Jemně solené - Bohemia

Czech potatoes are selected, washed and cut flat before being fried in 100% sunflower oil. Only then they are slightly spiced with salt (2.2%).

This results in plain chips of a pale yellow colour, pretty thin and not so loud at crunch. The chips feel greasy in the hand but not in the mouth. The aroma reminds us of being in a bohemian bookstore.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.91 mm
Crunchiness:	74 dB
Other features:	Pale yellow and thinly sliced potato chips.
Origin:
Country, region	Czech Republic, Choustnik
We got them from	a shopping mall in Brno.
Price / gram	15.90 Kč / 77 g
On-line:	www.bohemiachips.cz

Inside a bag of Bohemia jemně solené

Bio-organic hand cooked chips - Trafo

Today we bring you the handcooked version of the bio-organic Trafo chips, already tested by Crisps&Critics back in 2015 (you can check that review here). The potatoes and the sunflower oil come from 100% verified organically grown producers.

The potatoes are cut flat and slowly fried, what takes a bit longer to process than with regular potato chips.  The cooking is done at a relatively low temperature (max. 165ºC), providing more bite and taste. In the end they are seasoned with sea salt, very slightly, letting feel the true flavour of the potato while enjoying a multiplying crunch of many bent-over chips in our mouth.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.0 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.09 mm
Crunchiness:	95 dB
Other features:	Good crunch. Organic oil and potatoes.
Origin:
Country, region	Wolvega, The Netherlands
We got them from	a bio-shop in Allach, Germany
Price / gram	1,99 € / 125 g
On-line:	www.fzorganicfood.com

Inside a bag of hand cooked bio-organic chips, sea salt by Trafo.

Exotic potato - Terra

The market rules. We receive more often coloured potato chips to test.

In the Terra packaging, we find a mix of salty and sweet, several colours, flavours, textures and cuts. These chips are not only exotic, but rich.

Several potato sorts are found in this package:

• Yukon gold potatoes, introduced from Canada in 1980, with an intense flavour and yellow flares,
• Sweet potatoes of the Ipomoea Batatas variety, providing a glorious sweetness in an intense orange colour, and
• natural blue potatoes, providing a nutty touch and with a purple colour matching very well with the rest of tones.

Another interesting aspect of these potato chips is the fact that we can find both wavy and flat cut potatoes of each variety.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	8.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.81 mm
Crunchiness:	94 dB
Other features:	Diverse potatoes cut flat and wavy, baked on a mix of vegetable oils.
Origin:
Country, region	Lake Success, NY, USA
We got them from	Walmart in Novi, Michigan.
Price / gram	2.98 $ / 155 g
On-line:	http://www.terrachips.com

Inside a bag of Terra Exotic chips

Potato Chips with Salt - Tiger

Our first Danish review comes from Tiger. The first "Flying Tiger Copenhaguen" store opened in Munich and an avid Crisps&Critics follower approached us with a beautiful bag full of potato chips from the T-stores.

The packaging imitates a brown paper grocery bag and is fun-labelled with a sort of handwritten font type. When we open it we feel a good flavour and find medium sized chips with orange aureoles and a few dark spots. The chips crunch a lot, they are hard and thick. Cooked in abundant sunflower oil, we presume an overall good taste, the chips being generously salted. 

Produced in Sweden for the Danish company Zebra, the parent company of the Flying Tiger Copenhagen.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.9 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.79 mm
Crunchiness:	93 dB
Other features:	Thick potato chips with orange colour aureoles.
Origin:
Country, region	Denmark, Copenhagen
We got them from	an enthusiastic C&C fan bought them at a Flying Tiger shop.
Price / gram	1.50 € / 150 g
On-line:	www.flyingtiger.com

Inside a bag of Flying Tiger potato chips

Strážnícké brambůrky jemně solené - Petr Hobža

Back in 1988, the Hobža couple had an idea: Place a pile of sliced potatoes on a pan for the visitors to an outdoor cinema to have something tasty to eat together with their pint. None of them knew, though, that just a few years later they would be selling tons of crisps in Czechia and Slovakia.

Selected Czech potatoes of small size are washed, thin flat sliced, washed again in clean water, centrifuged and fried in abundant rapeseed oil (36% of final product). Only then a pinch of salt is added, resulting in light yellow translucent crisps with a reasonable crunch and unique aroma.

Nicely decorated package for the Strážnícké brambůrky jemně solené  (Crisps slightly salted from the Strážnícé town) with flower motives over a transparent background lets us see what we are going to taste: authentic Czech crisps.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.0 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.99 mm
Crunchiness:	83 dB
Other features:	Very thinly sliced potato chips.
Origin:
Country, region	Czech Republic, Strážnícé
We got them from	a shopping mall in Brno during the Moto GP 2017
Price / gram	17.90 Kč / 60 g
On-line:	http://www.hobza.cz

Inside a bag of Strážnícké brambůrky jemně solené by Petr Hobža

Original Recipe - Miss Vickie's

Our first review from Canada goes to Miss Vickie's Original Recipe.

Specially selected farm potatoes of small/medium size are cut flat and kettle cooked with unspecified vegetable oil in small batches, with a precise pinch of sea salt. Light yellow chips with some bubbles, as depicted in the package, and many bent-overs (sometimes three-fold) multiply the crunch sensation. 

