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Friday, May 1, 2015

Potato Chip Tasting Party


One of our fellow bloggers, Georgina, sent me a
package from Great Britain full of all kinds of
potato chips, or 'crisps' as she would call them!
While I had the whole family here for dinner
last night, we had a chip tasting party!  



The triplets love potato chips, but interestingly enough,
since they didn't recognize the packaging or names,
they didn't want to try any!
But that was ok with the rest of us, because if they
had wanted to, they could have scarfed down the whole
bunch before we had a chance to taste any! ha.




We don't have any chips flavored with Langoustines (European lobster) lemon and dill! 
 And we'd never had Scottish chips flavored
with haggis and cracked black pepper!




We did recognize the Lays brand, of course, but
we don't have any Lays flavored like Bolognaise!
There were Swiss Cheese flavored sticks, kind of like
Crunchy Cheetos and Snacketti which were
puffy "lovely salted hearts".




And how about puffed kangaroo shaped Chio Jumpys seasoned with sunny paprika....
or Fritelle Bacon potato sticks?
Surprisingly, the overall favorite was the 
Guinness Burts Thick Cut Chips.




I was the only one that liked the Langoustine and Lauren was the only
one that liked the Haggis flavored chips.
The men seemed to like the spicy and bacon flavors.
We all agreed that it was very fun and entertaining to
see what kind of chips there are across the pond!
Who would have thought they would be so different 
from all of the brands we have here!

Here's all the flavors with their complete names...

  1. Benenuts Fritelle, Gout Bacon
  2. Chio Jumpys, Sunny Paprika
  3. Burts Thick Cut Hand Cooked Guinness Potato Chips
  4. M & S Scottish Langoustines with Dill & Lemon Hand Cooked Crisps
  5. Zweifel Snacketti Hearts, Lovely Salted
  6. Mackie's of Scotland Haggis & Cracked Black Pepper Potato Crisps
  7. Berlin Croustilles, Gout Emmental
  8. Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Groove Cut Crisps
  9. Lays Saveur Bolognaise
  10. Benenuts 3-D Bugles Gout Fromage
So, thank you so much Georgina!
Hey, did you know that Georgina has an entire blog
dedicated to critiquing potato chips?
You should give her a little visit!

And Georgina, we all thought it would be a lot of fun
to return the favor and send you a box of American
potato chips!  So if you're game, email me your
shipping address!  And if you've ever heard of a
kind of crisp you'd like to try, let me know and
I'll be sure to add it to the box!

Fun, fun!





73 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It was very fun! Can you believe they were all new to us? I wasn't expecting that!

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    2. They are all new to me, and I live in Great Britain! All we see in England are Walkers Crisps (Salt and Vinegar, Plain, Cheese and Onion, Barbecue Chicken,) Smiths Crisps (I dont rate them) and Seabrooks (more or less the same flavours as Walkers) + own-brand crisps in the supermarkets.

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    3. I would think you'd at least have the Scottish ones making their way down to you!

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    4. We don't have much Scottish food here now since they repaired the gaps in Hadrians Wall.

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    5. Is the wall there to keep you out of them in?

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    6. Both! Best thing the Romans ever did for us! Ha!

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    7. Careful...I'm Scottish, you know....I can trace my family back to the 1400's...we even have our castle still in Sorbie. It's in ruins now or I'd move in! ha.

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  2. I used to love the Bovril crisps, and of course salt and vinegar.
    When I was growing up there used to be a little blue bag of salt in the regular crisps, once I ate the bag in the darkness of a cinema show, and almost choked....lol
    They have so many flavors nowadays if you can dream it up, they can make it.
    What a fun swap.
    ~Jo

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    1. I like salt and vinegar.....never hear of the Bovril ones, though! I bet Georgina has!

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    2. Yes I like Bovril flavoured ones but have not had any for a while.
      I wonder if they make Marmite flavoured ones . . lol

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    3. Marmite...lol....Georgina will know!

