Hello cripsisseurs. After a brief jaunt to France I am bringing you a rare foreign report. France is not known for its crisps. Yes the cousin of the potato crisp, the French fry, bears the nations name but I have been reliably informed that the Belgians invented these thin chips and the French stole it. Or perhaps they were rebranded because “Belgian Fries” sounds weird and boring. So how would this nation of gourmands fair when it comes to a snack of the salted variety?
I was gagging for a bag of msg laden goodness after excessive consumption of salad the previous night. I stumbled upon a “Monoprix” supermarket and grabbed a packet of their own-brand “Crackets”. I didn’t know what flavour or type of crisp they were at the time but, Google Translate has since informed me that they are peanut flavour and that they are crispy. Two things I worked out pretty fast. Underneath it bizarrely says they are “for the evening light with pirouettes” (or maybe Google Translate failed me on that occasion). I ate them walking down the street in the late morning.
Crackets have a slightly sticky and crunchy texture. Definitely not organic, hand-crafted fair here. The flavour was unknown to me and the closest thing I can compare it to, is peanut butter. After an initial cautious first few, I found myself loving these odd shaped delights. So much so, I am not ashamed to say, that I consumed all 90 grammes and didn’t share one with the homeless looking hippy who asked for a handful. These are definitely a case of strange but strangely addictive.
Rory.
Ha ha, the peanut-flavored cheeto-shaped snacks are one of the first things I noticed when I moved to France, but I've always kind of wished they were as sweet as Peanut Butter. I actually wrote a review early on of a Monoprix peanut snack which I suspect is the same thing with a different name:
ReplyDeletehttp://chipsterdiaries.blogspot.com/2011/03/monoprix-souffles-croustillants.html
It is true that the French have a fairly weak Potato Chip scene, but there are some stand out products, notably anything involving Goat Cheese or Herbal Chicken flavoring. Also, anything made by the Vico or Brett's brand; check them out next time you hop over the channel! (I have dozens of French chip reviews on my site in case you want a general survey...) Keep up the reviews, it's always great to learn about the infinitely more exotic options available across the border!