Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips (lip-smacking)
Comments:
What do we have here? Oooh, fancy chips! Popchips have decided to try and elevate their typical popped chips, and give them an upscale makeover! Luckily for all of us, Popchips deliver on an entirely new taste experience!
Probably the most recognizably unique aspect of these chips are not their black truffle oil and parmesan flavor, but the risotto chips themselves. For any of you out there who happen to be (unluckily) unfamiliar with the amazing, classic Italian rice dish known as RISOTTO, you should immediately stop what you are doing, do a quick Google search for “the best risotto in insert your neighborhood here“, throw on your hat and coat, and drive there immediately. Thank yous can be sent to the attention of Dustin at Chip Review!
Risotto is the rice dish equivalent of the most comforting, rustically, homemade pasta dish you can imagine. Popchips risotto chips encompass a lot of those same delicious attributes. They have a light, smooth, and delicate crunch. They are definitely “softer” than Popchips traditional popped potato chips. Their texture becomes almost creamy as your mouth breaks down the chips. Amazingly enough, the chips are actually made using the classic risotto rice called Aborio. Who knew that this was even possible?!?
The bright white risotto chips are heavily coated with a scattering of green specs, and a liberal dosage of white parmesan cheese dust. We tasted garlic and onion in the background. The chips encompassed many of those same flavor layers that you get from risotto. But most noticeably was the unmistakable scent and flavor of the black truffle oil. A uniquely funky, earthy and fragrant ingredient that is considered one of the world’s most opulent foods! Once again, luckily for all of us, it appears as though Popchips have gone the extra mile and opted for the more authentic, and natural, (and for this reason we must assume expensive) route, and used an olive oil that has actually been infused with real black truffles. This would be as opposed to the far more commonly (over)used truffle flavored oil.
“For some reason, back in the ’90s, truffle oil became an acceptable—even desirable—ingredient for chefs to use. Coming in at a fraction of the cost of real truffles (which vary year to year, but generally run in the thousands-of-dollars-per-ounce range), it seemed like an easy way to add some truffle aroma to an otherwise boring dish. Problem is, truffle oil isn’t even made from truffles. It’s made from an organic compound called 2,4-Dithiapentane—derived either naturally or from a petroleum base—mixed together with olive oil.” Serious Eats
BRAVO Popchips! Well done! The fragrant black truffle oil and the rich and salty parmesan cheese create a flavor storm in our mouths. The chips are complex, yet simple. Homey, yet sophisticated. This was a HUGE CostCo size bag, and we devoured the entire thing in no time flat! The more we ate, the better they tasted! We would consider these definitely some of Popchips finest!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at CostCo; Oak Brook, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 