Betcha Can't Create Just One Potato Chip Flavour!

Are you ready for another edition of FOODIE FRIDAY?  I hope you are!  And believe it or not, I have to say that someone else gave me the idea behind today's blog post!

So, I want to give credit where credit is due, and I want to thank Viki A. of Pincourt, Quebec, Canada for the inspiration behind today's post!  Thanks, Viki!  What a great idea!

All right.  So, today's topic was inspired by a post that I happened to come across on Viki's Facebook page.  You see, she and I have known each other for a few years from a mutual discussion group that we both belonged to years ago, and somehow we decided that we would become friends.  And, I'm glad we did because she's become quite a great pal.

Anyway, back to the story.

In Canada (the country where both of us were born), we just wrapped up a contest sponsored by Lay's Potato Chips.  Lay's, of course, is one of the biggest potato chip makers in the Western Hemisphere, and certainly you can see all sorts of different flavours of Lay's chips over the years from Original to Sour Cream and Onion.  From Barbecue to Dill Pickle.  From Smokey Bacon to Sea Salt and Pepper.  And many many more.

Well, over the last couple of years, Lay's has come up with a contest that allowed Canadians to come up with their own flavours of potato chip.  By going online to the Lay's "Do Us a Flavour" website, you could choose a variety of different ingredients and flavour combinations to make your own flavour of potato chip and give it a creative name.

The stakes were quite high for having the winning chip flavour.  The winning chip would get $50,000 in cold hard cash, plus 1% of all future bags of chips sold.  I know that percentage doesn't seem like a lot, but if, say, 75,000 bags of your flavour sold in a week, you'd get $750 that week.  And, if that trend continued, you could make $39,000 a year.  Not a bad chunk of change for just coming up with a flavour idea.

I remember entering that contest last year.  I would have thought that my flavour idea of Spaghetti and Meatballs would have done extremely well in the competition, but alas, it was not chosen.

In fact, last year, the four top contenders were Grilled Cheese and Ketchup, Perogy Platter, Maple Moose, and Creamy Garlic Caesar. 

I certainly had my favourite flavour (Perogy Platter received my vote), and I really wanted it to win.  Alas, the concoction known as Maple Moose (which was reportedly inspired by adding maple syrup to roadkill), ended up pulling off the biggest upset ever, winning the whole kit and kaboodle.  To be honest, it wasn't my favourite flavour, although I didn't dislike it.

And, well...to be honest, the flavour was pulled after ninety days due to low sales.  But hey, you had to admire the fact that the person who created the winning chip added a Canadian flair to the flavour combo.

The contest has also been held in America, and lets just say that some of the flavours they came up with are just as strange.  Chicken and Waffles, Cheesy Garlic Bread (yum), Sriracha, Wasabi Ginger, and Cappuccino.

Somehow, I don't see potatoes and coffee going very well.

Well, in Canada, they once again have come up with four brand new flavours to choose from.  This year's choices?  Bacon Poutine, Cinnamon Bun, Jalapeno Mac 'n Cheese, and Tzatziki.  Once again, I have my favourite (go Bacon Poutine!), and once again, I have the flavour that I really question (surprisingly enough it isn't Cinnamon Bun, but Tzatziki).  It's too soon to tell which flavour will win, but it looks like a fairly close contest.

So, this leads to the main body of the blog entry.  If you could come up with your own potato chip flavour, what would you make it taste like?  Would it be salty?  Sweet?  Bitter?  Spicy?  Or, would it be absolutely gross?

Well, once again, I submitted a couple of choices to the Lay's people...and once again, I was denied.  I keep saying that one of these days, my flavour will get chosen. 

Anyway, I'll share my two rejected flavours, as well as other ideas that I came up with.  Many of them I think are tasty...but I threw in one flavour that is kind of a joke one.  Would you try any of my creations?

1.  SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Yes, this was the very first flavour idea that I came up with for the Lay's contest, and I thought that it had real promise.  If anything, I thought that it would have a real Italian kick to it.  After all, the ingredients I selected were cheese, tomatoes, and beef.  Really, if anything, it would have been a combination that nobody else would have thought of.

2.  HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN WING

Okay, so whenever I grab an order of chicken wings from a deli or a restaurant, I typically like mine to have a little bit of sweetness to it.  I tend to gravitate towards honey garlic flavouring.  Surprisingly, I think this flavour would work very well as a potato chip flavour, and this was the flavour that I submitted this year.  Again, it got ignored.  Probably considered too safe a flavour.

3.  PRETZEL AND MUSTARD

Okay, bear with me folks.  If you've ever tried one of those fresh baked pretzels that you see on the streets of any major metropolitan city in North America, you know that for some reason, they always taste a little better with mustard.  It would definitely be a weird flavour for a potato chip, but I would eat them.

4.  SESAME CHICKEN

Okay, maybe it's the "I love Chinese food" part of me talking here, but colour me crazy - I think sesame chicken could be potentially a delicious flavour for a chip.  If you combine it with the right dip, it could be a flavour explosion of pure joy.

5.  LEMON POPPYSEED

Well, if Creamy Garlic Caesar can be a finalist last year, you could try other salad dressing combinations.  Somehow, I think Lemon Poppyseed would work better than Raspberry Vinaigrette.

6.  TOOTHPASTE AND ORANGE JUICE

(Heh.  Just kidding.)

Okay, so what flavours of chip do you think you would create?