My Irish side coming to the fore

[threemonkeys]

I see that the Ig Nobel nutrition prize has been awarded to Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is.

Which brings me to the subject of the standard potato chip ("crisps" to you Poms). Apologies to the Conflux attendees who have already heard me rant on this subject. The rants followed from the very first thing I did after I had checked in to the hotel and which is pretty much the first thing I always do when I get to Australia. I went out and bought some Smiths classic potato chips. Why? Because I can't get them at home.

The chips I'm referring to are standard full size crinkle cut and salted with nothing else. Even on the packet it just says peel, slice, fry and season. To my way of thinking, this is the standard default chip. All other chips are variations on it. Yes I know that there were earlier variations, so these chip aren't "original", but that does not preclude them from being the de-facto standard.

In New Zealand you can get plain salted chips with tiny ripples (which make the texture too porous), flat cut, kettle fried and thick cut. You can get chips in dozens of different flavours – anybody who tried roast lamb and mint flavoured chips knows how far out of hand this has become. Not to mention all the vege chips and corn chips on the market. Yet for all those variations, I can't get plain salted chips with full size crinkle cut. They used to be available, but first Bluebird and then Eta discontinued them years ago.

So does anybody out there know of a secret local source of proper potato chips to help me with my problem?

Comments

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I may have mentioned the Lancastrian I used to work with. He used to go there regularly to get his fix even though he showed no other visible inclination to go back to the UK. He also used to regale us with the contents of the shop which is why its fixed in my memory.

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

But I do have a packet of Yorkshire Tea in the cupboard. Guess where it was bought from...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I was trying to think of the brand of that brand tea for my list above - my workmate used to buy that for his mother.

Yes, I know it seems a difficult name to forget, but that has never stopped me forgetting stuff before.

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you have to be born there.