Crunch! (Kettle Chips Sea Salt with Crushed Black Peppercorns)

Member Name: cyberem78

Product:	Kettle Chips Sea Salt with Crushed Black Peppercorns
Date:	12/04/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Crunchy, chunky crisps. Sharp flavour.

Disadvantages: They smell quite greasy.

I saw these Kettle 'Chips' (or crisps as we in the UK say) in my local Asda supermarket recently and thought they sounded quite interesting. They are described as hand cooked potato chips with absolutely nothing artificial added to the ingredients. The company are really proud of this and list their merits in a 'good to know' list on the back of the packet.

Kettle do not add MSG fats to the crisps. They also don't use artificial flavourings or colourings. The colour of the crisps is in fact determined by the natural sugars in the vegetable and this alters during the yearly growing cycle. Kettle also don't use hydrogenated fat and only fry in sunflower oil.

As well as being impressed by all of this I also like the sound of the flavour. Not content to be just plain old salt and pepper, these are marked as 'Sea Salt with Crushed Black Peppercorns' a rather more upmarket gourmet sounding style of crisp!

I purchased a 150g sized bag. This is a large bag which would be good for sharing or for using as party food or with a light meal for several people. The dark grey packaging looks very chic and grown-up. The packet itself is made of quite thick, malleable plastic so that if you open these and want to save some for later you can twist up the packet and the crisps will stay fresh.

Upon opening the crisps there is a strong greasy smell, not unlike when you go into a fish and chip shop. It is not an unpleasant smell unless you don't like fatty, fried food and inparticular French fries, which these smell of very strongly. The crisp segments are rather large being cut from big potatoes. They seem to have been cut with the skins still on them and this means the edge of the crisps is brown and mottled. The crisps are also thick and around the edges have a transparent look where the oil has seeped into the vegetable and hardened. They are dotted with small, flat black pepper pieces.

These crisps are very, very crunchy and for some people they might be too hard to chew. I actually find the crunchiness a refreshing change to other crisps on the market. These are certainly nothing like your average Walkers crisp, for instance, that simply melt in the mouth. These take some chewing and it feels like more of a hearty meal! The pepper and salt flavourings are quite strong. The salt lies over the crisp invisibly, almost as if it was just the oil they were cooked in that was salted. The peppers sometimes burst onto the tongue or between the teeth and have a bitter sharp taste. The edge of the crisp where the skin is left on has a tougher texture and a more earthy flavour. The overall taste is very pleasant, a strong savoury taste.

Nutritional values per 100g of crisps is 484 calories and 28.3g of fat. They are suitable for vegetarians and coeliacs and have an approval mark by both the Vegetarian Society and the KLBD which means it has Kosher certification.

I would recommend these to anyone who likes crunchy, savoury snacks.

Summary: A crunchy, gourmet crisp by Kettle.