The Pennywise of Potatoes: Mrs. Fisher's Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips

I have been a fan of the Dark potato chips from our neighbors in Rockford, IL, Mrs. Fisher's, for a while now. They just taste extra rich and roasty and I have lamented that I've never found a salt & vinegar chip from them. Until now. Or rather a recent shopping trip at the Woodman's in Sun Prairie.

For as long I have been a fan of their chips I have been a fan of their packaging as it features an anthropormorphic potato who knows a fine milliner dancing with a couple of kids. It's something of a Rorschach test as the look on the spud's face can be interpreted as being gay & mirthful or simply menacing. Personally I see it as the latter because, to my eyes, he looks like he's about ready to throw the children into a cauldron of hot oil and kettle fry them up before salting them down.

And I love the company motto: "VITA SEALD". Who needs that second E? The life essences of potatoes are sealed in each bag. Or the life essences of children? Hmm...

The bag notes that these chips are "thick sliced" (not thickly) and so they were. They were also of a fairly narrow diameter. By and large these chips were lightly colored - yellow - but there were brown bits to be had as well including an occasional brown edge. The surfaces were well-bubbled and featured plenty of large salt crystals which raised my blood pressure just by looking at them. They looked very deer-friendly. A delightful earthy-sweet potato flavor was up front on the nose followed by oil and a touch of vinegar. Usually oil is most prominent so this was a nice change of pace.

The thick cut yielded a nice, big crunch. Those salt crystals kicked up the salinity as expected and there was plenty of vinegar tang to match. Truth in labeling here. As for the potatoes, they provided a rich, earthy-sweet taste that I liked because it was earthy tasting first.

Mrs. Fischer's has another winner here. These are on par with Vitner's as far as the salt & vinegar go. Eating them I thought I was pickling my viscera. The difference is that these are thicker and crunchier than Vitner's. A very fine chip. Highy recommended.

Faith, hope and spuds: Ole Salty's Kettle Cooked Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips

If memory serves, I found this bag of Ole Salty's chips at the Mobil at Aberg and Shopko Drive early one morning at around 1:30 back in January. I was on my way home and thirsty so I figured I'd make a quick stop for a soda or something I didn't have at home. One stroll through the chip aisle later, I walked out with a new brand of salt & vinegar snacking adventure ahead.

 

 

The next day I took a look at the bag in daylight and found that Old Salty's is in Rockford, Illinois, the home of Mrs. Fisher's potato chips. Rockford punches well above its weight when it comes to potato chips. There's a fellow on the label who reminds me of someone from the Pink Panther cartoon wearing rain gear. Also on the bag is Biblical verse, 1 Corinthians 13:13:

 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 

I read it as "But the greatest of these is spuds." 

 

The chips were fairly lightly colored though brown spots were common. I guess they were mostly cut from fairly narrow gauge spuds as the chips were generally small and dainty. However, they did appear thicker than normal. Oil of the soybean variety came first in my sniff test. Spud came next with a hint of vinegar bringing up the rear.

 

A healthy crunch was to be had and I found that these were the first salt & vinegar chips in a while that actually tasted like there was more salt on them than you normally get on a potato chip. The vinegar flavor came with a moderately strong tanginess to it while the potato flavor was more earthy than sweet, my preferred ratio. The oil wasn't a prominent taste for my tongue but it did catch a little roastiness which was delicious.

 

God smiled upon the Tater Chicks 815, LLC, who manufactured these chips as they were very tasty. They simply hit all the right notes for me - earthy potato flavor, more salt, and a good, firm vinegar zip. Highly recommended.