Finest Hand cooked Crisps or burnt discs of rock? (Tesco Finest Range)

Member Name: Judgee

Product:	Tesco Finest Range
Date:	14/07/02 (742 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Crunchy, Tolerable

Disadvantages: Funny smell, Funny taste

As a child I ate bags of crisps every day, but as an adult they are a rare treat. Gone are the days of eating interesting crisps. Bacon flavoured Rancheros sold the farm, Salt n' Vinegar Bones were buried, Bacon flavoured Football crazies were kicked into touch and Fangs, well I guess they just fell out! Modern living has seen many things go back to basics I guess, so 'Tescos' Finest Traditional Hand cooked Crisps' are not really out of place in the modern world. But! And it's a BIG BUT (not bottom!) which is better, new and boring or old and exciting? Read on if you would like to see the results of my latest journey into the world of potato snacks!


I am an impulse buyer, ie if I see it and I like it then I buy it and get it! This was very much the case with these crisps.The packaging is a nice eye catching silver bag, with a picture of some very tasty and to be honest, ordinary looking crisps. The bag I bought weighed 150 grammes (that's 'Family' size in old money!) and contain a whopping 708 calories if you munch the whole lot!


Upon opening the bag and examining the contents, I was quite surprised! They actually look nothing like the ones on the packaging. They are a darker brown for a start and have been cut thicker than the average crisp you might buy. In addition, they were cut in their skins and hence each crisp has a potato skin rim around them.


Somewhat shocked by this I was undeterred and began to munch. First impressions? "Ouch my teeth are breaking!" They are thick and very solid. This gives them quite a crunch when bitten, but this was not particularly unpleasant and I got used to it after a few mouthfuls. The smell was quite strong, a cross between boiled potatoes and damp wood. Now the taste.... hmmm well it does boast on the packaging that they are 'cooked to perfection in a large open pan - the ultimate taste sensation'. Well this statement is partly true,
they did taste like my failed attempts at crisp making, that I tried when I was younger and more energetic! By that I mean they tasted burnt, extremely oily and had a strange and lingering aftertaste! I was not impressed with this, although again I must emphasise that it did grow on me. They are slightly salty but it is hard to taste the salt with the over powering burnt potato flavour. Perhaps more salt would have helped? 'Cooked to perfection' ??? Not how I would put it exactly!


One thing I did discover is that one of my cats likes them! I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, after all, they think cat food tastes good? Oh well if you try them and find that really don't like them (which is definitely a possibility with these things!) I guess as a back up plan, you could always feed them to your pets (or children if you don't like them very much!)


So overall, a thick, traditionally cooked crisp that smells funny, tastes burnt and looks nothing like the picture on the packet. Unlike most other crisps I could not shove all these down my throat in one sitting. Which is a bad sign, I love most crisps and cannot normally put a packet down until it is empty! Perseverance will pay off though and after your initial first impressions, you will probably grow to tolerate them. Failing that, you may find that someone or something living in your house will finish them off for you. Personally I say bring back the older, tastier, strangely shaped, originally named crisps of the eighties. As these traditional ones are nothing more than average, uninteresting and at £1.19 a bag, a little overpriced! The may appeal to some people and not to others though, hence the rating!




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