014.

I don't quite know why these crisps got lost (as it were) in the post.

Not once but twice. But you know, these things happen.

Back to 2014: this packet of Tesco Christmas special crisps fell down to the bottom of my pending bag and now they're five months past their sell-by date. Oops!

So the snowman shape is a tiny bit odd. For one thing, he (presumably he because he doesn't look like a snowgirl and I've seen a showgirl and she didn't look like this) is very wide. Like a shape cut by a child from folded paper, the proportions are all wrong. And really he kind of makes me think of a Dalek. Sort of. Or maybe one of the Doonesbury characters: they have such strange square noses. And yes, I realise the strange square nose is actually the brim of the snowman's hat. And of course I am being really picky here, because it is recognisably a snowman.

These crisps also came in Christmas tree shape if I remember correctly, and I think there was a further festive shape but I can't recall what it was. A holly leaf perhaps? Sadly I can't remember what the other flavours/shapes were.

I can tell you why they kept slipping to the bottom of the pile though. They got broken. All my other purchases (all crisps of course) survived the 10 minute bus journey home from Tesco unscathed. The snowmen really suffered even though they were at the top of my shopping bag and hardly any of the shapes were left intact. And this really put me off.

Stupid me. What a wasted opportunity. Because despite the massive out-of-date-ness of these crisps they do seem to be rather good. And really and truly breakages do not affect flavour.

Despite (again) the out-of-date-ness, these crisps smell great. And the taste seems pretty good too; not all rancid and sinister or anything. To be honest, the packaging seemed just fine and most crisps are made with so much salt, which is a preservative after all, that if they had gone rancid it would be a bit of a surprise.

And returning to 2015: for some reason although I took a photograph of these snowman-shaped crisps I completely failed to scan the packet (which I think was quite plain). Or make a note of the flavour. But I am fairly sure it was a kind of Tortilla Chip, possibly a Cool Tortilla Chip.

Despite this post being somewhat lacking in information for the true crisp fan I'm going to post it anyway. Because otherwise I shall feel that these crisps were born to blush unseen (which is some bit of poetry my mother used to quote). and that would be a pity.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

There we are. My mother used to quote this all the time. And despite having studied Grey's Elegy in A Country Churchyard at school I somehow never connected it with what my mother used to say.

So I apologise for the lack of pack shot. And now we all know a little more poetry. Which can only be a good thing.