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    4. Jo - I love the strawberry flavoured ones, and the chocolate ones! Ha!

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    5. I wonder what Cheese and Onion flavoured ice cream tastes like? Just askin' . . . . . .

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    6. I just did a google search for Bovril and there is a facebook page and petition dedicated to asking Walkers to 'do the right thing' and bring back Bovril chips. Seems lots of people liked them and are missing them!

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    7. I've heard of Bovril crisps but never seen them. And they do make Marmite crisps which I think are excellent. And I reviewed a packet in 2013. Fabulously Marmitey as I remember!

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    8. Eddie would love them, then!

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  3. Wow, that is a bunch
    Quite the chip lunch
    Never heard of any of those ones
    With chip brands there sure are tons

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    1. Does it bring back the memories
      of Pringle can soliloquies?
      A can a day
      after your chicken nugget foray.
      haha...

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    2. lol the memories are there
      mostly using them as cat waste containers at my lair

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    3. Not letting any part go to waste!
      Even using the container with haste!~

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  4. Now that is truly fascinating.
    I regard myself as an addicted 'crispoholic' yet I have never heard of any of these flavours, although I am a Brit like Georgina.
    Haggis Flavoured crisps . . . lol . . . obviously she is Scottish and that is why I don't know them . . . :)

    I shall certainly be visiting her blog . . . lol . . . but I am trying very hard to cut down on my crisp intake ~ it seems I shall soon be fighting a losing battle . . . How fun you had last night . . . and wasn't it nice of Georgina . . . :)

    As kids we used to have Smiths plain crisps which contained a little blue bag of salt which we opened and poured inside and shook the bag ~ lovely. And we also had Chipmunk crisps (not chipmunk flavoured . . . lol . . . that was the brand name . . . but yum!

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    1. I believe she said she got them in Switzerland, ...her husband works there and she travels there often. So maybe they are European more than British.

      Jo above was just talking about the ones you salted yourself....how funny that is to me. I wonder why they thought that would be better instead of just packaging them already salted....

      Chipmunk...haha...oh that is funny! Right...the kangaroo ones didn't taste like kangaroo....I'm so glad. ha.

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    2. Probably to give the person the option of whether they wanted salt or not. Yes I read Jo's more fully and in the cinema (or pictures or 'flicks' as we used to call them) there were loads of people all with their Smiths crisps bags shaking them furiously with their little blue bag of salt inside and some people used to shout and tell us to shut up . . . . lol. Kangaroo crisps . . rofl

      I see Switzerland ~ that explains it . . :)

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    3. Interesting what the Guinness crisps tasted like ~ I had a glass of Guinness beer last night ~ yum . . :)

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    4. Chipmunk sounds better than kangaroo....well, just a little... haha...

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    5. You could taste the beer in the Guinness chips but it was very subtle....

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    6. I've just been over to see Georgina and introduced myself . . . she like her crisps, doesn't she . . lol
      Interesting about the Guinness flavoured crisps . . "My goodness, my Guinness", as the TV advertisement says . . That must be Irish.

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    7. Yes, she loves her chips....and what a fun thing to do an entire blog of your tastings!

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    8. Right up my street!
      Do you know anyone with a Pringle Blog ? . . . haha

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    9. My boys love Pringles...they share a can every day for lunch and every night for a snack. I buy 14 cans every week at the grocery....I always get strange looks. ha.

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    10. I remember when I was a schoolboy standing in the playground one day enjoying a packet of Smiths crisps when the school bully came up to me and said "Give us them crisps, or I'll bash you!". I don't think he remembered much after that until he recovered consciousness in the hospital.

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    11. Good for you Keith . . . he deserved a thump . . . can't stand bullying although there was a lot when I was at school . .

      Betsy . . . I can imagine you get strange looks over the Pringles . . . .. lol

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    12. I had to ask my brother to buy the Haggis crisps and post them to me. He lives in Scotland. I live in London and I've never seen an Haggis flavour crisps for sale here. But weirdly I have bought other flavours by the same manufacturer (Mackies of Scotland) at Sion railway station in Switzerland.

