EAT THEM WHILE THEY ARE FRESH
More important with crisps than most people think, and it is not really about crunch.
A crisp is about a third fat by weight, and frying oils oxidise over time and with exposure to light and air. Oxidised oil tastes sharp, waxy and faintly of cardboard - so an old bag of crisps is not merely soft, it is rancid.
Check the date, buy from somewhere with turnover, and finish an opened bag rather than clipping it shut for a fortnight.
STORAGE
Sealed, cool, dark. Light and warmth accelerate the oxidation of the frying oil.
Once opened, a clip helps with texture but does nothing about the oil - the clock is running either way.
Not the fridge. Condensation makes them soft, and they take up other smells.
IF THEY GO SOFT
Three or four minutes in a 150 C oven, spread on a tray, then cooled completely. It restores the crunch. It does nothing for rancidity - if they taste sharp rather than merely soft, throw them out.
WHAT TO SERVE THEM WITH
Salt and pepper is the crisp that goes with everything, precisely because it is not trying to be a flavour of its own.
With a good beer or a dry white. Alongside a sandwich. Crushed over a soup instead of croutons - which sounds odd and works, particularly with a smooth vegetable soup.
On a cheese board, where they replace crackers surprisingly well against a soft cheese.
ACRYLAMIDE - THE USEFUL VERSION
Acrylamide forms when starchy foods are cooked hot - fried, roasted, baked or toasted - and it is in crisps, chips, roast potatoes, toast, biscuits, cereal and coffee alike. The EU regulates it in manufactured food, requiring lighter frying and controlled potato storage.
The part that actually applies to you is at home: golden, not brown. Roast potatoes, chips and toast cooked to a light gold rather than dark. That is where a household's intake mostly comes from, not from a bag of crisps.
SALT
Most European adults eat more salt than recommended, and snack foods are a large part of it. Nothing to feel guilty about - just be aware that a whole bag is a meaningful share of a day's worth.
Lady Joseph
LA SABLESIENNE
Go Pure
Go Pure
