Gotta Get At This: Lay's Netherlands Maak De Smaak Contest Finalists

Oops! I almost forgot to share this! It's almost the end of August, but anyone who was interested in the Maak De Smaak Contest in the Netherlands may have already seen this. If not, here are the 3 finalists... Aioli e Aglio (Garlic Aioli), Whiskey Cocktail, and Spicy Reggae Chicken! All 3 of these sound PHENOMENAL! Whiskey Cocktail?? Is that even real? Jeez! I would devour all of these hahaha.

All 3 flavors are available now in stores in the Netherlands. Voters will choose the best and it will become the winner of some shelf space until next year's contest!

PS Did I mention, I want these!

PSS here is a hilarious commercial, enjoy!

Walkers UK Sensations Caramelised Onion & Balsamic Vinegar

Damn this was a good bag of chips.

Here's a bag from Walkers' Sensations line I picked up during my time in London. The flavor: Caramelised Onion and Balsamic Vinegar. What a treat. These chips have so much going on that I don't even know where to start. I guess we'll take on the potato; the chip itself was BURSTING with potato flavor! The kind of flavor that sits in your mouth for minutes after you've taken your first bite. Salty, rich, starchy, perfection. Then, a bit of sweet sweeps across your taste buds from the caramelized onion. Not overwhelmingly onion... just sweet with a hint of onion. And then the chip finishes up with a splash of tang from the Balsamic. Wow. Just wow. The bag is like a symphony being played to your mouth. The combination of what I would considered a perfect potato chip (full potato taste from a evenly cooked chip) and two exquisite flavors create an amazing bag of chips. I really can't say enough good stuff about these.

I highly recommend. They shouldn't be too hard to find... ask a local British grocer to order some if you can't track them down.

Lay's Denmark Salted

Here's a bag of plain salted Lay's I picked up in Denmark. Denmark actually had quite a nice line up of flavors available, but I only got to try 3 of them... scratch that, 2 of them. My sister ate the third bag and didn't save me a single chip... so I forced her to do a guest blog on the flavor lol. Expect that soon haha.
Anyways, just for reference, the other flavors Denmark had that I didn't get a chance to taste were Heinz Tomato Ketchup, and Cheese & Onion. So, Ill have to try those on my next trip :)
But for now, we have the humble salted potato chip. These are made for the Scandinavian market, very much so, the Danes LOVE salty food and these chips don't let them down. They are RIDICULOUSLY salty. Almost too much so, but it's a little bag so I powered through it. My Danish friends LOVED them though, so what do I know? The potato was wonderful, perfectly crisp, nicely yellow, no burns, excellent crunch, and a nice potato flavor. But you really have to be comfortable with a high salt taste to enjoy these, I couldn't do a medium size bag if I had to. These probably pair well with the cold fish dishes that are really common in Denmark. So, just know that before you try. They suit the locale well, and for that reason I don't think it was a bad bag of chips. I also found these for sale in Sweden, so you may be able to buy them across Scandinavia if you are looking.


Note, if you do go looking to taste these, they can be bought individually in medium size bags or in a 6 pack of small bags. The 6 pack carries 3 flavors. The 6 pack was spotted in both Denmark and Sweden.

Er, What?? Did you just say "Do Us A Flavor" Lay's?

I was listening to the radio today, and, um, do my ears deceive me? or did I just hear Lay's USA is doing a flavor contest??
Really?!
OH HAPPY DAY!!
This is awesome! This is the ish I like to see! Some initiative Lay's!!
Lets do this!!

 So here's this dillio...
Apparently while I was away, Lay's launched the "Do Us A Flavor" campaign (I love that name!) and what you do is... you submit a potential chip flavor... and if they pick it... they will make it into a chip... AND you win some money! If it sounds familiar, its because it is the tried and true contest that Lay's has been doing all over the world. The thing I love about these contests is it gives the consumers a chance to try a flavor that wouldn't have necessarily been brought to market otherwise. In Holland, the winner of their contest was a popular French Fry sauce. In Arabia, a Pizza flavored chip. And in Belgium, it was a popular local Hamburger. This is a chance for American chip lovers to go HAM and choose a unique flavor we've never seen before! (PS. Not literally Ham, or maybe, it's up to you)

Lay's did a great job picking the faces of the contest; Iron Chef Michael Symon and Restauranteur Eva Longoria. The contest interface also seems to be a good choice, it's pretty easy to just hop on Facebook and submit a flavor idea... or you can text it from your phone. NEATO!
The winning flavor will earn its creator a cool 1 million USD.
I'm ready to start hourly submissions!
Can't wait to see how this plays out, because as long as we are getting a new flavor, we've all basically won... right?