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    13. So the haggis chips have traveled all over! I have a lot of Scottish blood in me...so they were very fun to see!

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    14. I'd love to taste Haggis Crisps . . . . I expect they might taste like Faggot Crisps which might be the English equivalent . . :)
      Georgina. have you come across any Cherokee crisps in your travels ? . . . . . lol

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    15. Cherokee crisps? Be careful.....I think we call those "Scalps" hahaha.....

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    16. Cherokee crisps? Made of Cherokees? I hope not!

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  5. What a fun party!
    I am a chipaholic too, Eddie!
    Enjoy your evening Betsy!
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  6. Haggis *oh do you know what they put in Haggis?* eek. :D Thank the good Lord there was no Blood Pudding crisps! Or Ox Tail crisps! haha. My friend in England is always threatening me with Blood Pudding and Ox Tail soup. I don't even eat soup!
    I knew those boys were my people. We quirky's stick together like glue.

    btw...Hi Bets!

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    1. Where have you been? I've missed you! haha.
      Yes, I know what Haggis is...actually, it's not what is inside, but what holds all the insides. lol....
      My mom made oxtail soup and it was delicious...just like beef and veggie. Not sure I'd be able
      to get a Blood Pudding chip into my mouth, though...ewww! hahaha....

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    2. Life. You know how it is. And I've missed you too. I'll share my one and only run in with ox tail below and we will never speak of it again. :D

      I think it's the inside and outside of Haggis that would gag a maggot in a heartbeat. haha Even my English friend that eats blood pudding draws the line at Haggis, but I have to admit she does love ox tail soup. Her mum makes a blood pudding every Christmas for her dad. I ask her once where she got the blood and she said they have it at her markets or butchers. I said, Kill me now. She burst out laughing and said, I find you very odd but funny. It was a compliment. ;)

      True story...I was at a market in the early 80's. There was this LONG white tray in the meat dept. *I don't usually pursue the meat dept.* and this LONG thin thing was in the LONG white tray covered in plastic but it caught my eye as I was walking by. I ask the meat guy what it was. He replied, An ox tail. I ask shyly, What is that exactly as in hoping it wasn't what I thought it might be. He started explaining in detail ;) and I threw up. I was so embarrassed but so sick. I never went back to that market again. So I won't be trying any ox tail soup ever, ever, ever. :D
      I can't even look at jars of pigs feet or jars of pickled eggs and just typing those words makes my throat close. *shudder* I have a thing.

      Maybe i'll get a chance to stop by again soon but till then...Say Hi to my quirky picky kin and hope you guys have a great summer.

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    3. I am laughing so hard my side hurts! They had the whole long tail there on a tray? Ew! Even I wouldn't buy that! Yuck. That meat guy probably tells your story but from his angle....and the young lady threw up! lol....oh my.

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  7. That does sound like fun. Several years back Bethany stopped in the Tokyo airport and bought some Japanese snacks. It was really interesting to try something completely different than we are used to. They were a little too "fishy" for most of us but Josiah liked them a lot. You can see them here Fish snacks

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    1. How interesting...the package is really pretty! Even the black crackers! My sister visited Japan once and brought back little chewy fruit candies that were wrapped in rice paper. You didn't have to unwrap them...the wrapped was edible, too...it just dissolved in your mouth. We thought they were so cool!

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  8. That does sound really fun. I bet there was a lot of "crunching" going on. Were they real salty? That would be a good party game. Letting people taste a chip or cracker and try to guess what taste and brand it was.

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    1. None of them were too salty, no....but all the flavors were very different from what we have. Ever had a fish flavored chip? ha.

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  9. YUM! Your tasting party sounds like a really fun time.

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    1. It really was....and I can't wait to send Georgina some of our favorites!

