Welcome To Flavor Country
I am going to try in this article and in some future articles to break down new or interesting foods. I (unlike our founder Brian) love to try anything and everything unless I think it will destroy me (ergo some spicy things will not be tried). I will try things I am confident will be bad, just to make sure. One of the biggest developments of each year is when Lays busts out their new Iconic Flavors. Usually there are four to five and this year is no different. We will be exploring Philly Cheese Steak, New York Style Pizza, Chile Relleno (or not), Nashville Hot Chicken, and Carnitas Street Taco. They are going with a restaurant theme this year and supposedly based the flavor on popular purveyors of each item. Right off the bat, I will say these are hard to find right now. People love the special flavors, and stores are having low inventories of things on a regular basis. If you can find them, check them out and give me your opinion. I will grade the chips on my usual food scale.
A: An immediate rebuy
B: I would buy these again
C: I might or might not get these again
D: I would not get these again
F: No one should ever get these
Here we go.
Flavor: New York Style Pizza
My thoughts on the flavor in general: I LOVE New York Style Pizza. It is my favorite food, especially from New York City. While I am more of a John’s guy than a Grimaldi’s guy, I am still looking forward to trying this. I am not too optimistic though. Generally pizza chips just don’t work. Something about the flavor of mozzarella doesn’t really transfer.
My thoughts on the chips: These were fine. Not good or bad, but fine. They are definitely the best pizza chip I have tried (only can think of two others). Mostly, they taste like pizza sauce. Really good pizza sauce, but pizza sauce. As I suspected, the mozzarella flavor didn’t really transfer. Mozzarella is a very mild but distinct flavor. Another issue is that New York City pizza only works when hot. I LOVE cold pizza, but not cold New York City pizza. The flavors are so good and robust that having it cold causes the flavor profile to go limp. The real winner here is the “secret” herbs and spices that go into Grimaldi’s pizza sauce. Those flavors are very good, and I would love to get a bottle of that to put into my own pizza sauce. I did appreciate that these were kettle chips.
Verdict: C
Flavor: Philly Cheese Steak
My thoughts on the flavor in general: Philly Cheese Steaks are awesome, and I haven’t even tried one from Geno’s (it’s on the to do list). I have had enough decent ones through the years here to know what I am looking for. I expect it will be hard to capture the steak meat flavor. I see the chips have brown dots on them, I assume that is like freeze dried meat particles. The cheese and bread part shouldn’t be too hard.
My thoughts on the chips: These chips were ok, but not great. Mostly they taste like aged cheddar chips, which I have had before. There is the very slightest hint of the meat flavor. Unfortunately, just like with the pizza chips, the key flavor is missing here. No Mozzarella flavor in the pizza chips, no steak flavor here. Aged Cheddar chips are widely available and will do fine if these are not. Don’t get me wrong, the cheese flavor is good and better than regular cheese chips, but it’s not mind blowing.
Verdict: C
Flavor: Carnitas Street Taco
My thoughts on the flavor in general: I have more hope for these than the first too. Street tacos are delightful, especially on the west coast in LA or San Diego. While I tend to go fish and not carnitas, I have had that and it is good. Oddly, I would prefer pizza or a cheese steak, but I think this will make a better chip. Pork itself doesn’t have a ton of flavor, it’s the spices on the meat and the herbs and pepper in the taco that bring the flavor. I see that as something that can be done with a chip.
My thoughts on these chips: These were good, better than the first two. The meat flavor was very noticeable, and some of the secondary flavors were there too, like cilantro. Also, it was on a wavy chip, which is always better than a regular flat chip. I prefer the texture and the crunch. There is a hint of spiciness that lingers on the tongue and the juices in my mouth afterward tasted just like after eating carnitas. These were spot on. My only real complaint is that they were a little salty. These have the highest sodium count of all the ones I tried. You can tell. If street tacos were my favorite food they would be an A, but for me and my palate, they are a B. They are the most likely to be repurchased so far.
Verdict: B
Flavor: Nashville Hot Chicken
My thoughts on the flavor in general: I have had Nashville hot chicken, and I really enjoyed it. I am not a diehard spicy person. I don’t get flaming *inset chip or Cheeto item” from the store, and I generally just stop at hot wings. Simply put: while my mouth can take it, my bottom cannot. So I don’t usually go out of my way for spicy, despite enjoying it. Nashville Hot Chicken is a critical development in food flavors to me. I am tired of things being Buffalo wing flavored. I like Buffalo wings, but I am tired of it. The usual options for spicy are Buffalo wing, straight “flamin” or the occasional Thai Sweet Chili. We really needed a new spicy FLAVOR. I am distinguishing that, because something being spicy is sort of a moot point to me. I am not looking to burn my mouth. I want that spiciness to meld with a flavor and give me something to think about. A new spicy flavor was way overdue.
My thoughts on the chips: These were pretty good. They are corporate spicy, which means that they are spicy enough for a run of the mill person to feel challenged, but to a spicy aficionado, these are going to disappoint a little. They have a distinct underlying taste of chicken broth, so the chicken flavor is there. I can tell they are meant to be spicy chicken. Oddly, before I had these, I had a similar chip from the Aldi brand Clancy’s that I actually liked a little more. So that is concerning. I find these to be worth your time, and a great addition to the flavor palette of spiciness. Still just a B though.
Verdict: B
Flavor: Chile Rellano
My thoughts on the flavor. I had never heard of Chile Rellano (I am not a major consumer of Mexican dishes). Still, after reading the description, I was looking forward to seeing what it was like. Unfortunately that turned out to be impossible. I tried 4 Walmarts and 2 7-11s and the end result was no chips. It turns out that releasing something through a very limited distribution group may prevent you from making money. Apparently I can also pay 20 bucks for a bag online, which will be ground to dust by the time it gets to me. Based on the reviews I saw on line, this was not a mind blowing chip anyway, so I am saving my money.
My thoughts on the chip: incomplete.
Verdict: An F for Lays.
Final thoughts. There was no Fried Green Tomatoes this year, unfortunately. I would be out buying those right now if they still existed. The Carnitas Street Taco is worth your money. Otherwise, not a lot to see here. Hopefully next year will bring us some more options and some fresh flavors. Ciao.