A crisp here, and a chip there…
One thing that’s different here compared to Montreal are the chips. Certainly not a life-changing difference, but definitely different, and so much so that for most of our guests a taste testing experiment becomes customary….
We were subjected to one the other day on the drive down to Ingleton. While we stopped at Gretna to fill the car with petrol, our guests jumped out of the car for a stretch and to check out the ‘gas station’. After much hilarity and laughter coming from inside the shop Alex & Stephanie piled back into our tiny Clio their arms overflowing with bags of crisps.
The chosen entrants were:
Lamb & Mint;
Steak & black pepper;
Roast Chicken;
Thai Sweet Chilli;
Cheddar & Onion; and
Oriental Beef.
Lamb & Mint is a favourite of Michelle’s, but the rest of us found them a little hard to stomach. Luckily for us, the bag that tipped over on the floor in the back was one and the same, Lamb & Mint. Never mind. Steak & Black Pepper was a little weird, thankfully more pepperish than steakish. Alex favoured the Thai Sweet Chilli, Stephanie the Roast Chicken and myself, I’m partial to the cheese and onion…. and I think we all just found the idea of Oriental Beef a little off-putting!
The rest of the journey passed in relative silence… no doubt we were all pondering the results of the experiement in detail…
I will never forget taking the “traversier” to orkney with elissa and michelle and having my first UK crisps… I think they were Steak and black pepper, and something tikka. I liked both… The best we have here in québec is the poutine flavored potato chip… Who knows what godawfull chemical they use to simulate melted chees in congealed brown gravy! Still, I am curious, but I am also too embarassed to grab a bag and bring it to the “depanneur’s” cash counter.
While we are on the subject of – aheumm – gastronomy, another first on that “traversier” to orkney was the sausage bun… I was expecting something like a hot dog, you know, all-dressed: mustard, ketchup, onion, relish, maybe even some shredded cabbage or a slice or two of hot pepper… boy… I should have known that so much stuff in a bun is strictly an american concept…
Please let us know about alain and sonya’s taste test to come!!! :)
Elissa! How are you !?
My colleague is coming in Montreal next week (currently working in Derby. And during her last trip we went on and read your paper on crisp (chips) and she agreed with you! Now she is coming back and bringing one bag for me to taste.
What flavor do you think I would prefer ?
Which one is the ULTIMATE? She told me there is also one that taste Hedgehog. Did you try it ?
Isabelle