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  10. Chip Party!! What fun. I have lived in England on and off and visited Scotland a few times but have not seen all of these. Very cool. The Chio Jumpys make me laugh! Kind of similar to our Goldfish crackers maybe? I love Guinness and I love haggis so it would be fun to taste those. Quite a cool variety. And a blog devoted to crips? Yummmmmmm - I will have to visit!

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    1. The jumpys do look like goldfish! But they are definitely chip rather than cracker.

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    2. Awww - I thought, based on things you've said in the past, that of all three that Alex might be the adventurous one and try a few... glad to hear he eventually did!

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    3. He finished off all the rest of them this morning before I got up. What a breakfast! haha...

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  11. Hi Betsy and Georgina - well you sure know how to party ... and that's a good selection - probably a good thing the boys decided to steer clear of the packets and let you four enjoy at leisure .... Delighted the Guinness ones came up trumps ... I tend to go for the plain ones and usually Kettle crisps - but see you didn't get those .. though they look like the Burts' ones ... when you get stuck into crisps - it's a disaster!! Waistline one ..

    Cheers and probably that's what I need after the A-Z .. a packet of crisps and a bottle of vino .. enjoy the weekend - Hilary

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  12. Hi Betsy and everyone else!
    How exciting to see my parcel featuring as a whole post. I'm sorry the boys wouldn't try any of the new flavours but I hope the rest of you had fun.

    Surely you must have had crisps with little bags of salt in once upon a time? Are you too young to remember? I have always supposed that what we used to call "Ready Salted" wasn't invented yet so we all had to add our own salt from the little blue baggie. Of course it's been a long time since "Ready Salted" turned into "Salted" which nowadays is often "Sea Salted" or "with Himalayan Pink Salt" or something fancy.

    I must reassure everyone that I don't eat all of the crisps myself. I am assisted by the reluctant taste testers at work and the Chef at home. And if we don't like the crisps they go in the bin.

    Betsy I will have a big think and search for weird and wonderful US crisps.
    Thank you!

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    1. I really don't think we've ever had chips that weren't "ready salted"...someone correct me if I'm wrong. And I'm laughing...am I to young to remember? Gosh yes, that must be it! (cough, cough)....

      And guess what? Alex finally caved and has eaten several kinds. In fact, as I type this, he is finishing off a bowl of croustilles!

      Can't wait to see your requests, Georgina...will be so fun to send you a box!

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    2. Come on Betsy! You aren't 150 years old. We had the little blue baggies of salt in the early - mid 1960s. But maybe (quite likely) the US got ready salted technology well before the UK.

      So pleased Alex has relented and has tried some of the weird European flavours.

      I don't know what kinds of crisps are sold locally to you but I will CERTAiNLY take advantage of your kind offer and I'm putting together a list as we speak. Oh wow! Christmas in summer.

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  13. Howdy to everyone--
    I remember tasting the first pizza ever. Back in 1954 in Japan in downtown Sendai-shi at a restaurant that catered to the Occupation soldiers. They only had one kind -- "Cheese" but it was a big hit with me and most soldiers as well as most Japanese. I suspect the same is true with almost any snack food.

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    1. Abe, that is so cool! And you weren't even in this country to get it! Thanks for sharing...so fun!

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  14. I would have been there in a second. I love chips!

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  15. Would it be wrong to move to England just for the chips?? Nom nom nom :)

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    Replies
    1. ...or at least a visit! Let's go!

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    2. Come and see me and bring some chips . . . lol . . . :)

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  16. It seems as though Georgina and her crisps have united the entire globe into crisp and chip lovers . . . lol

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  17. Gout bacon... hmmm... not too sure about that one! :-)

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    1. "gout bacon" translates to "bacon flavor" :) Alex finished these off, too!

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  18. Ah yes. I should have figured that out because "goût" in French is "taste." And she's in Switzerland so the packages are probably translated into three languages. Good thing, because the other meaning would be pretty gross for crisps!

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  19. That would have been a lot of fun. We have limited flavors compared to the lot that you received. Family fun.

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