Croccante - San Carlo

San Carlo is going big presenting huge potatoes with a crinkle cut in his Croccante edition. 

We remark the beauty of a big and thick slice of potato, elegantly ondulated, as it can't be otherwise for a product coming from the fashion capital Milano. And as long as the potato chip is, it crunches from the begining till the end. We found the chips slightly dry,  perhaps due to the oil mix or proportion (palm and sunflower oil).

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	11.5 cm long
and has a thickness of	3.3 mm *
Crunchiness:	91 dB
Other features:	Big size potato slices, thick but light.
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Milan
We got them from	a glamper in Italy.
Price / gram	1.99 € / 180 g
On-line:	www.sancarlo.com

* Thickness measured between top of the wave and bottom of the valley in the biggest chip we found.

Inside a bag of Croccante by San Carlo

Alfredo's salt - Amica chips

Alfredo's is the new gourmet series of the Italian potato chips manufacturer Amica chips (more Amica reviews here).

Medium size Italian potatoes are washed, cut flat and pretty thick. After being baked in sunflower oil a few salt grains are added (1.3%).

The whole process results in hard chunky chips with a loud crunch well balanced by the amount of salt used. 
"Al punto", as the chef Alfredo orders.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.61 mm
Crunchiness:	91 dB
Other features:	Medium size potato slices, thick, hard and brittle.
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Mantua
We got them from	Kempten (Germany)
Price / gram	1.99 € / 150 g
On-line:	www.amicachips.it

Inside a bag of Alfredo's potato chips

Classica - San Carlo

Back in 1936, Francesco Vitaloni opened the "Rosticceria San Carlo" in Milano roasting a bit of everything: from chicken to fish, from beef to vegetables. Soon a specility got well known: their "patatine croccanti" or crunchy chips, The only problem was that only 20 kilos were produced.

Today, San Carlo processes tons of snacks with selected potatoes from known italian farmers, keeping its tradition and simplicity both in the final product as well as in its packaging.

According to the packaging, to bake the Classica San Carlo chips, Sanoil is used: a mixture of unspecified vegetable oils with an alleged reduciton of fat. The flavour of the chips is good, with a slight toast scent in every bite. Despite the small bag, the chips are reasonably big and kept unbroken. For the seasoning, San Carlo Classica uses iodized salt in very correct quantities.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	8 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.94 mm
Crunchiness:	89 dB
Other features:	Big chips, golden yellow colour.
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Lombardy
We got them from	a Bennet supermarket near Bellagio
Price / gram	1 € / 80 g
On-line:	http://www.sancarlo.it

Inside a bag of San Carlo Classica

Patatine Fiammifero - Bennet

Crisps&Critics likes trying new stuff and this review is no exception: the first on stick crisps.

The Bennet Patatine "Fiammifero" (matchstick style) look very sophisticated. The long thin sticks are elegant and subtle. Well toasted, the stick shape excels in aspects such as appearence and feel. Plus a curious dry feeling when chewing them in our mouth.

The crunch is soft, like dampened, probably because the crack length of a stick is shorter than that of a flat cut crisp. Despite the packaging being relatively small, it contains 150 g of pure joy. Either more sticks can be packed in smaller containers or the potatoes have a higher density than usual. Or both.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.6 cm long
and has a thickness of	2.36 mm
Crunchiness:	67 dB
Other features:	Thick sticks, soft crunch.
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Lombardy
We got them from	a Bennet supermarket in Lecco
Price / gram	1.19 € / 150 g
On-line:	http://www.bennet.com

Inside a bag of bennet patatine"fiammifero"

Eldorada La Tradizionale - Amica chips

"Eldorada La Tradizionale" from Italy's Amica chips, is presented in a long narrow packaging. On a matt brown background, an olive drips oil over a cone bursting with mouth-watering chips. Really appealing.

First the Italian potatoes are peeled and cut flat. Then cooked in a mixture of olive oil with another (unspecified) vegetable oil. This strengthens the potato taste with a very soft oil scent. The chips are all uniformly baked, are slightly salted and have an even yellow colour. 

