If you're somehow reading this and you're not from Canada, President's Choice is the house brand of the major grocery/pharmacy chain Loblaws Inc. They are greedy capitalists who have taken advantage of every situation as well as their ubiquity to gauge their customer base with every possible excuse. They also, through their President's Choice brand, come up with some very interesting and experimental food products which delight and confound with equal measure.
Pre-chip: I'm not a poutine guy. Even before I couldn't eat most gravies because of onion and/or wheat content, I still didn't like the idea of soggy french fries. And as far as cheeses go, the "curd" variety isn't exactly my favourie. So, despite it being one of Canada's "delicacies" I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten poutine. Am I looking forward to tasting this? Nope, mostly because the "gravy" flavour is going to make or break whether it's even palatable or not.
Ingredients: Potatoes, oil of some type, seasoning (x 1000)
First smell: Strangely I'm not getting much of anything beyond potatoes and oil... a hint of the familiar smell of cheesy chips, but sans onion powder, it's not very potent.
First taste: The PC rippled chip is a good base for any flavour. They're always a thicker cut crinkle so they have a nice sturdy starch profile and a satisfying crunch. The Poutine flavour is shockingly subtle, where I'm getting a smack of the cheese (like a sour creme and cheddar chip) but with a hint of that gravy just teasing the tongue.
Aftertaste: The cheese and the gravy both linger a little but compete for dominance in the aftertaste. The taste doesn't outstay its welcome though. Picking the chips out of my molars, the starch and oils are mostly what remain.
Mass consumption: I've already been back for more. I can't say that PC has hit an absolute winner here, but it's not a total dog either. The familiarity of the cheesey chip goes a long way in selling this one as a binge eat but as I keep going, the gravy is constantly threatening to be a deterrent, though, again, it's not potent enough to put me right off.
Final thoughts: This is advertised on the bag as "Limited Edition - The Canadian Series" (which is also accompanied by the onion-heavy Cesar flavour and Peameal Bacon Sandwich flavour so I won't be getting into those)... I don't see it sticking around. I could see it popping back up from time to time though. I have to wonder, with the World Cup popping into Canadian cities this year, and with Lays making World Cup-partnered flavours, is this "Canadian Series" something to dare the tourists with?
Rating: 7.0
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