Walkers UK MAX Chargrilled Steak

Sorry for the mini hiatus everyone. Just got back from my first trip to Europe and couldn't blog over there... but I'm back with much to share. First bag is one I grabbed freshoftheboat at Heathrow. A bag of Walkers MAX (aka Ruffles, kids) flavored a la Chargrilled Steak. So here's what's up. For a ruffled chip, it wasnt really as potato-y as you would expect it to taste, but maybe that is because the seasoning here packed a HELL of a punch. You just stare at this bag and you can taste the steak charring on the grill. The flavor gets in every nook and cranny of these bad boys. For me, it was a bit too much. They were almost too "manly" for me... if that makes any sense. I barely ate half the bag to be honest. They just had this intense aroma and intense flavor that really isnt for me. I find myself more and more leaning toward the acidic chips and further from the BBQ flavors. But if I were a guy (or a BBQ chip lover, to be fair) I would think this chip rocked. The flavor was spot on. Imagine that Ribeye in the restaurant; this is the level of steak we are talking about. The chip was sturdy and thick cut. Well suited to hold all the weight of a full filet. At the end of the day, this chip wasnt for me, but that doesnt mean it was a bad chip... (insert pun about chip being a bad-ass)
wockawocka
Goodnight!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Thailand International Flavors

Hey all! Here are some new flavors recently showing up on Lay's Thailand's website. Looks like 3 new international flavors. They appear to actually be releases, although you can vote on your favorite so I'm not entirely sure. The one on the left is an American flavor that they are calling Spicy Cheese Paprika. I could only translate the first word อเมริกัน to mean "American". The middle bag looks like Japanese Fish Balls although I couldn't translate any of what the label says, and the final bag on the right side is "Italian Spaghetti" อิตาเลียน รปาเกตตี้. 
I'm not sure that I'm really desperate to try any of them, the flavors sound a little boring... I think they may all already exist elsewhere, but it is always exciting to try new stuff; so if I can find them I'll be all over that! 

UPDATE, Oct 18, 2012: Looks like American Spicy Cheese Paprika is the winner of this contest. I still don't know what that means, but it seems to me like the flavor will just remain on store shelves while the other 2 hit the Lay's Graveyard. Honestly, this sounded like the best flavor to me too. Enjoy it Thailand!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's España Italian Pesto & Mozzarella

Check this beauty out. Lay's España just posted this on their facebook as a new limited edition flavor. "Italian Sabor a Pesto & Mozzarella" aka "Italian Pesto & Mozzarella flavor". MMMM. That just sounds ridiculous.
Also, how lovely is the packaging?? It makes it look like it probably tastes life changing.
 It's nice to see an Italian flavor that ISN'T pizza or spaghetti bolognese lol. I would LOVE to track this bag down.
If you try it, It'd be great to hear about it in the comments!!

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 Chile Limon

Hope you all ate a ton of chips this past Memorial Day! There is no better excuse for potato chip feasting then a sunny BBQ friendly holiday! My friends and I had a great poolside snack session that included another bag of Lay's I hadn't tried yet. This was my first adventure with Chile Limon. In the past I have made it pretty clear that I hate the plain Limon flavored Lay's (grossss) ... BUT these are the BOOOOMMMMBBB!
They are sooo YUMMY!
The word "Chile" had me scared, but these aren't really all that spicy. They have a decent bit of kick, but nothing extreme. When I see that red bag and red seasoning I immediately think of "Flamin Hot" (eeeep!) but the bag is FAR more intimidating than need be. These were like the American cousin of the Adobada flavored chips from Mexico had a spicy baby with a Lime. They have a complex Mexican style seasoning that reminds you almost of Red Enchilada sauce, that little bit of kick, and then a perfectly complimentary tang of Lime. MMM. These are fantastic with Carne Asada on the BBQ and a Corona or Pacifico! The quality of the chip is great and doesn't fight with the seasoning. The seasoning is evenly applied and offers a ton of flavor without being heavy handed. The Limon in particular just comes in at the end to give tang, it isn't overwhelming like the Limon bag. All in all, I would highly recommend these bags. This is the ideal bag for a Southern California, poolside, Cerveza, kind of day! Great bag!

Walkers UK Pickled Onion

Dude, Brits must love their onion because I just realized that Walkers makes Cheese & Onion, Steak & Onion, Sour Cream & Chive, and this bad boy; Pickled Onion.
I don't know why, but I've been eager to review this flavor. I'm not a big pickle eater, so I've never tasted pickled onions in real life to compare with these. But I do LOVE a good bit of onion in my food so this flavor had me intrigued. I would say this bag, at first, really reminded me of sauteed onions; soft and a bit cooked down. But not grilled... they still permeated with that slightly fresh onion smell. They were really vinegar-y compared to the regular Walkers Salt and Vinegar combo. As I ate more, the onion became less and less aggressive and the bag became more of a marriage between the onion and the vinegar. The potatoes are the perfect bomb delicious chips Walkers always makes, and the hearty potato flavor does meld with the other two flavors. Just be aware that this is Vinegar and Onion we are talking about, two power players! The potato stands very little chance of standing out in this combo. In all, it was really yummy and interesting. I am a sucker for acidic potato chips and by the time I was done I was thrilled to have tried these. They aren't for the faint of heart, if onion terrifies you (mom!) then you won't be happy with this bag. But if you want to try a flavor that is different and can hang with the big boys then you should track this down at a local British Market. Yum!