New flavours

So it seems that our taste for potato chips is getting very sophisticated. But before we go any further on that topic I have to clear something up. Chips (to me) are what you call fries and what you call chips would be crisps. Very confusing. Also is there anybody out there who remembers the old bags of crisps in the UK. They used to come plain with no salt and in the bag would be a little blue twist containing salt which you would open and sprinkle over the crisps (if you wanted them salty).

Those little salt packets became so popular they even had lapel pinis you could buy. The worst thing was eating a packet of crisps in the cinema. I cannot count the number of times I found myself biting into the package of salt. Yuk.

But now what the heck? There is every flavour under the sun. We tried out a packet of the new Chinese flavour chicken and tomato. What a waste. No one liked it – in fact, the faces as we tasted this could have got us on America’s Funniest Home Videos if we had a camera handy.

Now they say salty and sweet are a good mix … it depends. Pringles brought out cinnamon and sugar and they bombed big time. But would you ever think of Oregano as a flavour for chips? If you are in Greece – yes – apparently they are really good.

But Cappucino chips – nope. What some people like, others can’t stand. Much of it comes down to local flavours and what we are used to. For instance in Canada if you worked for Lays you could suggest Poutine flavoured chips, or perhaps even Maple Syrup chips? But you have to be a bit careful. Different countries have different foods that they love that other people think are disgusting. How about Black Pudding flavoured chips. (Black pudding is like a blood sausage sliced up and fried. Sounds disgusting but it is really yummy).

Or, um, perhaps Fried Fruit Bat flavour? No? OK. What about Civet Coffee flavour? I had no idea either so had to look it up. “Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is made from part-digested coffee berries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet. Fermentation occurs as the berries pass through a civet’s intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected and brewed into one of the world’s most expensive coffees. Coffee aficionados claim the process has two benefits: The civets choose to eat only certain berries, meaning only the best are used, while their digestion is thought to positively alter the composition of the coffee cherries. A 125g bag of Kopi Luwak is on sale at Harrods for £250.”

Pass.

Or how about Su Calla Sardu – A Sardinian cheese, made in such a unique way that only a handful of companies are even allowed to produce it. It’s made by taking the stomach of a baby goat, which is then tied at one end with a rope and left to mature with all its contents of mother’s milk (raw goats milk). The cheese is then aged for at least two to four months, and then eaten slice on bread, including the stomach, or fried in lard…

Alright, alright, I will stop.

We are so jaded that now the unsalted crisps with the little packet of salt are not good enough. Are we just spoiled?