Some like to eat healthy, others prefer tasty, but as consumers we want to know what we eat: Be it maple syrup or poutine. It would be great if Miss Vickie's would inform about the oil type used in her -by the way very savoury- product.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.4 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.43 mm
Crunchiness:	97 dB
Other features:	Many bent-overs, cooked in unspecified vegetable oil.
Origin:
Country, region	Ontario, Canada
We got them from	a local grocer of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Price / gram	3.67 Can$ / 220 g
On-line:	https://www.missvickies.ca

Inside a bag of Miss Vickie's Original Recipe.

Potato Stix - Utz

Our first review from the USA is finally here, let's taste Utz's Potato Stix!

At the time of writing this post it is almost 100 years that William and Salie Utz started making fresh potato chips in a tiny kitchen. Today Utz produces chips in 395 flavours and iterations.

The potato sticks we tasted are peeled, cut in sticks and then baked in cottonseed oil. This results in a soft dampened crunch and a certain floury sensation in our mouth when chewing the sticks. 

To pack these sticks in a can not only looks good and keeps the sticks intact: it is space efficient. In a volume similar to regular 150g flat cut potato chips, Utz's barrel is capable to hold almost half a kilo of potato sticks!

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	2.32 mm
Crunchiness:	74 dB
Other features:	Plenty of potato sticks packed in a 15 oz can.
Origin:
Country, region	Silver Creek, NY, USA
We got them from	Walmart in Novi, Michigan.
Price / gram	3.98 $ / 425.2 g
On-line:	www.utzsnacks.com

Inside a can of utz Potato Stix.

Xips de verdures - Ve de gust

Today we bring you potatoes of the sweet type. Together with extremely thin slices of yucca, beetroot and platain that complement eachother very well. All are cut flat and carefully fried in sunflower oil. The ensemble provides a crunchy symphony and subtle flavour mix in our palates. Sweet and salty never went along so well. The package transmits purity and luxury.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	4,2 cm long
and has a thickness of	? mm
Crunchiness:	95 dB
Other features:	Very thinly sliced sweet potatoes with yucca, beetroot and platain.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Catalonia
We got them from	a butcher in Mataró.
Price / gram	4,50 € / 130 g
On-line:	http://www.xipsvedegust.com

Inside a bag of Xips de Verdures of Ve de Gust.

Sin Sal añadida - Vicente Vidal

A bit of salt may highlight potato chips' taste, but often, too much salt ruins the true potato flavour. For us the joy of good potato chip lays mainly in the crunch and the potato taste. What we find in these Vicente Vidal's product is a soft sweet potato flavour, a normal crunch and a slightly dry texture. We have been positively surprised by the taste and flavour of this product with the only salt the own potato has. Once you try these chips you wonder why on earth so often excessive salt is added to many potato chips snacks...

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	10.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	? mm
Crunchiness:	88 dB
Other features:	Big, pale yellow chips with aureoles.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Navarra
We got them from	a supermarket in Barcelona.
Price / gram	1,35 € / 140 g
On-line:	www.papasvidal.es

Inside Vicente Vidal's "Sin Sal" potato chips bag

Ready Salted Chips - Chio

Sometimes what does count in life are simple things, like Ready Salted Chips from Chio. Jacket off and cut flat, the chips are baked in pure sunflower oil to be finally seasoned with refined salt. Our package had thin, pale yellow small chips with a soft to mild potato flavour. 

Neither more nor less was expected.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.6 cm
and has a thickness of	0.87 mm
Crunchiness:	79 dB
Other features:	Small, pale yellow chips without jacket
Origin:
Country, region	Köln, Germany
We got them from	a REWE supermarket in Munich.
Price / gram	1,79 € / 175 g
On-line:	https://www.chio.de/

Inside a bag of Chio Ready Salted chips

Patatas Artesanas Al estilo tradicional - Snack Day

Snack Day's Patatas Artesanas were tested while travelling in a high speed AVE train between Barcelona and Madrid. Our palate cannot distinguish some flavours when we are flying on a plane. Since our train was figuratively "flying" through tunnels, hitting speeds of 300km/h, our ears were feeling pressure differences. Are our palates and smell altered by the pressure changes, low humidity and surrounding noise? See here.

We felt these chips can play in the top league: We perceived a very good flavour with sweet scents and a real taste to hand made potato chips as the label indicates ("Artesanas al estilo tradicional"). Without jacket, these chips are cut flat, fried in 100% olive oil and modestly seasoned with salt. A balanced combination.

If you try them in "normal conditions" and think otherwise, please share!

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.4 cm long
and has a thickness of	? mm
Crunchiness:	99 dB
Other features:	Golden yellow chips, oily, no jacket.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Catalonia
We got them from	a Lidl supermarket in Spain.
Price / gram	0.89 € / 150 g
On-line:	www.lidl.es

Inside a bag of Patatas Artesanas Snack Day

Sabores de nuestra tierra - Vicente Vidal

Iberian selected potatoes from the sour variety (Agria), directly bought to the farmers, making sure their business is profitable and sustainable. The whole process is closely monitored: From the selection of the potato chips, through the plantage, growth and harvesting. Once stored, the potatoes are washed, peeled and fried in sunflower oil (33%), adding a pinch of salt following a traditional recipe from 1931.

The result are big thin and light chips with some bubbles that taste very good and crunch solidly.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	8.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	? mm
Crunchiness:	94 dB
Other features:	Many bubbles, thin chips.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, León
We got them from	a shop near Sa Caleta, in Menorca
Price / gram	1.41 € / 160 g
On-line:	www.papasvidal.es