Crisps & Chips: The State of the Bagged Potato Snack
Volume 1: Salt & Vinegary
Crisps & Chips: The State of the Bagged Potato Snack
Good afternoon, and welcome to Morsels. This is the second newsletter and the first in a series of exploratory research on the topic of potato chips aptly titled ‘The State of the Bagged Potato Snack, Volume 1: Salt & Vinegary.’
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For a long time I have had a deeply intimate relationship with crisps. Even the renaming of them from chips (or even so commonly and nostalgically: chippies) to the British ‘crisps’ is indicative of that. It was an intentional move. A taking of ownership. A watershed moment heralding in a new chapter in my relationship with crisps, formally known as chips. They went from naughty, unhealthy party snacks to a very distinct gastronomic treat. It was as if the formalisation of the term in usage transformed the fried potato snack into something of a delicacy. It’s a necessary dinner prerequisite that is now not to be questioned.
Within this adoption of the new form came a subsequent 'naming of things’ around the subject matter. Daily favourites took on new meaning in London; Tyrells original blue packet sea salted chips were renamed ‘The Ti-Rells crisp’ the introduction of the definite article fundamental to the definition of this particular potato being the best possible example of an outstanding, accessibly priced (especially on sale at Sainsbury’s) potato chip. Added to this community were the CO-OP sea salt and cider vinegar chips (which I have spoken about at length in the past*), renamed ‘The COOP sweet’ for the fact that they were far from sweet but so sweet in their execution of a salted vinegar chip. They were true darlings in how they would sting ever so lightly the front of the tongue with an acidity on the very verge of being appalling. I can’t imagine this sense of balance was intentional, how were they to know? ‘The coop sweet’ was the sweetest of gifts of home brand treats. A packet of each, paired with a £9 bottle of muscat from the shelves of the CO-OP and the afternoon was truly about to begin. It was a gold standard. Not insomuch as they were the ‘best’ products on the market but in that they both did everything you would ever want them to do for you; a crisp that should be eaten on the regular, a crisp that I enjoyed daily.
And so went the renaming of chippies and chips to crisps. A formalisation of my adoration and respect for this remarkable yet at times dangerous potato product. Dangerous in that they are terrible for your teeth, eating them late at night is a mistake. They cannot be a midnight snack, at least not without a good floss. Crisps are one of the leading foods encouraging tooth decay today (I found out listening to the all knowing all seeing Stephen Fry, may IQ live on in everyones future as a show full of valuable and challenging information) and potentially highly problematic due to how many of them I manage to eat on a daily basis. I enjoy snacking. I really enjoy snacking. A crisp is a great snack and, if timed well, an ideal way to warm into dinner1.
Pre dinner snacks are an essential addition when eating alone or in company. The addition of a small bowl of crisps to any table offers a welcoming sort of comfort. We grew up with them at kids parties, giant bowls of each flavour (although some parents would lucky dip the selection and mix the bowls together, a dangerous recipe for disappointment if the flavour profiles were not complimentary), at school in tiny lunch box bags, through our teens eaten out of giant bags touched by too many hands, and as adults at the park, at the pub, on the living room floor or out the back in the sun with cold beers and an idealisation of the amount of time we have left in that moment, with this joy, with these friends, and that beautiful bag of crisps as a snack. Seeing a bowl of crisps, even a small one on a table is calming to me. If I am peckish, I can graze. If I am hungry, I can eat the whole bag, without judgement.
This is to say, I enjoy eating crisps. I enjoy it very much. I think about it often and I have strong opinions and justifications for the crisps that I do like and a vehement opposition to those I don’t like (honey soy chicken, all of them, especially kettle and red rock). I took a lot of pleasure from my daily ritual of specific crisps and comfort from having a deep set understanding of what products lived on which shelves across different supermarkets.
Since returning to Australia this has been hampered. In London, even if I couldn’t get hold of a bag of ‘The Ti-Rells Crisp’ or ‘The COOP sweet’ I knew which brands of corner shop crisp would do the job necessary at the time, from ‘wotsits’ to ‘pickled onion monster munch’ or at a stretch ‘scampi fries’ and if I must ‘walkers prawn cocktail.’ While these crisps didn’t earn themselves a definite article they did fill a gap when necessary and while I didn’t understand it at the time, this knowledge and understanding made up a good part of what made London feel like home.
