OK Here's Some Late News: Lay's Canada World Flavourites & Chalet Sauce

These came out last year, I missed them, I know I did... but THANKFULLY, none were truly original flavors.
The flavors were part of Lay's Canada's "World Flavourites" (get it, like, Favorites?) a promotion that ran last Summer in Canada. The Thai inspired flavor is "Thai Sweet Chili", which is a favorite of mine when Walkers in the UK makes it. The Canadian inspired flavor is from Lay's Canada's 2014 "Do Us A Flavour" competition... it is the "Bacon Poutine" flavor. And The UK inspired flavor is "Cheese & Onion"... one of the classic Walkers UK flavors... I think this tastes like "In & Out" a local fast food chain here in California, it's an awesome flavor combo. Sooooo.... sorry for the outdated news, but the bags are still something cool to look at. I've never seen this packaging before from Lay's and I really like it. It blends the "Do Us A Flavor" packaging with a new look.

Secondly, there was a new Canadian release last Fall with the flavor "Swiss Chalet Chalet Sauce". The bags are exclusive to select Swiss Chalet restaurants in Canada. They emulate the flavor of the Chalet Sauce, a cult favorite since the sauce was developed in 1954. Apparently, these sold out SUPER fast, so Lay's ordered more. I'd guess you can still hunt these down if you were to call up a few Swiss Chalets.

That wraps it up for late news, there are also a pair of new flavors from Canada that just released, I'll give you the details about all that asap. Enjoy & happy hunting.

Contest: Lay's Canada Do Us A Flavour 2015: Tastes of Canada

Lay's Canada has closed their 2015 Do Us A Flavour entry period. Now, 4 flavors that represent the "Tastes of Canada" will be chosen. As with the last few years, those 4 chosen finalists will be sold in stores across Canada and the people will go online to vote for their favorite. Last year "Jalapeno Mac N' Cheese" took home the crown. I expect this year we will see more unique flavors, similar to "Maple Moose" from 2013... which I learned the hard way, was actually Moose flavored.
Can't wait to see what comes!

Contest: Lay's USA Do Us A Flavor 2015: Tastes of America

It's back-back y'all! Lay's has relaunched their hit contest "Do Us A Flavor" this year with the subtitle "Tastes of America". They want contestants to submit flavors that are reminiscent of their own hometowns. Contestants can head on over to www.DoUsAFlavor.com to submit their entries before March 30th 2015. Starting August 10th, 4 finalist flavors will be available to buy and try on store shelves, and final voting closes in October.
2 years ago we got the predictable but delicious "Cheesy Garlic Bread" out of this contest, and last year's contest recently crowned the surprise hit "Wasabi Ginger"... so the game could play out any which way. We'll have to see!
Sooo, what are you gonna submit this year? Any home town flavors that are inspiring you? Is there a regional flavor you miss from your youth you want to see captured in chip form? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. And Good Luck!

Gotta Get At This: Chipsy Egypt Olive & Pickle and Baba Ganoush Flavors

Chipsy Egypt has 2 relatively new flavors, they hit the shelves at the beginning of the year. They are "Olive & Pickle", and "Baba Ganoush".They are basically dip flavors. "Olive & Pickle" being somewhat like a tapanade, and "Baba Ganoush" being a typical eggplant dip from the region. Plus, how cute are the bags? Like a little picnic in a bag. Chips and dip all in one. Love it.

What do you think? Would you try these? I want to. They seem insanely unique compared to every other BBQ or Chicken flavor.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Thailand รสพริกเผาปรุงรส and รสเมี่ยงคำครบรส

 Lay's Thailand has just released 2 new flavors... "รสพริกเผาปรุงรส" aka "Spicy Chili Paste" and "รสเมี่ยงคำครบรส" aka "Miang". The Chili Paste is pretty straight forward... in Thailand Chili paste is made with Garlic, Shallots, Dried Red Chili flakes, Lime, Tamarind, and a hint of Fish or Shrimp Paste. Thai Chili Paste is used in Thai cuisine to spice up things like soups and noodles. The other new flavor is "Miang"; a little bundle of joy wrapped in a Wild Pepper Leaf. The leaf fillings include Roasted Coconut, Roasted Peanuts, Lime, Ginger, Shallots, Garlic, Thai Chilis, and Shrimp. YUMMO! 
As with most of Thailand's flavors, both of these seem well suited to the region.  So what do you think about these? Are you gonna hunt them down? Let us know in the comments section below :)

Contest: Lay's Perú Un Sabor Para Ganar Finalists

 Lay's Peru has announced the 3 finalists in their current Create-a-Flavor contest; Un Sabor Para Ganar.
The 3 Flavors announced are "Con Toques De Oregano Y Queso", "Aji Peruano", and "A La Parrilla". Peruvians can go on Lay's Website in Peru and vote for their favorite starting today, and the winner will be available on shelves for a year. The finalists chosen were able to go online earlier this year and create their flavor and also had the fun opportunity to choose the bag color too.

