Ear plugs may be required (Cape Cod Reduced Fat Chips)

Member Name: grannygarden

Product:	Cape Cod Reduced Fat Chips
Date:	28/11/05 (563 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Taste good

Disadvantages: Noisy

Reading so many foodie reviews has given me an attack of the munchies, so scouting round the cupboards found my supply of "posh" crisps which are hidden at the back, for my eyes only. These aren't the posh as advertised by Tara P.T. but a recently discovered (by me anyway) altogether superior crunch.

They are called Cape Cod reduced fat potato crisps.

It wasn't the reduced fat that tempted me, anything that is reduced in all the evils is usually reduced in taste as well in my view but saw these sitting on the shelf in Waitrose, further away from Walkers and closer to Kettle crisps which I like. So logic telling me that these were more akin to Kettle tempted me, plus there was a very pretty picture of a lighthouse and a boat on the front of the basically white bag. Much more inviting than their rivals so threw a multi pack into my trolley.


I've done a bit of research before beginning to write. First of all to establish that Cape Cod is in fact in Northern America and sure enough when I got to do a search on google, there is the very same lighthouse featured on the front of my pack of crisps, on the Cape Cod tourist web site, only difference being that the one on my crisp packet is a hand drawn replica - complete with boat.

I also read on the pack that the crisps were introduced in 1995 to create a reduced fat crisp that maintained the integrity of their classic crisp. As I've not tried any other form of this make of crisps, I don't know whether this one actually does or not.

The Cape Cod Chips company also use all natural ingredients, are handcooked, made with vegetable oil (this must be where the reduced fat comes in) and are gmo free. I know gm is genetically modified, but haven't a clue what the o bit is, so if anyone knows, perhaps they can tell me.

Surprisingly for an all American seeming crisp, these are manufactured in Ireland, so my babies haven't even seen the lighthouse in question which is a bit of a shame. There is this American company telling me via the packet that they individually inspect each potato, then hand cook them in small batches to allow cooking time and temperature to be closely monitored. Then the crisps are flash baked to naturally reduce the fat. Then they are given a final inspection (to pass the good crisps guide test, presumably). Now somehow I can't quite see Mr Cape Cod whizzing over to Ireland to look at each potato so presume his Irish brother does this for him.

The only variety of these crisps I've found in Blighty are the ones I'm writing about, but a visit to www.capecodchips.com is enlightening. They have pages and pages of different crisp based products, so I'm quite disappointed that they are only sharing this particular one with us.

The variants of this crisps that I have managed to find are multipacks of six 35 g bags and their big brother, a single 140g pack. Of the supermarkets near me, Waitrose are the only ones who seem to stock them and they retail at £1.65 for the six pack and just over £1, can't quite remember exactly and website only tells me in US dollars, so no help there, for the biggie.

One of a multipack is quite sufficient for a minor munchie attack but I have been known to manage a big bag when I really crave a good munch.

When you open the pack you are greeted with a varied assortment of shapes and sizes of crisps. Seems Mr Potato Inspector doesn't single out a particular sized potato to turn into his crisps, as some are quite weeny and others gigantic. They all seem curvier than the standard Walkers shape and I think a few curves make them much more attractive. They all seem quite brown around the edges which leads me to believe the potatoes aren't peeled before they are cooked. They are mostly quite lightly coloured with the odd overcooked one thrown in to add to the interest I suppose.

Upon biting into one the crunch is a little alarming. They are mightily crunchy and it's quite an assault on the old ear drums when you start chomping. I genuinely believe these are THE most crunchy crisps it has ever been my fortune to come across. Some packs seem to be saltier than others, which means a large drink is necessary to accompany them and the large 140g pack makes your lips shrivel up. So it seems that although they do such rigorous inspecting and testing, they do allow someone to run riot with the salt on occasions behind their backs.

The only ingredients in these crisps are potatoes, vegetable oil and salt (they ought to add, in various amounts depending on who has the salt shaker at the time).

I find the values given on the back of the individual packs a little misleading as they list them per 100g and the packs contain 35g which is far too complicated for me to work out. Any mathematicians may be able to work it out but it's beyond me.

If you need to know 100g gives 1984 kj, 7.9g protein, 53.5g carbohydrate (0.5g of which sugars), fat 25.4g (of which saturates 1.8g).
So a definite no no for Atkins devotees, but for someone like me who just wants a quick crunch, who cares?

Being a devotee of crisps, I can highly recommend these - unless you get the bag which the mad salt shaker has been at.

.

Taste absolutely lovely, very moreish and are about the same thickness as Walkers standard plain crisps but much crunchier.


What do they taste like?? Well, they taste like crisps to me, dont in the least resemble a baked potato taste and I've yet to find a crisp that does this, but everyone interprets their taste sensation differently. If you've ever eaten a ready salted crisp, this is what they taste like, only much, much crunchier. Levels of salt vary from crisp to crisp as I've already said so the scattering seems a bit haphazard.

I'm afraid I'm completely baffled as to how to describe what a crisp tastes like to someone who has never eaten one. Try imagining yourself taking a potato, peeling it and slicing it very thinly, then fry it in hot oil, lard or whatever else takes your fancy, wait till it's a golden colour then taste it - taking care to let it cool down sufficiently not to burn your mouth out - That's what a crisp tastes like!

Summary: Extremely crunchy, tasty snack