Chips, chippies, crisps, potato chips, however you call them, they don’t taste the same in Australia. The cooking time is different, the seasoning is different and the potatoes used are different. It’s a whole new world. An exciting new world for of possibility and wonder and the opportunity for new friends in the form of a potato chip.
In light of that, this is the first newsletter on Chips & Crisps. A romp in which I try to regain my comfort by knowing exactly what is good at the shops, on the shelves and on the palette.
Throughout this series of newsletters I will offer guidance as to what’s good and what is not on the matter of chip brands and crisp flavours.
Today we start with the classic salted & it’s dear friend salt and vinegar.
Before we start running down the rabbit hole of potato chips it’s important to outline some of the constraints that I placed on this research. I chose not to investigate products like rice crackers, wafer crisps, vegetable crisps, pulse chips, or seaweed crisps - instead to stick to the form of the potato chip. And within that, the potato chip that is shaped in the form of how we have some to understand potato chips can be. Not reconstituted but sliced and fried. In saying this I also avoided the low fat alternatives such as Smith’s oven baked sea salt crisps with 50% less fat. You shouldn’t buy them, it’s not worth it. They are awful.
In this first volume I have also excluded corn puffs and corn chips as I have a strongly held belief that the land occupied by Doritos (pronounced Dori-Dos), and Burger rings (pronounced as it’s read) is worth a full examination.
It’s important to remember that while there is a wild world of alternative snacks and chips and crisps available at the moment it is important to start at the beginning, as it’s a very good place to start. The ABC and Do Rae Me of the potato chip world are Salted, and Salt and Vinegar.
All potato chips were purchased from Woolworths, Coles, IGA and a selection of speciality supermarkets in Brisbane. For a full list of chips tasted go to the bottom of this newsletter where I have them listed with a brief review of quality and value.
SALT
Top Class (special treat, with grower Champagne chips):
Banilla a La Vista ‘Patatas fritas’ $43 500gr, $22 300gr, $12 150gr
This could be the best readily available potato chip in the world. Banilla a La Vista was founded in 1932 and if you haven’t had the delight of these Spanish potato chips that’s a terrible shame. They are a marvel, however, a spectacularly expensive one at that. Light, delicate, perfectly cooked in virgin olive oil with a balanced seasoning of Mediterranean sea salt. The combination of the softly sweet potatoes (the only potatoes used are from Xinzo de Limia), quality of the cooking oil (virgin olive oil from Galicia) and kindness intentionally in the seasoning creates the perfect pre dinner potato chip. You can take down a whole 500gr can in a sitting with a couple of beers without question. Even if only on special occasions, those times will be memorable.
Best in Show (day to day pleasures of eating chips while drinking, laughing and having fun):
Pafritas ‘Olive oil and salt’ $8, 140gr
Another Spanish player in the market, Pafritas are not fucking around creating a potato chip game. They came to play and they play hard founded in 1994 in an attempt to replicate Banilla a la vista. A very good effort at doing exactly this at a cheaper price point. Spanish potatoes, virgin olive oil from single estate trees in Cordoba and Mediterranean sea salt. Apparently the official potato chip of the Spanish football team but I mean, really who gives a fuck, they haven’t won in a long time.
This is a great chip. The quality of the potatoes and the oil shine through. Line Banilla, refined and easy to eat. A soft and welcoming experience on the palette.
Boulder Canyon ‘Sea salt kettle chips’ $3.99 141.8gr
This is a fantastic every day potato chip. Ideally salted, good quality potatoes, moreish texture on the palette. It’s an American brand founded in 1994 by two brothers who set out to fry potatoes in healthier oils. These are cooked in olive oil. Again, the quality of the base ingredients shines through ahead of the rest of the market. A fantastic daily dose chip. One I would posit as ‘The kettle chip’ currently in Brisbane.
N.b - they also make a crinkle cut salted chip fried in Avocado oil. It’s so fucking boring and embarrassingly over priced. Stay away from it. You will regret the calories and the tooth decay. Avocado oil. Avocado oil? I mean, really? What a waste.
Best of the bottom (ideal when outside of major city centres or on special at Coles and Woolies):
Smiths ‘Thins’ $1.52 (on special) 150gr
Best of a bad bunch on the daily chip circuit the Smiths ‘Thins’ tread the line between amicably acceptable and deep regret. Heavily salted, thinly sliced and fried in cheap oil. The potato holds up on the crunch though unlike competitors at same price point whose potatoes dissolve in the mouth and tear up the tongue.
