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

Patatas Fritas Artesanas Papá Daniel - La Santamaría

Made with Spanish potatoes, these crisps are fried with sunflower oil on a pan. This frying method is probably the reason for such a crisps’ varieties of tonalities and shapes. Each chip is unique and all taste authentic. The brown paper bag gives a rustical impression to the product. Inside the paper bag we find two transparent plastic bags of 150g each. Once the bag is open the flavour transports us to a typical Spanish frying stall (“churrería”). Perfectly oiled and salted, these potatoes are a successful pick for any occasion.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	9.2 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.27 mm
Crunchiness:	103 dB
Other features:	Flat cut. Yellow colour with a huge gradient: from brown to pale yellow. Very diverse shapes and curls.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Pinto (Madrid)
We got them from	Käfer shop at Schrannenhalle, Munich (Germany)
Price / gram	3,40 € / 300 g (2x150g)
On-line:	http://www.productoslasantamaria.es/productos

Inside a bag of Papá Daniel chips

Tirtikli Cipso - Doğuş

Doğuş produces undulated salted potato chips, in Turkish: Tirtikli Sade Patates Cipsi.

Gold potatoes harvested in Turkish fertile lands are peeled, washed and crinkle cut before being baked in abundant palm oil. After being cooked, the chips have a straw yellow colour. Once in the mouth the chips offer very little resistance, the crunch being subtle and soft. Each chip feels very juicy and proportionally salted.

Very correct middle-east chips to taste with Anatolian cuisine, experiencing first-hand hospitality while sailing along its turquoise Mediterranean waters.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.2 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.81* mm
Crunchiness:	84 dB
Other features:	Wavy cut, juicy. free of any pork or its additives.
Origin:
Country, region	Turkey
We got them from	a shop near the Fethiye marina.
Price / gram	2.99 ₺ (Turkish lira) / 115 g
On-line:	www.cipso.com.tr

* Due to the wavy cut, with very small and close undulations, the thickness has been measured between the top peak and the bottom of the valley.

Inside a bag of Tirtikli Cipso, Dogus.

Potatischips saltade - Ikea

Who would have said that a Scandinavian furniture manufacturer can also sell such good snacks? The food market in every Ikea store is really worth a visit. For this review we bought Potatischips saltade, Ikea's salty potato chips.

These Ikea potatoes are small and medium sized, some brown skin edge left, cut flat and well baked in unspecified vegetable oil. The chips are thick, hard, with different toasting levels and colours. Once in our mouth the taste is quite good, abundantly salted and with a slight rancid flavour that does not take away the pleasure of crunching the chips one after the other. Fully recommendable as a reward after successfully mounting some of their furniture...

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.2 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.42 mm
Crunchiness:	94 dB
Other features:	Brown skin edges, well toasted
Origin:
Country, region	Sweden
We got them from	an Ikea store in Germany
Price / gram	1.30 € / 150 g
On-line:	www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20129672/

Inside a bag of Potatischips Saltade, Ikea

Kartoffel-Sticks Salz - Sun Snacks

The straight potato sticks on Sun Snacks' blue packaging remind us sunshine rays on a blue sky. 

The sticks are thicker than other sticks reviewed at Crisps&Critics. Their colour is straw yellow with some slightly brownish corners. Well salted, the straight sticks crunch deep and short. 

Despite the bag having relatively small dimensions, it's well filled and holds 125g of product.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.8 cm long
and has a thickness of	3.71 mm
Crunchiness:	74 dB
Other features:	Sticks, deep loud crunch.
Origin:
Country, region	Germany
We got them from	an Aldi supermarket
Price / gram	1 € / 125 g
On-line:	www.aldi.com

Inside a bag of Kartoffel-Sticks Salz, Sun Snacks

ギザギザポテト - Organic farm

ギザギザ "gizagiza" potatoes are produced by Miura Seika Kabushikigaisha under the trade mark Organic Farm.

"Gizagiza" means "zigzag" in Japanese. Another synonim to add in our list of wavy, undulated, ruffled or crinckle-cut chips.

The potatoes are of the "Bareisho" type and come from certified bio JAS gardens. Once peeled the potatoes are zigzag cut. The chips are then baked in an unspecified vegetable oil and finally salted. The packaging does not mention the (bio) origin of the other ingredients besides the potatoes.

The final product are pale yellow chips of average size and gentle crunch that once in the mouth taste soft and feel juicy.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.59 mm *
Crunchiness:	89 dB
Other features:	Wavy cut, bio potatoes.
Origin:
Country, region	Japan, Shizuoka
We got them from	a Natural House shop in Omotesando-Tokyo Japan.
Price / gram	199 ¥ / 60 g
On-line:	http://www.naturalhouse.jp

* Due to the wavy cut, with very small and close undulations, the thickness has been measured between the top peak and the bottom of the valley.

