zesty salt and globalized snack food

[cimorene]

When 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.)

Comments

[conuly]

Oh, I feel you on Salsa Verde Doritos. You can't get them in NYC either! If I ever find them, I buy up the entire stock at once.

I think Tostitos with a hint of lime also has buttermilk powder, idk why.

[cimorene]

They have a hint of sweetness with the sour, maybe that's why. I wouldn't do that, especially since I'm lactose intolerant and buttermilk seems rare here.

[yvannairie]

That's honestly strange. Sour cream and onion chips have been a thing my entire life, and the appearance of Brand Goods(tm) like Doritos and Pringles has always had me at a resounding "it's entirely useless, thanks" b/c there was always a Pirkka or Rainbow (or Xtra, now) version of those chips that tasted better and didn't have the brand tax associated with them.

[cimorene]

I'm not sure which part you are saying is strange? The flavors that haven't been copied?

Doritos is the originator of the "nacho cheese" flavored corn chips and Cool Ranch (here called "Cool American") flavored corn chips, and flavors that are imitations of them are dominant in flavored corn chips even down to recognizable packaging. But Doritos has had a line of rotating and temporary special flavors since the 90s such as pizza, Taco Bell, the aforementioned salsa verde sold throughout the west and southwest, and some other even spicier ones; generic brands don't usually make these, probably because they're a smaller market share (but generic brand corn chips tend to be less well-made anyway). And of course, plain corn chips are more popular than flavored ones.

[yvannairie]

Ah, I guess it's the association of brand with specific flavours? Every flavour of chip made by Finnish brands that I've ever found worth eating has nigh always also been available as a generic version also.

But if what you were actually saying was "There weren't any of the specific flavours I associate with this brand available", what you're saying reads a lot less strange to me, yeah.