 Alexander came up with "A La Parilla". "A La Parrilla" means 'On The Grill' or 'Grilled' or 'Barbecue', and I'm guessing by the picture we are talking about Beef. This bag is made a bit more unique by being "Ondas" which is Peru's version of "Ruffles".

 Maria's creation is "Con Toques De Oregano Y Queso" which means "Touch of Oregano and Cheese". That sounds tremendous! Yum! I love Oregano! Maria says she thought of it because her kids love the smell of melted cheese and oregano on Pizza night. Listen, I don't know a single person on earth who doesn't love that smell. I hope, for the sake of Peru that this tastes as good as it sounds. MMM.

Lastly we have Cesar's concoction "Aji Peruano". Peruvian Aji are Peppers native to Peru. Lay's Peru does actually already make this flavor in their "Peruanísimas" line, a line of chips made with native potatoes, in this case yellow, but sometimes blue, etc. That line is devoted to native Peruvian flavors and ingredients. But it looks like Cesar's flavor will bring that inspiration to the standard Lay's line.

Contest: Lay's Chile Crear Tu Sabor Winner 2013

 

Lay's Chile has selected their champion! 

This years winner of Chile's "Crear Tu Sabor" contest has been chosen and it is Mauricio Araya's Chorrillana!!

Chorrillana is a typical Chilean dish of French Fries topped with Beef strips, eggs, sometimes sausage, and cooked up onions. You can see Mauricio preparing a variation of it in the photo above using "Corte Americano" (Wavy Original) Potato Chips in place of the Fries. 

This seemed like the favorite to win from the beginning, as it is a popular dish in Chile. The other two flavors were super strange to me, and I didn't see them having a chance. One was BBQ sauce, which I thought was weird... not BBQ or BBQ'd meat... just BBQ sauce. Hmm. And the other was WEIRDDDD; Cream Cheese with Soy Sauce. WHAT? Who would want to eat that?? Tell me now! 

Mauricio's non-crazy flavor won him a cool 20 Million Chilean Pesos PLUS 1% of sales. Not bad, thats a little less than $40,000, and the percent of sales is a great bonus. So, Congratulations Mauricio! 

 

Note: This bag, as well as the other finalists were all Wavy cut. I also realized that the other known flavors in Chile ("Pizza" and "Sour Cream & Onion") are also Wavy cut. So it appears that the standard cut in Chile is the "Corte American" aka the Wavy.
Chile does, however, also offer the "Mediterraneas" line which more closely resembles the regular cut. And they have the "Resto" line which is a straight cut chip that is crunchier and has the potato skin left on.

Back to the programming at hand: If you're in Chile, and you loved those crazy flavors that didn't win, you'd ought to go stock up now before they are gone for good. I'd also love to know if anyone has tried the Chorrillana flavored bag yet. Is it any good? Let us know in the comments below!

Are you trying to find Lay's Regional Flavors? Good Luck!

I just recently got back from Washington DC, and while I was there I was on the hunt for some of the regional flavors to see what I might be able to bring home. I couldn't find any. I remembered Lay's website had a map that would tell you where to find which flavors, but now, suddenly it was no longer on the site. A quick google search turned up that these flavors were discontinued this past April and the last bags disappeared off shelves within the last few months. That wouldn't necessarily bother me, except for the fact that Lay's themselves never made any sort of announcement. The reports that these flavors just started vanishing from shelves was all coming from disgruntled fans. The most beloved of these flavors was "Tangy Carolina BBQ" which was available nationwide, and for which you can read my review: here. Fans all over the internet are still sending messages of disappointment. So I have to put my 2-cents in, if Lay's had just slapped a "For A Limited Time Only" sticker on these bags in the last 6 months of production, all would have been fine. I don't see how they would just discontinue an entire line without informing their customers, frankly, it's pretty fkd up. On the flip side, I bought the ones that were available to me in my region. Garden Tomato & Basil tasted like HOT TRASH (and sadly, it is the lone flavor being kept from this collection), and Tangy Carolina BBQ was one of the few remarkable flavors that USA Lay's has ever made. So, if I am only buying the 1 flavor, and not all the time because I have other favorites, I can see why they would want to get rid of it to make way for new stuff. All I'm saying is this is bad business for the company. It would have taken just a simple, tiny, photoshop icon on the bag, to appease customers and let them know they needed to stock up. Not cool Lay's, not cool.