Inside a bag of gizagiza potato chips

Salted chips - Hema

Crisps&Critics is back with a review from the Netherlands... a review that would fall within the "cheap chips" category. The Hema Salted chips bag just cost 0.50 EUR but its taste is way above any expectation. 

Without completely removing all the skin, the sliced potatoes are baked in 100% sunflower oil, resulting in a pale yellow bubbly surface. Many chips have an elongated shape. And all of them crunch and taste really natural. 

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.6 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.05 mm
Crunchiness:	97 dB
Other features:	elongated flat cut, bubbly chips
Origin:
Country, region	The Netherlands
We got them from	a HEMA store in Madrid
Price / gram	0.50 € / 125g
On-line:	http://www.hema.nl

Inside a Hema Salted chips bag

Papas fritas onduladas - Docian

These wavy old-style potato chips come from the Canaries, an archipelago in the southernmost region of Spain, closer to Africa than to continental Europe. 

Back in the XV century, the Canary Islands became a stopping platform for European conquerors and traders on their way to the New World. The privileged location of the Canaries brought prosperity to some social sectors of the islands and was the introductory point of potatoes in Europe.  The Canarians are probably then the European citizens with more experience handling with potatoes... but how does all this translate into chips?

The Docian ondulated chips are big, peeled and baked in sunflower oil, resulting in a very structured taste, with a first precise crunch and a soft oil scent at the end. Although not specified, it would make sense that these chips, originating from an island, are seasoned with marine salt.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	9.4 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.65* mm
Crunchiness:	92 dB
Other features:	Wavy cut, peeled, lemony colour.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Canary Islands
We got them from	a HiperDino supermarket in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Price / gram	1.02 € / 165 g
On-line:	http://www.emicela.es/

* Due to the wavy cut, with very small and close ondulations, the thickness has been measured between the top wave peak and the lowest part of the wave valley.

Inside a bag of Papas fritas onduladas Docian

Hand Cooked Chips - Hatherwood

Hatherwood's Hand Cooked chips are, according to the packaging, extra thick. Really? We have already blogged thicker chips, see for example "3 Dutch farmers" or "Nature Spar Premium Chips".

Anyway, thicker does not necessarily mean better. Despite the chips being thinner than expected, they taste much better than expected.

Hatherwood's chips are traditionally processed in Great Britain. The chips are sliced flat and cooked in small quantities in sunflower oil (26%). Later they are slightly and conciously salted. All this results in a very good taste and a lively crunch, like the brittle sound of a thin cracker. Plus a delicate sweet potato aroma, comparable to beet or carrot chips.

All in all, a very balanced choice. We wonder who is the producer behind this Lidl's registered brand... We want to try more of these!

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.3 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.22 mm
Crunchiness:	93 dB
Other features:	Flat cut, golden yellow
Origin:
Country, region	UK
We got them from	a Lidl supermarket in Munich
Price / gram	1.99 € / 150 g
On-line:	www.lidl.com

Inside a bag of Hatherwood's hand cooked chips.

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"

国産原料にこだわったポテトチップス - Fukagawa Yushi Kabushikigaisha

From the far east, another way of labeling products reaches Crisps&Critics. At the bag front we don't find any brand name, any striking logo nor a motto easily fittable in a typical jingle add. Just a rising sun behind a rice field and a bear presenting this text:  "Potato chips with selected products of national origin". 

The potatoes come from Hokkaido (north of Japan) and are of the Danshaku type. Prepared with care during hours, the chips are cut in wavy slices and go through a very well thought production process so that the taste and texture are optimized. Rice bran oil baking provides the chips with a mild and pleasant flavor. Rice bran oil is extracted from the hard outer brown layer of rice after chaff (rice husk). The baked flavor is well accompanied by a precisely measured quantity of sea salt from the Saroma lake, a sea water lagoon fed from the Ohotsuku sea, between Hokkaido and Sakhalin.

Altogether, it does not surprise Crisps&Critics that these chips are very tasty. At first sight simple food, one feels that it has been carefully prepared with natural products cultivated over the years and specifically chosen and combined to match and please every subtle palate.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.9 cm long
and has a thickness of	N/A *
Crunchiness:	83 dB
Other features:	Wavy cut, rice oil.
Origin:
Country, region	Japan, Hokkaido
We got them from	a YoursLIVI supermarket in Hiroshima, Japan.
Price / gram	151 ¥ / 60 g
On-line:	http://kumachan.co.jp/shop

* Due to the wavy cut, with very small and close ondulations, the thickness has not been measured.

Inside a bag of Kumachan potato chips