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.

Co-op Irresistible Hand Cooked Sea Salt & Chardonnay Wine Vinegar Crisps

Damn! My nearest Co-op store that I know of is in Southwark! Which is to say, south of the river (River Thames, keep up chaps), so almost in France.

Aargh! The Chef will never forgive me. I took this little packet of yummy but posh salt & vinegar crisps into work and the reluctant taste testers and I ate the whole lot.

Kind of sharp, kind of sweet and a good crunch. Very nice.

Very nice indeed. I was pleased this was a good crisp, but sort of puzzled: the first Co-op crisp the Chef and I tried was the Slightly Salted and it really is superb. The second flavour was West Country Cheddar & Red Onion Chutney which was a bit, actually quite a lot, over flavourful. Too much flavour is not a good thing.

And todays's choice? Actually pretty good. Hurrah! But the Chef didn't get to try.

M&S Petrifying Pumpkins Cheese Flavoured Potato Snacks

Petrifying pumpkins eh? I'm afraid we are trying out this Hallowe'en crispy snack slightly late but at least the reluctant taste testers have the chance to let the world know what they think.

And....?

OK, I think I can forgive Senior taste tester for remarking "these aren't exactly frightening". No, they aren't. Not at all frightening, and certainly not petrifying. But you have to allow for alliteration.

So, not petrifying at all but extremely moreish. Yes, all of the reluctant taste testers who tried this tasty crispy snack have enjoyed it rather a lot. Despite the fact that several taste testers thought this snack doesn't really taste of much they still ate lots. As I said, they are moreish.

So not actually very cheesy. But maybe that doesn't really matter.

And the shape is great! Extremely pumpkiny. Pumpkin-like. Yup, that description worked well for us. Very very pumpkiny, and who knows how they get that shape. It's kind of like a Hula Hoop but with a pumpkin shape. Great!

The reluctant taste testers ate two bowlsful, quite quickly, and I ate quite a few myself. Sort of not much taste at all.... but savoury,  in a good way. So kind of yum! And I took some home for the Chef who finished the packet enthusiastically.

I might look and see if there are any post-Hallowe'en packets to buy.

Co-op Irresistible Hand Cooked West Country Cheddar & Red Onion Chutney Crisps

The new extension at Tate Modern with an interesting road sign

Yes, another impossibly long named crisp.

Basically it's yet another take on a cheese and onion crisp but using a named cheese (Cheddar) from a named dairy (the Alvis brothers dairy) in a named part of the country (Somerset in the West Country).   And not just onion but red onion, and red onion chutney at that. Oh so complicated.

Now the Chef and I tried a packet of lightly salted crisps from the Co-op just the other day (see our all time favourites side bar) and they really were superb. But somehow this cheese and onion crisp is not of the same calibre. I think it's trying too hard. Which is a shame.

Quite a thick crisp with a fairly hard crunch, the skin has been left on which is nice, and the flavour dust is a rich orangey golden colour. Not a bad flavour by any means, but I think these crisps are too tasty.

Too tasty? Yes I think so. Call me picky but I think these crisps would be better if the flavour were more subtle. But try for yourself if you have a local Co-op.

I don't know where our local Co-op is so all three of the Co-op crisps I have bought recently came from the little branch just around the corner from Tate Modern. Which is in Southwark (South of the Thames) so quite a distance away but easily accessible on the tube.

Osem Apropo Sour Cream Flavour Corn Snack

So thanks to the wonderful resource that is google translate (although obviously it's not totally reliable) and a handy blog post I discovered from Daniela at  Isreveiw1, I have been able to translate something about this crispy snack in the privacy of my own home. The Isreview1 blog is about a different flavour bugle shaped snack from Osem, in fact Daniela seems to have reviewed two other flavours, but it shoved me in what I think it is the right direction. So that was a great help.

Thanks very much to Daniela although she doesn't seem to have posted anything since 2014 so perhaps she won't notice. (And how annoying! I see LinkWithin works on Isreview1 but has completely stopped working on this blog and I have no idea why.)

Anyway, I deduce that this crispy snack is made by Osem but as almost the whole of the text on this packet in in the hebrew alphabet (plus a little in arabic script) it was quite hard to tell.

And thanks to google translate (and Daniela)  I know it is a maize snack. It's hard for the non-reader of Hebew to be sure because the typeface on the packet is different from that offered by google. But luckily the Osem website comes in an English version. A savoury cone-shaped snack it says. Apropos has a delicate taste and a crispy texture and contains no cholesterol or preservatives. Thanks to its unique shape it has become the number one entertainment snack in Israel, alongside dips and spreads, but is also popular as a personal snack.

OK. What's a personal snack I wonder?

And the reluctant taste testers tested the crispiness so I can confirm that crispy is correct. And it's probably a corn snack although you can't really tell from the taste. But I'm really not at all certain what the flavour is meant to be. It looks as though it should be sour cream (see the packet) but you can't taste sour cream. And why doesn't the website have anything to say about the flavour? It really doesn't. Not helpful.

Noble Friend opined that this crispy snack tasted a little bit sweet, a little bit salty and a little bit nothing at all. But nonetheless a little bit tasty and moreish. (A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll perhaps?) But I could see what she meant. The Chef thought it tasted of nothing at all. But both of them ate quite a few.

So oddly tasteless in a strange way but quite a success.

