The comparison with french fries is obvious.

After all, potato chips not only have the raw material in common with them, but also the color and the aromatic sensation.

First and foremost, it is based on a deep-fried crust and, secondly, on the starchy tuber, which reflects the roasted taste well and does not itself bring too much flavor.

The method of manufacture and the content also do not differ in principle from those of the sticks from the hot fat bath.

Nevertheless, there is a relationship that is not that close.

Potato chips are more on the same level as salty cookies. Peanut flips, crackers, lentil chips, rice crisps, pretzel sticks and dry pretzels, tortilla chips and krupuk made from ground shrimp are part of their immediate environment. The only difference to snacks, which, like chips, are usually consumed on the side, is that they are not made from dough.

In contrast to the crisps or stacked crisps made from mashed potato powder, they are created using a conventional process. To do this, the potatoes are peeled (there are now also brands that offer crisps made from unpeeled potatoes), cut into fine slices, watered, dried and finally fried in simmering oil. The fat content in the finished product - mostly sunflower oil - makes up 30 to almost 40 percent of the entire product.

For industrial production conditions, this may be an unusually short and conservative process, especially since it is also a tried and tested form of preserving potatoes.

Companies that are geared towards mass production put less reins on themselves when they want to keep their chips with spicy additives in conversation and stimulate sales.

A race of flavors

Flavor variations such as bacon, barbecue, roast chicken, burger, cheddar, chilli lime, doner kebab, shrimp cocktail, Hawaiian style, herb butter, pizza, sour cream, mustard, tomato, onion and even white truffle provide some drastic examples of how far they are Opportunities of the taste laboratories meanwhile are. The aroma race has long since led to a fusion of food intake and amusement. The accessories from the past are now vying for more and more attention. It is almost as if it wanted to steal the show from the movie, the quiz program on TV, the evening with friends.

If there are only versions in the bag, such as the ever-popular paprika or rosemary, then this seems old-fashioned to some consumers.

On the other hand, the trend that was originally, unadulterated and

plain,

is back in trend:

chips that consist of nothing more than the basic ingredients.

Ultimately, it is through them that even the crassest aromatic contortion finds its raison d'etre.

We test classics

Together with Berlin's top chef Stephan Hentschel, we

tasted crisps that are declared

as salted,

salted

or

natural

. With his menus, the 39-year-old Saxon managed to get the “Cookies Cream” as the only vegetarian restaurant in the capital to be given a star rating by the Michelin Guide. The weekday vegetarian (on weekends you can catch him with a goulash) deliberately leaves pasta, rice and tofu aside in order to give more space to original creations in meatless cuisine.

Although Hentschel attaches great importance to biodynamic ingredients in his kitchen, he did not like the biochips in the test. But it is possible that their unbalanced character, their limited “snackability” does not really fit in with the broadcasts of the European Championship. Football games are already enough cause for concern.