So, here is a little "In Memoriam" of those we lost...
-Balsamic Sweet Onion
-Chipotle Ranch
-Tangy Carolina BBQ
-Honey Mustard
-Creamy Garden Ranch
-Cajun Herb & Spice
-Southwest Cheese & Chile
-Pepper Relish

And remember, if you like the awkward taste of hot bile in your mouth, Garden Tomato & Basil is still available on shelves. Enjoy that.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Peruanisimas Brasa y Tradicion

Here's a bag that's been out since April but I wasn't sure if it was new until I read it on Twitter. It's from Lay's Peru's "Peruanisimas" line of chips made from 100% Peruvian potatoes. The flavors in this line are usually produced by famed Peruvian chefs and are based on traditional Peruvian meals. This particular bag is flavored "Brasa y Tradicion" and is based on the famed Pollo a la Brasa meal (or Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken in English). The dish combines a Peruvian spiced  Roast Chicken with thick-cut crispy french fries... which means the flavors probably convert to an amazing bag of chips.
It's cool to see a range of chips that specifically focus a nation's food history, especially for an outsider to a culture looking for a crash course in what makes that regional cuisine unique.
The rest of the line includes flavors like: Sazón Norteña (Northern Seasonings... based on a rice with duck dish), Pasión al Carbón (Passion on the Grill... based on Creole spiced grilled Beef skewers), Andinas (which are made from Purple and Yellow Marbled potatoes from the Andes Mountains with Salt), and a secondary line of basic seasonings (Salt, Rocoto Pepper, and Native Pepper) on Yellow Peruvian potatoes.
Track them down if you're looking for a taste of Peru like I am!!

Lay's USA Tangy Carolina BBQ

I am admittedly not a BBQ chip fan, so when I bought this bag I was really holding off on eating it. It's Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ, from their Regional inspired selections. This flavor is based on BBQ from the South (obviously, Carolina lol), and is available nationwide. When some friends came over I figured it was the perfect chance to pour these in a bowl and share. They got in there first and I started to hear a lot of noise about how good they were... so I grabbed a couple and had a bite. These were a HUGE surprise. The BBQ seasoning is relatively light when compared to straight up BBQ. It is in fact Tangy and has a bit of a spicy burn to it that comes from Cayenne Pepper and Vinegar. You also get a nice bit of BBQ sweetness from the Brown Sugar they use. I found the seasoning to be THE BEST BBQ flavor I've ever tasted (bold statement, I know). The chips were not a large as I usually see from Lay's, they were medium sized, which I prefer. They were still typical of Lay's texture... that feeling that they've had all the flavor and life sucked out of them from sitting in oil for so long. There is no substantial potato flavor that can be noticed either. However, the pleasant seasoning makes these a worthwhile bag of chips, especially for a party. Now, unfortunately, I had one personal issue with this seasoning, and it really disappointed me... the Cayenne Pepper kept choking me every couple of chips. I don't know if it was a spice that I couldn't handle or a spice that I might potentially be allergic to, but either way, I couldn't really enjoy that chips after a couple choking fits. I was the only person this happened to out of the 6 of us. So, while I REALLY REALLY recommend these if you want an easy to find shelf brand of BBQ chips; I have to let you know that if you are sensitive to Cayenne this could happen to you too. If you are addicted to BBQ Lay's I insist you try these out, these were made for you. Check em out.

Lay's USA Garden Tomato & Basil

So here's my first review of domestic US Lay's which are not really my favorite chips. I mean they are pretty good for what is available in the US but they will always be a less flavorful, over-fried potato, with TOO much seasoning. That is just how it is. But, since they are the common, easy to find chip, I still like to go out and try the different flavors... ever hopeful I'll find the diamond in the rough.

So we'll get to business, here's a bag of Lay's Garden Tomato and Basil, part of their regionally inspired flavors. These are inspired by the Mid-West and are available nationwide. Let's talk about the potato; the chips are relatively large, the texture is a bit rough, and the chip has very little potato flavor. My biggest complaint is how these are fried. It seems they are over-fried, like they are left to long in the oil or something. As for the seasoning, which there is WAY too much of; it doesn't really taste like garden tomato and basil necessarily. It's got a really nice flavor, but I wouldn't really use the word "Garden", in my mind, it tastes more like Tomato and Basil pasta sauce. Because the chip doesn't have a noticeable potato flavor, and is just a blank canvas starch, the taste is like tomato basil sauce and pasta. In my opinion it doesn't really have a fresh from the garden taste to it whatsoever, and for that reason and the other issues I talked about, it doesn't receive high marks from me. But, if you are a fan of Lay's chips and are looking for an interesting flavor then you can give these a try. Don't get me wrong, they are far from inedible; they're actually tasty, but by comparison they are over-fried, over-seasoned, and the flavor is inaccurate. A quick fix would be to ease up on the flavoring and label them "Tomato and Basil pasta sauce", but in the end the quality of the chip will always hinder the taste of Lay's. It's not a complete misfire, but not a favorite.