Buy on special or if in a pinch for other options. Best of the bottom. Ideal for kids parties. They live for them.
N.b It’s important to recognise one thing in the assessment of salted chips in Brisbane shops. Tyrells aren’t the best salted potato chip, they don’t come close. This is a sad reality. They are under salted and over cooked. Cut slightly too thick and cooked for slightly too long. Texturally they are rough on the palette, often damaging the tongue and slicing up gums. Unlike what is available in the U.K, Tyrells in Australia do not match the mark of a good crisp.
SALT & VINEGAR
Top Class:
Blackstone ‘Sea salt & balsamic vinegar’ $2.69 200gr
Aldi make deli style chips. In an effort to compete against the other major supermarkets and their supposed stranglehold on the fancy chip market in stocking Red Rock and Kettle. While some of their chips are over powering and sweet these chips are perfect. Absolutely perfect. They are in large bags, well priced and always in stock.
A brash acidity that will burn the cuts in your mouth if you are unlucky to have any and may also disinfect the cuts on your fingers. Good salt content and texture, moreish by nature. Beer chips, dinner chips, breakfast chips. Big vinegar energy. Top pick for what I like in salt and vinegar chips.
Best in Show (day to day eating):
Boulder Canyon ‘Red wine vinegar’ $6.49 141.8gr
A softer yet moreish and approachable alternative to the salt and vinegar chip. It’s a wonderful day to day chip that could be eaten always without fear of pain or stale textures. Really well balanced across the palette and inviting enough to want more. This is not the tear your mouth apart acidity I often search for but a more refined flavour, a real show stopper at a dinner party or in the park. A lovely eating experience. In fact, a chip that would be perfectly paired with a classic recipe from the 90s of baked salmon, chips crushed on top.
Best of the bottom
Thins ‘Salt and vinegar’ $1.50 150gr (on special at Coles and Woolworths)
These are truck stop chips always and forever. They will fuck you up. They will strip your mouth of tastebuds and leave you crying with equal parts satisfaction and regret. They are a wonderful chip to eat however dangerous in how they can impact the palette. Cheap, cheerful and full of punch. There is no better go to if in a pickle.
CHIPS TASTED:
Salted
Red Rock Deli - sea salt: Over cooked, over salted. A chip for heavy smokers.
Tyrells - Sea salt: Over cooked, under salted. No flavour. Boring. Boring, boring town. Utter disappointment. For shame.
Tyrells - Sea salt, crinkle cut: As above but crinkle cut. Boring. So boring.
Burts hand cooked chips - Sea salt: Over cooked, to the point of having a stale feeling in texture. Inconsistently seasoned and salted. Expensive. Don’t buy.Buy Boulder. By Boulder Canyon.
Banilla a La Vista - Patatas fritas: A world class chip. A beautiful treat. PERFECT with champagne.
Smiths - Salt, double Crunch crinkle cut: Too big. Too much in the mouth. Too difficult to eat. Almost stale in texture. Over salted. Not a biscuit. Not a chip. Not a vibe.
Smiths Original - Salt, crinkle cut: Over salted, over done. A real salt assault mouth tearing atrocity.
Natural chip Co - light salted: Fine. Actually, entirely fine. But in that, boring. Not interesting flavour wise or texturally.
Boulder Canyon - Avocado oil & sea salt, crinkle cut: Boring. Boring. No flavour in the potato, the oil, or the salting. The crinkle cut adds nothing. Boring, expensive. Avoid. Avocado oil? Really? But why? Why? Why?
Boulder Canyon - Classic sea salt: Excellent day to day chip. Ideal seasoning and texture for a kettle style chip. Big vibes.
Coles - Natural sea salt deli style potato chips: Nothing to write home about at all. Entirely mediocre.
Kettle - Sea salt: Too salty. Way too salty. Awful. Awful. Too salty.
Pafritas - Olive oil and salt: Brilliant chip. A great stand in at the price point for Banilla a la vista. Highly recommended.
