Chips à l'ancienne - Bouton d'Or

Crisps&Critics reviews French chips today. 

The "Chips à l'ancienne" from Bouton d'Or are potato chips of an average size. Peeled and cut in very thin slices, they undergo frying in sunflower oil (37%). Many chips have bubbles and a pale golden tone.

The flat and thin cut makes these chips feel fragile and light. To better appreciate its aroma and to compensate for the thinness, eat a handful of chips in one go: It's then when the chips provide a captivating crunch that feels louder than measured.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.5 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.97 mm
Crunchiness:	94 dB
Other features:	Light gold yellow colour, curled and folded over crisps
Origin:
Country, region	France, Auvergne
We got them from	a Crisps&Critics reader from Strasbourg (France) bought them at Les Mousquetaires
Price / gram	0.58 € / 150 g
On-line:	http://www.brets.fr/nos_valeurs/altho/ or http://drive.intermarche.com

Inside a bag of Chips à l'ancienne, Bouton d'Or

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"

Patates Fregides Cruixents Artesanes - Casa Ametller

The Ametller family cultivates vegetables since the mid XIX century. In 2001 and seven generations later, the business model changes: two Ametller brothers decide to start commercializing their products directly, without intermediaries. Nowadays, their products are sold in their own brand shops and are a sign of fresh, close and quality product.

The potatoes in this review come from Casa Ametller’s own fields and are traditionally fried with high oleic sunflower oil. In principle such oil keeps the food stable, preserves the flavour, is low in saturated fat and has no transfat. The proportions between crunchiness and thickness of its potato chips is excellent, together with the amount of salt. Once in the mouth, the potato breaks into pieces that feel light and taste good.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6 cm long
and has a thickness of	1,10 mm
Crunchiness:	105 dB
Other features:	Different shapes, sizes and colours: brown, orange, yellow.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Catalonia
We got them from	a Crisps&Critics reader bought them at a “Casa Ametller” shop in Barcelona
Price / gram	1,45 € / 170 g
On-line:	http://www.casaametller.net

Inside a bag of "Patates Fregides Casa Ametller"

Naturals Classic - Lorenz Snackworld

Thinly sliced potato crisps is what we find inside the bag of Naturals Classic from Lorenz Snackworld, a snacks company that originated in Hannover and introduced the first pretzel sticks in Germany back in 1935.

Unpeeled, the thin potato slices go on a sunflower oil baking process to be afterwards double-salted: with regular salt and with sea salt. It's hard to say if salting with these two different types of salt makes a real difference to the palate.

The baked chips are medium sized, pale yellow colour and have a granular surface. At Crisps&Critics we find the thinness and granulous chips combination very interesting. Once in our mouth, the chips have an agreeable crunch and taste good.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.5 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.97 mm
Crunchiness:	99 dB
Other features:	Unpeeled, thinly sliced, pale yellow.
Origin:
Country, region	Germany
We got them from	an Austrian petrol station.
Price / gram	1.69 € / 110 g
On-line:	http://www.lorenz-snackworld.de/en/content/naturals

Inside a Naturals Classic Lorenz bag

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"

Patatas Fritas Onduladas corte rústico - Carrefour

Huge and unbroken ruffled potatoes is what Crisps&Critics has found in this bag of "Onduladas corte rústico" (wavy rustic cut) from Carrefour supermarket's own brand.

Fried in sunflower oil (36%) and with a touch of salt (1%) all the chips look and taste very similar, whatever its size. Not at all boring though. It's flavour brings our memories back to a typical Spanish bistro.

Despite being very thin (just 0,84mm) these potato chips score high in its crunchiness, probably due to the wide wavy cut.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	10 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.84 mm
Crunchiness:	103 dB
Other features:	Wavy cut
Origin:
Country, region	Spain
We got them from	Carrefour supermarket
Price / gram	1.48 € / 160 g
On-line:	http://www.carrefouronline.carrefour.es

Inside a a bag of "Patatas fritas onduladas corte rústico"

3 Dutch Farmers Crisps - Hoekschechips

Have you ever seen crisps tulips? Have a look at the plastic bag on today's post. A simple and excellent eyewink to these potato crisps' origin: The Netherlands. We like the creativity and original packaging design, and not only for the tulips, keep on reading: 

Gerrik, Henk and René, the 3 Dutch farmers, started growing and cooking their own potatoes in 2004 from a Dutch national landscape named "The Hoeksche Waard", The Netherlands. And despite their relatively short experience, they are doing really well.

Selling for the international traveller under the name "3 Dutch farmers", local stores in Holland offer them as "Hoeksche Chips".

The transparent foil bag let's us see what we are buying. No catches, no tricks.  A good sunflower oil aroma is felt when opening the bag.

Crisps&Critics tasted these delicious crisps, personally hand-baked by Astrid (see her name printed on the package). Once washed and cut, the potatoes are cooked in pure sunflower oil with its own skin what probably gives a slight, yet pleasant, bitter taste.

An unanimous opinion at Crisps&Critics on the quantity of salt: a tiny pinch of sea salt that empowers an authentic potato flavour.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	8.5 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.50 mm
Crunchiness:	101 dB
Other features:	Nice packaging
Origin:
Country, region	The Netherlands, Zuid-Holland
We got them from	a Crisps&Critics reader in transit at Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam)
Price / gram	? € / 75 g
On-line:	http://www.3dutchfarmers.nl/

Inside a 3 Dutch Farmers Crisps bag

Nature chips - Spar Premium

These Nature chips of Spar Premium can be considered to be family relatives with the already reviewed Nature&Blue chips.  

As it happened with the "coloured" review, when we opened the bag, we smelt nothing. And this has an unadverted effect on the flavour. 

Flavour is not the same as taste. Flavour is understood as a combination of at least the following senses: taste, smell, touch... And if the smell is missing, the flavour feels weird. Is the lack of smell the price to pay for a low-fat product? 

These swiss potatoes have been baked underpressure, allowing frying at a lower temperature. The result: yellow pale colour potatoes with a hard crust. When chewing them we feel a good crunch and then have a dry sensation which some relate to a "healthy-food" feeling.  The slices are cut super thick, probably the thickest potato chips we have tasted so far.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.5 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.84 mm
Crunchiness:	101 dB
Other features:	Flat thick cut, pale yellow
Origin:
Country, region	Switzerland
We got them from	a Spar supermarket in Salzburg, Austria.
Price / gram	1.69 €/ 100 g
On-line	www.spar.at

Inside a Nature chips bag

Handcooked sea salt - HEMA

Strolling around Madrid last week we spotted a recently opened HEMA store, actually the first in Spain. HEMA (originally an acronym for Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam, "Dutch Standard Prices Company Amsterdam") is a Dutch discount retail chain that started life as a dimestore. And guess what Crisps&Critics found in there: Dutch chips!! 

These chips are sliced thick and unpeeled. Then, fried in sunflower oil, in small amounts and a bit longer than usual. This results in a hard crust with a strong, dry crunch. Its flavour is good and are, despite the packaging reading "a pinch" of salt, generously salted (1.1% of sea salt). 

Definitely a perfect match for any "herring and bitterballen" Dutch party. 

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.5 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.53 mm
Crunchiness:	103 dB
Other features:	unpeeled, salty
Origin:
Country, region	The Netherlands, Amsterdam
We got them from	a HEMA store in Madrid (Spain)
Price / gram	1.25 € / 125 g
On-line:	http://www.hema.nl/

Inside a bag of handcooked sea salt - Hema