Elma Chips Brazil Cheetos Assado Lua Parmesao

Cheetos are the best. They are just THEEEE best.

But, for some reason, people in other countries just DO NOT understand the magic of Cheetos. They be changing em and making em all weird.

So, in Brazil, the Cheetos line comes in different shapes but they are all puffs... there are no crunchy Cheetos. They shapes are "Lua" which look like traditional Puffs, "Bola" which look like Cheese Balls, "Fogo" which look like Paws, "Explosao" which look like Triangles, and "Onda" which are a squigly shape (and maybe more). The Assado subtitle translates to Roasted, but I'm guessing in Portuguese that also means to Bake because of the Latin root in the word... and this picture from their facebook...
In America, Puffs are Oven-Dried, not Fried... so that might also be what this means. How are Cheese Puffs made?? Whatever the answer, that is why this label says "Assado". I don't know what other subtitles they have, if it says "Pipoca" that is Cheetos Popcorn.

Ok, so moving on from that lil mini wiki. These are in a "Parmesan Cheese" flavor. The Cheddar flavor tragically doesn't exist there.
So, the review... the Puff was fine. It's a corn puff, you can't really mess it up. The seasoning is crazy. It tastes so much like Parmesan, which I love. But, it was TOO real. It tasted EXACTLY like those dried Parmesan crisps, but a puff! It has the distinctive after taste of Parmesan. It was just TOOOO real. I like Cheetos because I like Cheetos seasoning. It is the most perfect seasoning in the Universe, and I am consistently SHOCKED to not see it at all in other countries offerings. Brazil! You are missing out!!
But, if you want to try something KIND-OF like Cheetos while you are away, and you like the strong taste of Parm, try these, they are weird, but DELICIOUS!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Chile Sensaciones Collection Salmón Ahumado con Queso Crema, Queso Parmesano, Costillar con Finas Hierbas, and Original

 Lay's Chile is launching a beautifully packaged new collection called the "Sensaciones" collection. It's similar to the Sensations flavors found Globally in that the line is composed of complex and intriguing flavors. However, Chile makes the collection their own by making it a Kettle Cooked collection. This is the only Kettle Cooked Sensations line that I am aware of. The bold collection consists of a "Queso Parmesano/ Parmesan Cheese" flavor, "Salmón Ahumado con Queso Crema/Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese" flavor, "Costillar con Finas Hierbas/ Rack of Ribs with Fine Herbs", and "Original". All of these flavors, even the overly fancied up Original, sound exquisite. I'm very happy to see a Parmesan bag and the Rack of Ribs sounds epic. All in all, I'd say this collection is hunt worthy! What are you feeling? Sound off in the comments below.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Thailand กุ้งมังกรผัดซอสเอ็กซ์โอ and อิตาเลี่ยนซูพรีมชีส

oh Lay's Thailand. The beautiful nonsense you produce sends my heart a-flutter. Here are two new flavors coming out of Thailand. A China flavor "กุ้งมังกรผัดซอสเอ็กซ์โอ" aka "Fried Lobster in XO Sauce" and an Italian flavor "อิตาเลี่ยนซูพรีมชีส" aka "Italian Cheese Supreme" on a Ruffles style chip. I had to google XO sauce, and the internet informed me it's a spicy seafood sauce from the southern regions of China. Made by mixing different dried seafoods and then cooked with chili peppers, onions, and garlic. Wikipedia says the XO moniker comes from XO Cognac which stands for eXtra Old. Since Cognac is seen as a high-quality item in China, the sauce name carries a certain luxury conotation. So, its no surprise Lay's Thailand chose to pair it with the food that epitomizes luxury; Lobster. It's a hot sauce, so this bag probably has similar qualities to Thailands "Spicy Chili Squid". The other bag, "Italian Cheese Supreme" depicts like 6 different cheeses on the front. So... im guessing... it's Cheesy. It's probably quite different from the Cheddar flavor we are all used to, but similar in a certain way because they are putting it on the thicker cut Ruffles style chip. It's Italian, so they better pack some Parmesan flavor... that's all i'm saying.
I found these on ebay earlier this week and was able to snag them to try. Thailand seems to be one of the easier countries to find chips from. I see them quite often on ebay and Amazon. So, if you want to pick these up, it shouldn't be TOO hard.