Proper Crisps - Marlborough sea salt: In no way memorable or worth the push. A fine kettle style chip but that is all. Fancy(ish) packaging offers the illusion of a premium product. Buy Pafritas instead
Kettle - Himalayan pink salt, chunky: Too salty, too crunchy. Kettle have a real through line on this. Whoever is working in development for them in Australia is going a bad job.
Smiths - Original salted, thinly cut: Good, not too salty, not too thinly cut to dissolve in the mouth. A good baseline for a cheap cheap especially on sale.
Thins Original, salted: Overly salted, sliced too thin. No texture. Dissolved in the mouth without any effort. You don’t even eat them. It’s like eating a salty potato lolly.
Salt and Vinegar
Red Rock Deli - Sea salt and balsamic vinegar: Over cooked and too sweet. Grating in the mouth and almost sickly with he flavour of manufactured basic balsamic glaze.
Tyrells - Sea salt and cider vinegar: Flavourless except for the slight hint of sweetened vinegar. Almost as if the chip itself has been dipped in vinegar and powdered with icing sugar then dehydrated again. No depth, no joy.
Tyrells - Sea salt and cider vinegar, crinkle cut: as above but with a much worse texture. It baffles me that they can make such a insipid chip. Appalling.
Boulder Canyon - Red wine vinegar: Balanced and refined. A different approach to the salt and vinegar chip that affords room for more, possibly the whole bag.
Burts hand cooked chips - Sea salt & malt vinegar: Malted flavour but without any real vinegar hit. There is no challenge to these chips except for the consistent disappointment of their textural and aromatic failures.
Kettle - Sea salt & cider vinegar: Good punch on the vinegar but without a fair balance on the salt. Sweetness, more than anything shines through.
Natural Chip Co - Sea salt & vinegar: Crinkle cut, sweet. Not salty enough. A hard pass.
Smiths - Salt and vinegar, crinkle cut: An enjoyable chip day to day but lacking in the acidic punch and mouth tearing capacity of the thin sliced counter parts.
Proper Crisps - Cider vinegar and sea salt: Sweet cider vinegar and an affable texture. A nice bite but not interesting enough to stand out as anything but a adequate attempt.
Smiths -Salt and vinegar, thinly cut: Great acidity and salt content. A good burn across the mouth, not sweet. Every day eating a charm.
Blackstone - Salt and balsamic vinegar: Great balance from Aldi. A fantastic example of a salt and vinegar. Holds good acidity and works. It just works.
Clancy’s - Kettle salt & vinegar: Fairly demure in the approach to flavour. Not a great puncher in any sense, acceptable however as some sort of an ok last resort.
Sprinter - Salt & vinegar: Crowd favourites from Aldi. They are good, yes. However I suspect the opinions are skewed based on the every day low low price. The Chips are good though, no doubt. Good texture and crunch, well seasoned and not too sweet. A very good and affordable every day eating option.
A crisp before dinner I define as the official whetting of my appetite. It was a ritual started accidentally when I was living in Italy, a by-product of aperativo. There are few softer memories of my time studying in Italy than sitting in the late afternoon sun, a negroni in hand and a small plate of snacks between myself and friends. Crisps were always a central feature. In fact, the best crisp I have ever enjoyed was in Italy and I must say almost by accident. A chance encounter with a strange style of San Carlo crisps. If you are in Italy or see this version of San Carlo on the shelf, buy them. A form of double ruffle, looking almost like the head of a tennis racquet the San Carlo ‘Grill’ could end up being my favourite potato crisp of all time. Perfectly textured, simply salted and with enough generosity in the cut to be considered a substantial bite. You couldn’t eat too many, and yetI often did, scared that I may not be able to find them again. I have only found them three times. They were rare in Bra, where I lived, and I never managed to find them in London or on subsequent trips back to Italy. They are a delicacy. If ‘The Ti-Rells crisp’ was the gold standard of salted crisps, the San Carlo Grill exists in the dreamscape. I am yet to replicate the pleasure of that exact experience in a bag of crisps and frankly I am not sure if I ever will. My fear is that it was situational: a product of the day, the week, the month, the year, the temperature and the way I felt at the time. Who is to say really? It’s been 10 years almost to the day I had that last ‘Grill’ crisp and I’ve not had another since.
Words by Daniel Wilson
Daniel has a Masters in Food Culture from The University of Gastronomic Science in Pollenzo, Italy. He is a chef and recovering restauranteur.