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

Hand cooked crisps - Salty Dog

Dave Willis was a crisps delivery van driver with a dog as a copilot. One day he thought that he could do better crisps than the ones he was delivering and decided to found Salty Dog.

Pedigree potatoes are carefully selected, cut flat leaving their jacket on and then hand-cooked in sunflower oil. The whole process results in thick consistent potato chips, neither greasy nor dry, very reasonably salt seasoned and leaving an authentic potato taste.

When opening the matt metal chips bag we felt a nature scent with tinges of fresh wood. As if you were entering a recently built wooden hut lost in snowy mountains... Definitely one of the tastiest crisps you could shake a tail at.

And Salty Dog has a webpage with plenty of man's best friend jargon.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.1 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.62 mm
Crunchiness:	92 dB
Other features:	Thick, unpeeled chips.
Origin:
Country, region	England, Chesham
We got them from	a blog follower sent them to us.
Price / gram	3.00 € / 150 g
On-line:	saltydog-grrr.com

Inside a bag of Salty Dog "sea salt"

Kartoffel chips Salz - Star Marke

Today we taste ruffled potato chips from "Star Marke", an own brand of the German supermarket chain Tengelmann.

The potatoes for this product are quite small, perfectly peeled and then cut in a wavy profile before being fried in abundant sunflower oil (34%). Some chips look like being literally soaked in oil. However, the crunch is good. The potato chips feel hard and brittle in our mouth but in our opinion they are oversalted.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	5.2 cm long
and has a thickness of	2.19 mm*
Crunchiness:	86 dB
Other features:	Wavy cut, abundant oil and salt.
Origin:
Country, region	Germany
We got them from	a Tengelmann supermarket in Munich.
Price / gram	1.59 € / 150 g
On-line:	http://www.starmarke.de/produkt-detail.php

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

Inside a bag of Tengelmann's Star Marke

Marinas Sal de Formentera - Vicente Vidal

The chips, from the potato type Agria, are of average size and cut flat. Then, they are fried in abundant olive oil (38%) and very correctly salted (0.8%). 

When opening the bag we felt a slight rancid smell that immediately disappeared leaving a deep authentic flavour and aroma. 

The chips have many bents, like the hilly roads to Cadaqués where we tested these chips. Loud crunches prevent us listening the swaying sound of waves at the Roses gulf, by the Mediterranean sea. 

The salt used is extracted in a traditional way from the natural parc Ses Salines in Formentera. It is hard to know if the salt origin makes some difference to the final product but we dare to guess a nuance in the right direction, be it the precise salt quantity and/or quality.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.0 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.08 mm
Crunchiness:	92 dB
Other features:	Good crunch and taste.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Navarra
We got them from	a seaside beach bar in Roses, Costa Brava.
Price / gram	1.59 € / 150 g
On-line:	www.patatasmarinas.com

Inside a bag of Marinas Sal de Formentera by Vicente Vidal

Creïlles fregides amb oli d'oliva - Consum

Big and very well peeled potatoes with many bubbles. Cooked in a mixture of pure olive oil and olive-pomace oil that amounts to a 32% olive oil. Olive pomace oil is olive oil extracted from olive pulp after the first press with the help of solvents. 

Product with character collecting the essentials of nature and providing a unique spirit to the art of chips cooking.

Creïlles is the name given by the Valencians to the potatoes. Some say the word comes from the Spanish term "criadilla" because the potato plant was a fast growing plant. Some others consider the word origine being "creole", Europanamerican descendants. If any of our readers has a better clue, please share!

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	8.2 cm long
and has a thickness of	mm
Crunchiness:	92 dB
Other features:	Many bubbles, a bit salty.
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Valencia
We got them from	a Consum supermarket
Price / gram	1.15 € / 130 g
On-line:	www.consum.es

Inside a bag of Consum's creïlles fregides

Swiss Bio-Chips Nature - Bina Food

Today we test another Swiss potato chips producer: Bina Food from Bischofszell, a city between Saint Gallen, Constance and its lake. On the bottom right side of the package there's a mountain unknown to us. Can you help us recognise the mountain summit on this package?

The potatoes, as well as the sunflower oil used in this product, come from certified organic production fields. The average sized chips are cut pretty thin, have an intense yellow colour and feel a bit dry. The amount of sea salt used is very precise. 

Not the best Swiss potato chips we have tested so far, but will do the job after a refreshing bath in the Constance lake. 

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	7.9 cm long
and has a thickness of	0.92 mm
Crunchiness:	88 dB
Other features:	Intense yellow, thin.
Origin:
Country, region	Switzerland, Thurgau canton
We got them from	an organic supermarket named "basic"
Price / gram	2.59 € / 160 g
On-line:	http://www.bina.ch

Inside a bag of Swiss Bio-Chips Bina

Premium - Frit Ravich

The first time we reviewed the Frit Ravich Premium potato chips was in 2014. At that time the chips were cooked with a mixture of vegetable oils: 30% olive oil, 70% sunflower oil. 

In 2016, Frit Ravich keeps on labelling these chips as Premium but using only sunflower oil. In our opinion, the use of high quality olive oil provides a soft but authentic scent to the chips. We miss that scent in the 2016 edition of the Frit Ravich Premium.

The chips have a lively yellow colour and are partly peeled. The measured crunch is reasonable for the chips' size and thickness. The flavour is good but in our opinion many other potato chips without flashy premium labelling deserve that labelling more.

Features:
The biggest potato crisps is	6.4 cm long
and has a thickness of	1.04 mm
Crunchiness:	88 dB
Other features:	Lively yellow colour
Origin:
Country, region	Spain, Catalonia
We got them from	a blogger from Barcelona bought them for us ;-)
Price / gram	1,60 € / 170 g
On-line	http://www.fritravichgroup.com

Inside a bag of Frit Ravich Premium