Lay's Canada Creamy Garlic Caesar

Today we have Lay's Canada's "Creamy Garlic Caesar" from their 'Do Us A Flavour' Contest that just ended. And even though this beauty didn't win, it has won a place in my heart. This bag REALLY tastes like Caesar salad, it is insane!! The best comparison I can give to this is it tastes like the crouton that sat at the bottom of your salad and soaked up all the Caesar dressing and when you eat it it is attached to a fresh slice of Parmesan cheese. MMMM. These are mega salty like Parmesan cheese and have all the flavor of a perfect Caesar dressing. They are spot on. I love them. This bag really got robbed of the title. If you are a Caesar or Parmesan fan, I highly recommend you try and track these down before they disappear for good. Which may have already happened.
I would LOVE to see these in the US. They were great!

New Margarita Colombia Flavors

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
Margarita has just released 3 new flavors!!!! Im gonna die!!
Margarita, in my humble opinion makes the best tasting chips ever... and Jamon has been one of my favorite flavors for a long time... so basically, Im very happy right now.
Margarita selected these flavors themselves, and appears to be polling the market to see which ones should stick around. Interestingly, they chose to release these 3 in the packaging we've been seeing globally now associated with the "Create a Flavor" style contests. That leads me to believe either 1 or 2 of these flavors won't be around long. The last time Margarita had a "Create a Flavor" style contest, the other chips were gone as soon as the winner was announced. The 3 new flavors are "Hogao con Queso", "Queso Gratinado" and "Jamon Ahumado". Hogao is a Colombian sauce made of simmered tomatoes and onions, so "Hogao with Cheese" is probably a creamy tomato type of flavor. "Queso Gratinado" means "Cheese Gratin" but I'm thinking this is meant to taste more like Potatoes Gratin... simply meaning the Chip will play the role of Potato in the dish. These chips are "Onduladas" which is the Colombian name for "Ruffles", so the potato will definitely play a bigger role in the flavor combination. And the last bag is "Smoked Ham"... which is usually my absolute flavor ever made. Spain makes a delicious Ham flavored bag of Ruffles, and ever since I tried it, I have been hooked on Ham flavored chips. I expect this to be CRACKED OUT goodness.
Fortunately, my mom is there on vacation right now, so I am pleading with her to just empty a suitcase and fill it purely with chips lol. Fingers crossed I get to taste these little beauties. The 3 new flavors are available now.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's USA Kettle Cooked Reduced Fat

How I missed this, I'll never know. But, apparently last summer Lay's USA released new Kettle Cooked Reduced Fat offerings. I just thought they were the same flavors with reduced fat. BUT they actually introduced 2 new flavors into the collection... Sundried Tomato and Parmesan (OMG!!) and Applewood Smoked BBQ.

Both bags contain 40% less fat than regular potato chips. Which is a LOT less fat.
I haven't had Kettle Cooked chips in some time, but they are definitely my favorite line in the US. They have a better Potato taste, and the texture is great. Compared to other Kettle brands they are awesome because they arent SUPER rock hard. I always say that I feel like I am going to break a tooth on most Kettle cooked chips, but Lay's are perfectly crunchy. They also tend to be seasoned better than the regular line. So, Ill have to hunt these down and give them a taste.
Sorry that the news is coming so late, but if you were in the dark like me and just wasn't paying attention, now you know.
The line also includes a 40% less fat version of the Original/ Salted Kettle Chips... which had already been available for a while when these came out.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Dominican Republic Ponle Tu Sabor A Lay's

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Lay's Guatemala and Lay's Dominican Republic were running this fun create-a-flavor contest called "Ponle Tu Sabor A Lay's". The two sites share a landing page that lets you select which country you are from... and both sites led to identical pages. I presumed that the two flavors shown on both pages were the finalists across both nations. Now, Dominican Republic's site is showing two different finalists, I think there was just a brief error, so I'm correcting my previous post.
This is really exciting because there are now two more new flavors to track down, INCLUDING a flavor I've never seen before!
Dominican Republic's finalists are Carlos with his flavor "Salsa A La Parmesana" and Indhira with her flavor "A La Parrilla". This is the first time I've ever seen a "Parmesan Sauce" flavored bag of chips, which sounds DELICIOUS! And although "Charcoal Grilled Beef" isn't something completely unheard of, it too sounds EPIC!
I've also got to mention once again that I ADORE this packaging... I can't get enough of the white header and striping, which is SO 80's, paired with the modern 3D logo. And I love the food being sliced into chips, it's a great reminder that these chips are emulating another food. The packages just looks so cool.
I would love to get a hold of these, or the two flavors from Guatemala. They all sound wonderful. Can't wait to see who ends up winning! Hope this cleared up any confusion!