Move Beyond All the Artisanal Cheese: French Potato Chips Are Absolutely Sinful.
This past Christmas, I spent time in France, an area that appeared on its best behaviour. Tasteful, twinkling lights, village market booths stacked with exquisitely fresh produce, and enough cheeses capable of clogging the entire Channel Tunnel with cholesterol. Overflowing trays of shimmering crustaceans resting on ice glimpsed through fogged brasserie windows. While observing a lengthy yet well-mannered procession of well-dressed citizens picking up their handmade yule logs, I felt a traitorous thought, that my place of origin, York, which turns into a modern reimagining of Hogarth’s Gin Lane at this time of year featuring mince-pie flavoured vapes and BuzzBallz, would do well to absorb a few lessons.
The Sophisticated Front
However this entire “art de vivre” affectation is just a polished mask – The country falls victim equally to its lowest desires like any other place. Just go into a local *supermarché* and you’ll see. The potato chip section stands as a monument to decadence, stacked with the likes of Roquefort, spiced bean patty, beer-braised beef and *beurre salé* profiles. Who eats chips that taste of butter? It’s like a product found at one of those midway festivals where they fry solid butter in batter. A certain comedian stated online they represent the pinnacle of snacking she has ever sampled, however she has undoubtedly been influenced by a form of local propaganda – after all, her childhood was in Brittany.
A Global Lawlessness
One must acknowledge the snack flavour business internationally is as lawless and unregulated as major tech firms. There is a refusal to permit the tuber to taste of itself, adorned only rightly by a modest application of seasoning. Our own nation possesses a dark history regarding chip varieties on British soil, notably around Christmas. The year 2025, after all, introduced Christmas-cake flavoured crisps and limited-edition Beef Wellington Walkers. Let us also recall the occasion when a famous high-street chain thought “festive fizz and berries” was an appealing flavour in a salty crisp? I expected more of the land of Escoffier.
What is the logical conclusion? Foie gras crisps? Cream puff crisps? Gauloises? I should stop, lest I provide inspiration.