Chili / Chile / Hot Pepper

REVIEW: Food Should Taste Good – Ancho Chile Kettle Cooked Sweet Potato Chips

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Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

Food Should Taste Good - Ancho Chile Sweet Potato Chips

Comments:

What do you call a pepper that is not yours?  “An-cho Chile” (yes, you’re right, we won’t be quitting our day jobs).

As far as we know, Food Should Taste Good is the only brand that continues to use kettle cooked sweet potatoes as their vehicle of choice for trying out new flavors (maybe Terra could be comparable, except that they tend to stay more traditional with the sweet potato chips).  We can really appreciate Food Should Taste Good’s unique approach to chips, but we’re going to be completely honest, and tell you right now that we believe that sweet potatoes are definitely not as clean and perfect of chip canvas as other more traditional potatoes, nor corn tortillas.  That being said, sweet potatoes can and do work very well with certain seasoning flavors.

With these Ancho Chile flavored sweet potato chips, similar to their Barbeque flavored ones, Food Should Taste good has given us another flavor that both jives with the natural sweetness of these chips, but at the same time is also barring on being too overly sweet.  The flavors tread the sweetness line a little too closely for us to fully embrace them.  Unlike their two other sweet potato chip flavors – Salt & Pepper and Salt & Vinegar – which each juxtaposed, and countered the potatoes natural sweetness, and balanced the overall flavor profiles very well!

Ancho chile flavored chips are a new one to us.  In fact, we are pretty sure that these are the first ancho chile flavored chips that we can ever remember seeing.  Apparently, an ancho chile is……drum roll please………a smoked poblano?  That’s right, similar to the chipotle chile, which is a dried smokey jalapeno, an ancho chile in the dark red, dried version of the mild green chile pepper.  The ancho chile seasoning is very smokey, with a very mild heat and a heavy does of salt.  We’re not quite certain as to what really gives off the additional sweetness to these chips, but there is something there we know it.

In the end, these chips really just remind us of Food Should Taste Good’s barbeque version, just very, very, very smokey!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Pringles – Sriracha Asian Chili Sauce

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Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

Pringles - Sriracha Asian Chili Sauce

Comments:

Pringles just seems to be on a roll as of late.  We can’t review them fast enough, and we can’t seem to praise them high enough either!!

It’s always fun looking back on our many ratings and reviews of Pringles from over the years.  It is more than apparent that we have enjoyed a roller coaster of reactions along the way.  While we have praised Pringles and their ability to continually produce new, and sometimes unique, flavors.  We have wasted more than our fair share of time, and mouth space, on plenty of regurgitated flavors!  Luckily for us, with their latest flavor, Pringles continues their lip-smacking streak, and joins the (apparently) trendy Sriracha Asian Chili Sauce party that began with last year’s Lay’s ‘Do Us a Flavor’ finalist.

Raise of hands, how many of you out there knew that Sriracha was pronounced nothing like it is spelled? Apparently, Sriracha is NOT pronounced like it is spelled.  SI-racha, not SREE-racha.  According to Wikipedia, “It is named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Prvince of Eastern Thailand.”  Which is of course all fine and dandy, but why the additional ‘R”??  It makes no sense!  We like pronouncing Sriracha correctly, about as much as we like the pronunciation of a certain retired Green Bay Packer QB!!  Sorry Brett Favre, it is FAV-RE, not FARVE!!

We are huge fans of Huy Fong’s Sriracha Chili Sauce.  That unmistakable green capped, rooster gracing, electric red hot sauce filled, clear bottle always brings a smile to our faces.  While it may not necessarily be our absolute favorite hot sauce, it is definitely up there in the top three, and we probably would consider it the most versatile of any of them.  We use it with everything.  We use it in soups, on grilled meats, in sauces, on eggs of any type, and even on peanut butter toast (thank you Bon Appetit! – And, don’t you knock it until you try it!!).  All that being said, we are very happy to report that Pringles has absolutely nailed the flavor – spot on!

Zippy and spicy, tongue tingling, Thai chili flavor, combined with a very generous dosage of powerful garlic, and rounded out with a heavy splash of nose burning vinegar!  These are tasty, tasty potato crisps.  The heat definitely does not last as long as the real hot sauce, but for a few moments, they do pack a punch.

Plain and simple, these are the best Sriracha flavored chips / crisps that we have tried so far.  Granted we haven’t tried them all yet, there is still one illusive brand out there that hasn’t seemed to hit our local Chicago area shelves quite yet.  But for the time being, we can say with utmost certainty that these are the best that we have tasted!  Keep up the fine work Pringles!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Discovered exclusively at Walmart; Darien, Illinois

Pringles Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Bret’s – Chevre Goat Cheese & Espelette Pepper Potato Chips

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Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

Bret's - Goat Cheese & Espellete Pepper

Comments:

Holy goat cheese chip man!!!!  First off, lets just say that we have never heard of goat cheese being used to flavor chips before.  Anyone?  Is this common in France (where these chips are from). Secondly, when we saw that goat cheese was being used, we never thought that the chips would taste so much like goat cheese – but they do, they really, really do!

Cheese is probably the most common, and most popular, chip flavoring in the United States.  We love our nacho cheese tortilla chips, and our cheese doodles, and puffs.  Of course, we have had, and reviewed, many cheese flavored chips over the years; including (but not limited to): asiago, mozzarella, bleu, pepper jack, parmesan, and of course cheddar, but never, ever, have we had the pleasure of trying goat cheese on chips – until now!

For any of you out there unfamiliar with the goat cheese we would describe it as a slightly sour, or tart flavored cheese.  The cheese exudes a distinct, natural, gamey note that immediately lets you know that you are not tasting your normal salty cheddar cheese.

Combined with the goat cheese, Bret’s has decided to match the Espelette pepper to help counterbalance the richness.  What exactly is an Espelette pepper?  Don’t ask us.  Could it be a pepper that we know as a different name?  Or, is it just a pepper we are not familiar with around these parts??

According to Wikipedia, “the Espelette pepper is a variety of chili pepper that is cultivated in the French Commune of Espelette” (Wikipedia).  Well, that’s a simple enough definition.  The pepper can be seen visually, sprinkled all over these chips.  It looks as though the chips have been dusted with red chili flakes. At first you don’t think that you taste much of the pepper, but once your palette adjusts to the funk that is the goat cheese, then your throat reminds you that YES these chips do also have a touch of some heat!  For reference, on average, the Espelette pepper would be considered approx. half as hot as a jalapeno.

The cheese and pepper flavor combination works really well, with the funky goat cheese playing off of the Espelette pepper spice very nicely.  Our only complaint would be that the chips do get a bit heavy after a few handfuls.  We would definitely classify them a sit-back-and-enjoy-slowly-in-moderation type of chip, rather than a see-how-many-you-can-cram-down-your-chip-hole, kind of chip.  If only they had a tiny bit of acid, or something, cutting the richness level, then we could devour them!

Bret’s potato chips are very narrow rippled, about medium thin thickness, nice grease level, and overall, lightly salted.  We love that Bret’s is pushing the chip flavor boundaries, and we can’t wait to taste the two other flavors we currently have – Indian Curry, and Carbonara!!!

These are our thoughts, agree or disagree, make sure to let us know!

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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