Product Review: Chip Peddler Chips

I got in contact with a company called Chip Peddler out of Durango, Colorado. I was intrigued by these chips because they are organic and the guy who sells the potato chips is also growing the potatoes. I have learned a lot about organic food since I started at culinary school. What really interests me about organic food is the flavor difference. In some produce, its obvious. A tomato doesn't taste like a tomato anymore because it is grown with chemical based fertilizer, sprayed with chemical pesticides, picked green and then ripened with ethylene gas so it looks red on your burger. When you try an organic tomato, it tastes better. usually sweeter, more flavorful, better texture. I wanted to see, will organic potato and corn chips taste any different than what Frito Lay is pumping out? Here's what I found.

 Ok, organic chips taste better, fact. These were the best sea salt and vinegar chips I have ever had. The vinegar was pretty subtle, a nice alternative to the mouth puckering mass produced stuff. They were also thicker and crunchier than most other brands. I was a big fan of these.

I don't usually pay attention to this kind of stuff, but how cool is the art on the bag, right?It just made me like this guy's products even more. Usually, I hate Lime flavored tortilla chips. Tostito's with lime is the worst offender for me. That stuff tastes like its made in a chemical plant. These were really nice though. The lime tasted like real lime and the chips tasted like the freshly fried chips on the table at a Mexican restaurant. The bag was empty in about 2 minutes. 

 Sea Salt and Vinegar

 So maybe it's not the perfect potato, but it's a natural potato, defects and all.

 Lime Tortilla chips

Not only were the chips great, but the chip peddler himself was a really nice guy. We talked a little bit through email and he is a cool dude. Check out his life of cycling and making organic chips while giving back to the world. 

www.chippeddler.com

First product review!!: Pork Grinds Hawaii

Thanks to the lovely folks over at Pork Grinds Hawaii, I got to do my first Product review! I want to start out by saying that these are not your run of the mill, gas station pork rinds. As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, I give this product my very own seal of approval as being a "gourmet pork rind". I was really intrigued by the concept for this product which is, essentially, pork rinds with very interesting flavors. Being an Asian food nerd myself, I requested to try the kim chee flavored, char siu, furikake and then just for fun, sea salt and vinegar. I know sea salt and vinegar is not Asian but it is delicious. A couple of my culinary friends and I had a tasting of this product and the results were unanimous. Everyone's favorite flavor was the char siu. If you aren't familiar with char siu, It is just the Chinese word for roast pork, Chinese style. Think about the flavor of those sticky red spare ribs you got from your local Chinese restaurant growing up. This is a flavor I know most of us can relate to because, 1), everyone loves ribs and 2),  every mediocre Chinese food restaurant in America is sharing the same recipe book, I'm sure of it. I loved this flavor because it actually tastes as though you are eating a crispy spare rib. Second place in the flavor contest was given to the sea salt and vinegar pork rinds. These were just as addicting as any sea salt and vinegar chip and it really worked well with the pork rind flavor. They were light, crispy, vinegary and delicious. I was really excited to try the kim chee flavor because I love the skunky, fermented saltiness that is kim chee. Also, these pork rinds had that fiery red color that kim chee gets. It wasn't skunky smelling like the real stuff, but it did have that taste of Korea. I really enjoyed the flavor of the Korean chili pepper in the kim chee flavor. It was very mild but with more chili flavor than heat. Last but not exactly least was the furkikake. If you have never heard of it before, furikake is also known as the salt and pepper of Japan. Often sprinkled on top of rice, it is a Japanese seasoning that can be made with a number of spices and ingredients. It can include dried seaweed, sesame seeds and sometimes dried shrimp. Even though it was my least favorite of the bunch, I still enjoyed the experience. It had a flavor profile similar to sushi because of the seaweed. Overall, I really liked this product. I cant say enough good things about that char siu flavor especially. It really tasted like it had been roasted in a Chinese roasting oven. Mmmmmm, good stuff.  Thanks again to Pork Grinds Hawaii, Mahalo Y'all

These were only four of the many flavors the company has to offer.
If you are interested in getting some of these gourmet pork rinds for yourself, check out their website at porkgrindshawaii.com