Chiplog - Brets Porcini Mushroom

In recent years I have developed an intolerance to onions, consuming which in its various forms can lead to becoming violently ill at worst, and feeling hours of upper gastro-intestinal discomfort at best. Most flavoured chips (and most flavoured anything in North America) wind up having onion or onion powder as a cheap source of easy power-flavour, which leaves me on the outside looking in wanting flavour for myself but finding very little. Chiplog is my hunt for yummy chips that I can actually eat.

Preamblin': I discovered Brets French chips about two years ago at a local bodega (we don't have real "bodegas" in Toronto, but it sounds fancier than "fruit and vegetable store") and instantly fell in love. Despite a bag of Brets being about double the price of, say, a bag of Lays for about half the volume, I was just so golddang excited to have a whole new array of flavoured chips that I could actually consume.

I wrote about those on my mostly abandoned Instagram account (which I'll maybe collect into a supplement Chiplog post here) and absolutely loved logging my chiply adventures. Unfortunately, said Bodega stopped carrying Le Chipsier Francais, and I was very, very sad. Life has literally not been the same since (I'll have to write an entry about the most disgusting chip I've ever eaten).

Lo and behold I was walking past the very same bodega this Saturday, looking wistfully in the doorway, thinking of fonder times, when I spied, just inside the doorway, the STACK OF BOXES with the Brets chips logo on the side. I handed the dog leash off to my wife without a word and charged inside, ready and eager to get some of my favourite chips of all time back into my gullet....

only to discover....

these are ALL NEW FLAVOURS. None of my favourites from before. No Chip Sauce or anise-flavoured chips for me. No, now I had to go through about a dozen flavour varieties and determine which were onion-free and ready for my consumption.  About half proved safe for eating which meant I had decisions to make. I said "only two" but wound up getting three with nothing but utter glee filling my soul for the day. A new flavour adventure awaits!

 Pre-chip: The first chip I'm going with out of this selection is the one that fills me with the most trepidation, mainly because the worst chip experience I've ever had still lingers large in my subconscious and I was similarly excited about eating that chip. Also, I don't really like mushrooms. It's mostly a texture thing, which should not be a problem here...but what do mushrooms actually taste like?  

Why would I buy a mushroom flavoured chip if I don't like mushrooms? Because it's a flavoured chip I *can* actually eat without bad things happening (potentially).
Why would I choose it as my first? Just to get it out of the way in case I don't like it. That way if I don't like it I still have two other flavours I can dive into. Plus, Lady Kent loves mushrooms so perhaps she will like them even if I don't.

Ingredients: Potatoes (France), sunflower oil, salt, natural porcini mushroom flavouring with other natural flavourings, carob powder, dried garlic, powdered porcini mushrooms.

First smell:I was bracing myself for a powerful scent, but mostly it's the aroma of potatoes with a hint of oil, but strangely not sunflower that I'm smelling, but olive. For some reason the sunflower/porcini mix creates a sort of olive scent.

First Taste: Like all Brets chips, the flavour palette is a subtle one that takes a moment to kick in. Unlike American chips which seems intent on overloading your taste buds Brets always wants you to discover the flavour. First taste is, well, it's chips! Yay! Fucking love chips. And it's certainly not a flavour I'm rejecting at all. I don't really know "mushroom" flavour, but if this is it, it's gentle and pleasant ("earthy" as Lady Kent chimed in) and then the garlic finds you, but again, not overwhelmingly so.

Aftertaste: It's the garlic that lingers the most, and that's more than mighty fine.

Mass Consumption: Two chips in rapid succession and yes, I'm ready to consume. The "mushroom" element is coming more to the forefont and it's really is quite enjoyable, which is a definite surprise for this guy who really doesn't like mushrooms. Will this whole 125g bag get eaten tonight? Possibly, but maybe only if Lady Kent helps. A dozen chips down and the flavour is both benefiting from a cumulating effect of mushroom powder in my mouth, but also overwhelming me only in that it's a flavour I'm not fully accustomed to.

Final Thoughts:Oh, we're back! Back into Brets and I'm beside myself. Consistency from chip to chip is pretty erratic here. One chip very garlic heavy, the next really hitting that porcini, the next a dose of saltiness, but that makes the flavour adventure more adventuresome, and kind of encourages me to shovel three or four in my mouth in quick succession to rediscover the flavours. This would never be a staple chip for me, but I could definitely see having a craving for them, or even, when just wanting something different, reaching for a bag. More than anything though, it's really making me want to discover more chip flavours. (So I like it but I'm also ready to move on?)

Rating:6.9/10