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3 Jan 2019
zesty salt and globalized snack food
3 Jan 2019 11:03 pmWhen I first moved to Finland in 2004, age 21, there weren't Doritos or Pringles or any variety of salt and vinegar chips (crisps, if you're in the UK)(one of my two favs). I've always been more salt- than sugar-oriented, and these were a particularly tragic loss at the time.
But most of the chips I could want showed up eventually - first off-brand imitation Doritos, then actual Doritos (cheese and ranch flavored only, which I don't really like anymore); Kettle Chips came and trickled down from gourmet places to standard supermarket fare; Sokos group made some kind of deal with Tesco that provides their store-brand salt and vinegar crisps to the S-market under Wiklund, definitely the best salt and vinegar chips I've had in Finland (I had better in the UK once). The more exotic flavors of Doritos - I particularly miss salsa verde - haven't ever come here, but occasionally I've seen a more yuppie version of flavored corn chips at Delicatessen, the fancy gourmet supermarket under Stockmann.
The one flavor of chips that's tied for my favorite with salt and vinegar potato chips, though, are Tostitos with a hint of lime, and nothing like that has ever made an appearance here. Considering they'd barely made it from test markets to Alabama when I moved here, I expect it to take another decade or so, if it happens.
Now, obviously I have investigated how to make them myself. It seems lime salt is the way to do this, and putting it on extant corn chips is possible (vs. frying or baking corn tortillas oneself).
When I first looked into this some years ago, though, the process for making lime salt that they suggested involved making a solution, then baking it dry. It sounded time-consuming and fussy and like way too much work for me, so I dropped it.
Since then, flavored salt has come onto my radar via other recipes, usually being mentioned by foodie-looking sources, and when I googled it the other day I discovered a booming industry in tiny, expensive containers of salt with other spices mixed in being flogged for prices north of ten bucks for a shot glass's worth!
So, obviously, I laughed, at that and at the packaging and product names, but ultimately, I have reason to hope this trend is global so hopefully I can find a purveyor of lime salt close to me so that I can buy it in large quantity without having it shipped over the ocean (I said no to this plan even though it would be at my parents' expense because it seems egregiously wasteful to be mailing rocks). And, yes, I've since seen that you can also make lime salt with air-dried zest, but I don't have a Cuisinart either and really, I'd rather not have to do it myself. (But maybe I will if I have to.)
But most of the chips I could want showed up eventually - first off-brand imitation Doritos, then actual Doritos (cheese and ranch flavored only, which I don't really like anymore); Kettle Chips came and trickled down from gourmet places to standard supermarket fare; Sokos group made some kind of deal with Tesco that provides their store-brand salt and vinegar crisps to the S-market under Wiklund, definitely the best salt and vinegar chips I've had in Finland (I had better in the UK once). The more exotic flavors of Doritos - I particularly miss salsa verde - haven't ever come here, but occasionally I've seen a more yuppie version of flavored corn chips at Delicatessen, the fancy gourmet supermarket under Stockmann.
The one flavor of chips that's tied for my favorite with salt and vinegar potato chips, though, are Tostitos with a hint of lime, and nothing like that has ever made an appearance here. Considering they'd barely made it from test markets to Alabama when I moved here, I expect it to take another decade or so, if it happens.
Now, obviously I have investigated how to make them myself. It seems lime salt is the way to do this, and putting it on extant corn chips is possible (vs. frying or baking corn tortillas oneself).
When I first looked into this some years ago, though, the process for making lime salt that they suggested involved making a solution, then baking it dry. It sounded time-consuming and fussy and like way too much work for me, so I dropped it.
Since then, flavored salt has come onto my radar via other recipes, usually being mentioned by foodie-looking sources, and when I googled it the other day I discovered a booming industry in tiny, expensive containers of salt with other spices mixed in being flogged for prices north of ten bucks for a shot glass's worth!
So, obviously, I laughed, at that and at the packaging and product names, but ultimately, I have reason to hope this trend is global so hopefully I can find a purveyor of lime salt close to me so that I can buy it in large quantity without having it shipped over the ocean (I said no to this plan even though it would be at my parents' expense because it seems egregiously wasteful to be mailing rocks). And, yes, I've since seen that you can also make lime salt with air-dried zest, but I don't have a Cuisinart either and really, I'd rather not have to do it myself. (But maybe I will if I have to.)