We struggle to introduce our whole forearm in the elongated bag in order to grasp the last chips at the bottom... but what a reward eating them all!

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.8 cm long
and has a thickness of	1,11 mm
Crunchiness:	92 dB
Other features:	Uniform yellow colour, soft oil scent
Origin:
Country, region	Lombardy, Italy
We got them from	a Crisps&Critics fan sent them from Sardignia, (Italy)
Price / gram	1,49 € / 130 g
On-line:	http://www.amicachips.it

Inside a bag of "Eldorada"

Le Contadine Sapore Fatte a Mano - Ica Crik Crok

"Le Contadine" packaging looks very authentic. Crisps&Critics wanted to test these chips because they are allegedly hand-cooked with extravirgine olive oil. 

Soon after tasting the first crisps we realize the labeling indicates something else: these chips are not hand cooked, are just "hand cooked flavour". Are we facing another deceptive marketing technique?

The potato chips in our bag are unfortunately so salty that it is hardly impossible to distinguish any potato flavour, let alone the olive oil aroma. The impression left after eating a bunch of these chips is like when an ocean wave sends you rolling and you swallow sea water. Way too salty.

Other than that, "Le Contadine" chips offers thick flat cut potatoes with partly unpeeled borders and a normal crunch. These chips are probably a good match to bland meals.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.8 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.97 mm
Crunchiness:	92 dB
Other features:	Flat cut, partially unpeeled potatoes, very salty.
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Lazio
We got them from	Bennet supermarket in Lecco.
Price / gram	1.85 € / 130 g
On-line:	http://www.icafoods.it/prodotti/le-contadine-sapore-fatte-a-mano/

Inside a bag of "Le Contadine Sapore Fatte a Mano"

Da Vinci Chips - Pata Patatine

Named after the universal genius Leonardo Da Vinci these potato chips come in a package with his self-portrait. Leonardo Da Vinci was capable of creatively interconnect completely unrelated elements. Allegedly a vegetarian, we wonder if he would have liked to interconnect and taste sliced potatoes of South American origin, baked in Mediterranian olive oil and spiced with salt from Himalaya...

First, Pata Patatine cuts Italian potatoes to later fry them on a mix of olive oil (6%) and sunflower oil (17%). Finally the chips are salted with pink himalayan salt (1%). Himalayan salt is a type of rock salt, halite, from Pakistan. It has a a reddish or pink tone with some crystals having an off-white to transparent colour.

Many chips have bubbles and all of them have a hard crust. In our mouth, the crunch feeling multiplies beyond the measurement. Every small bit crunches again and again: No matter how small the bit is, it keeps its hardness and keeps crunching. The flavour is good, with a very soft olive oil scent.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.4 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.08 mm
Crunchiness:	94 dB
Other features:	Hard crust, pink salt, partially unpeeled potatoes.
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Lombardy
We got them from	Bennet supermarket in Como.
Price / gram	2.45 € / 140 g
On-line:	http://www.pata.it

Inside a bag of "Da Vinci"

La Patatina Originale - Amica Chips

Crisps&Critics first italian review goes to "La Patatina Originale" from Amica Chips.

La Patatina Originale, with its unique flavour, brings us to legendary italian landscapes. The chips are relatively small, with a thin and flat cut. Peeled, they are fried in sunflower seed oil (33%) and very correctly salted. Despite the final light yellow colour, the aroma is of a well baked chip. A perfect match for an "apperitivo" drink, feeling the ambience of a local bar in Italy.

Maybe you are also curious about an Amica Chips TV commercial we were made aware of: Rocco Siffredi joking about the double meaning of the italian word for "chips".

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.08 mm
Crunchiness:	93 dB
Other features:	Light yellow colour
Origin:
Country, region	Italy, Lombardy
We got them from	two Crisps&Critics readers at Lago di Garda (Northen Italy)
Price / gram	0.40 € / 50g
On-line:	www.amicachips.it

Inside a bag of "La Patatina Originale"