Oh, and today is the 80th birthday of television. So let's all celebrate that amazing fact. And the first TV show was broadcast not 5 miles (not exactly sure how far it is, but not very far) from where the Chef and I live, at a place called Alexandra Palace. All us locals call it Ally Pally. Amazing eh?

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.

Bénenuts les inCRAquables Goût Barbecue

Here's another weird crispy crunchy snack from Bénenuts.

All the reluctant taste testers really rather enjoyed this snack despite most of them telling me they thought it looks like deep fried caterpillars.

Well, I guess there's a gap in the deep fried caterpillar market then.  Aren't people weird? You'd think if they can see a deep fried caterpillar instead of a crispy snack made of maize flour and teeny weeny bits of potato they maybe wouldn't attempt it. Apparently not. Because quite a lot of these little crispy "caterpillars" were crunched down in no time at all.

A vote of confidence I think.

And not too much barbecue in the taste. Just quite a tasty smokey bacony... tastiness.

The packet tells me this crispy snack is une forme amusante et unique. I think we noticed!

M&S Christmas Blacksticks Blue Cheese & Figgy Pickle Hand Cooked Crisps

Oh my goodness! why do they give crisps such bonkersly long names these days?

Really. Do you want to read all that text before you decide whether or not to purchase a packet of crispy snacks? I suspect not. However, obviously the reluctant taste testers and I had to try this new crisp from Marks & Spencer.

I'm not sure we were that madly impressed. You don't really get a taste of blue cheese. Tall taste tester is a blue cheese fan and he was disappointed. Which seems a  shame as M&S are advertising Blacksticks Blue Cheese which to be honest with you I had never heard of but it really is a cheese. Yes, a real cheese with its own playlist on Spotifiy! Since when did cheese makers have their own playlists like that? I am seriously behind the times.

And then the Figgy Pickle. This is weird. Kind of sweet, kind of sharp, so you end up with a sort of sweet and sour flavour. Honestly we didn't dislike this crisp; we just found it a bit odd. The flavour is a bit too complicated for us.

The Chef ate quite a lot of these crisps but I sometimes wonder if his crisp munching is a sort of absent minded grazing that goes on when I am at work. Who can say? Not the Chef. But annoyingly he doesn't get any fatter.

One thing we did think. This flavour smacks of Tescos rather than Marks & Spencer. But I cannot quite put my finger on why. Oh, and the crisps are a lot pinker than this photograph shows - and a whole lot pinker than the pack shot shows.

Obviously a limited edition for Christmas although the packet does not say so explicitly.

Update: Tall Elegant and Dutch taste testers have now had the opportunity to try this crisp. Dutch taste tester was extremely unimpressed. Tall Elegant taste tester said the thought the taste was utterly disgusting! So I am afraid this cannot be described as a wholehearted recommendation.

Walkers Roast Chicken & Mayonnaise Flavour Potato Crisps

This here 40g packet of crisps from UK crisp giant Walkers (Lay's in disguise) is one of their new range of sandwich filling flavours. Sorry? What? Yup, a new range of crisps - limited edition I expect - of crisps flavoured with your favourite sandwich (or sarnie) fillings.

I was thinking that this is a bit mad; I never eat roast chicken & mayonnaise sandwiches. But wait... I do sometimes make myself a toast sandwich and fill it with cold chicken and Helmans with a spot of lettuce to pretend I am eating something healthy. Which is pretty exactly much the same thing. Although the mayo in this case is Heinz not Helmans which we always have in our fridge.

Is this turning into one of those snappy interviews you get in the weekend newspapers: one of the questions always seems to be what do you always have in your fridge? Most of the interviewees seem to have nothing but Champagne and some frightfully expensive cheese. If you are interested we do have Champagne in our fridge, but also white wine and fizzy water; lots of cheese - Cheddar, Emmental, Gruyere, Parmesan, Mozzarella, maybe some Brie or Tomme; Helmans of course; garlic and onions without which I cannot cook dinner; eggs; salad when the Chef is in residence; and probably cold meats. If I am lucky there will be Viande Sechée the fabulous dried beef (for want of a better explanation) from the Valais in Switzerland. Only we usually eat it very quickly because it is so good. If you want to know more here's a YouTube video explaining how to make it. Next question: what's the best present you have been given recently? Er....

So what did the reluctant taste testers think of these crisps? Well, I gather that Dutch taste tester has already tried several of these new sarnie flavours and liked this a lot. She and Tall Elegant taste tester thought the chicken taste was very good. Noble Friend and Slightly Red Haired Bristolian really weren't keen: I wrote "oh no!" on my handy post-it note to remind me what they said. And Tall taste tester and Discerning Architectural taste tester bizarrely both thought the taste was ham and quite liked that. Weird.

A mixed response. I thought they were rather good. Quite a realistic chickeny taste. Not bad at all although I am not certain I can pick the mayo in this crisp.

Carrefour Croustillants à la Cacahuète

A little bit like a Nik Nak (in shape), a little bit Bamba Peanut Snack (in taste), this crispy own brand snack from the Carrefour outside Reims is a whole lot peanutty.

Los of peanut taste, a slightly dull crunch and they do stick to your teeth rather. But they are quite moreish. So if you like peanut flavour (a lot of people do) you may find this a very tasty snack.

The reluctant taste testers made no mistake over this flavour and ate quite a lot of these knobbly little sticks. Well... I can't think of a better way of describing them. And then the chef ate what was left over. He doesn't always.

I rather like the orange/magenta combo on the packaging.