Crisps Galore

I'm not usually a huge crisp eater - very probably from the huge amount of guilt I pile on myself whenever I go near a packet - but I couldn't resist trying the new flavours that Walkers had just launched. Yes, I know... it's all part of a huge marketing ploy but damn it's tasty :)

The 6 new flavours was supposedly dreamt up by the ordinary citizen(you and me ... this marketing thing is off to a good start - Walkers didn't have to think up any new flavours themselves), shortlisted by industry experts including Heston Blumenthal (throw in a few famous names ... very clever..) and voted for by the consuming masses (after, of course, they had bought all 6 flavours to try). The prize? All 6 finalists received £10,000 but the eventual winner (the flavour that received the most votes via the Walkers website by 1 May 2009) will have their crisp flavour made permanent, receive £50,000 and 1% of all profits, estimated at £57,000 a year. No bad, not bad at all. But how did the flavours fare?

The first packet was brought home by Stuart who thought I might be interested in trying some Crispy Duck and Hoisin - maybe it's the Chinese thing going on there :) and maybe it's the fact I rarely buy/eat crisps. I was nicely surprised - smell wise, the hoisin sauce dominated. How would they have captured the whiff of crispy duck? Fried the spuds in duck fat maybe .... ohhh....now that I would love to try :) First taste, definitely hoisin sauce but a subtle flavour of roast duck comes through. Very nice indeed. Vote one to Crispy Duck and Hoisin.

Off to a good start I made sure Stuart and I got our hands on the other flavours in the next few days. But which flavour should be next? Cajun Squirrel won hands down. Seriously, what in the heck is squirrel supposed to taste like?? Nothing much apparently. The Cajun spices were nice but not brilliant. If I had to vote, I would yo-yo on this one.

Chili and Chocolate - how out of the world is that on a crisp? And weird it definitely was. With time to ponder over this, I definitely don't like it. It had none of the depth and warmth that exudes when chili and chocolate are combined; the Mexicans have a great thing going on there. The chili was minimal, practically non-existent, and the chocolate made it overly "aromatic". Great idea.... crap on crisps. Definitely no vote.

With a few days respite, it was back to crisp tasting and it was time for a Builder's Breakfast. Lovely smells of smokey bacon and fried eggs with a hint of baked beans greeted us as the packet was opened. A good start indeed but that's all you're going to get. Then again, isn't that enough? It's not a bad flavour ... not the best but not the worst either. Vote? Probably not.

Hmmmmm Fish and Chips....... how could they possibly get this? All they really needed to do was to capture the taste of oil, right? Wrong. The subtle flavour of battered fried fish and vinegar........ohhh this was getting good! I love crisps with a tang. My favourite Walker's crisps is after all Prawn Cocktail, followed closely by Tomato Ketchup. Good stuff this.

The lone packet of Onion Bhaji remained. I had read good reviews on this flavour and had decided to leave it to the last. And those reviewers weren't wrong. This was good. The best of the lot in fact. The spicing was good and the subtle flavour of onion came through nicely. Vote? Oh yes! This is the one to keep on the shelves.

It's been a good crisp-y few days. Now back to the vegetable soups and salad. Oh yes, and I did write this review, I didn't have to... no money exchanged hands, I have not been conned or am I being being threatened in any way. Oh those marketing people are good!