Look Past The World of Handcrafted Fromage: French Potato Chips Represent Utterly Sinful.
Over the holidays, I found myself in France, a place that seemed on its best behaviour. Discreet, sparkling decorations, market stalls stacked with remarkably pristine fruits and veggies, and such an abundance of fromage that could line the entire Channel Tunnel with cholesterol. Heaping dishes of lustrous seafood atop ice beds visible behind misty restaurant glass. Upon seeing a lengthy yet well-mannered queue of well-dressed citizens picking up their craft Christmas cakes, I mused, with some guilt, that my place of origin, York, which becomes a present-day version of Hogarth’s Gin Lane at this time of year complete with vape pens in festive pie flavours and pre-mixed cocktails, would do well to absorb a few lessons.
The Elegant Facade
But every bit of “art de vivre” stuff proves to be an elegant facade – France is as prey to its most primal cravings as the rest of us. Simply step inside any grocery store to witness it. The snack food corridor stands as a monument to decadence, lined with flavours including blue cheese, chickpea fritter, beer-braised beef and *beurre salé* profiles. Who eats chips that taste of butter? It brings to mind a product found at those infamous US state fairs where they fry solid butter in batter. One popular comic stated online they represent the pinnacle of snacking she has ever sampled, but she’s obviously succumbed to an instance of local propaganda – after all, her childhood was in that very region.
A Global Lawlessness
One must acknowledge the world of potato chip seasoning internationally is just as anarchic as Silicon Valley. Nobody seems willing to permit the tuber to taste of itself, adorned only rightly by a simple, respectful sprinkle of sodium. Our own nation possesses a checkered past when it comes to snack tastes in the UK, notably around Christmas. Recently, it should be remembered, gave us Christmas-cake flavoured crisps and limited-edition Beef Wellington Walkers. And who could forget the instance where a major retailer thought “prosecco and winter berry” was an appealing flavour in a salty crisp? I had higher hopes from the nation of culinary masters.
Where does it end? Goose liver potato chips? Choux pastry flavour? Cigarette-tasting crisps? I should stop, I’m only giving them ideas.
