#tyrrell's

[paulpingminho]

[weirdnewswire]

Tyrrell’s, an English potato chip company, thought they were running a whimsical contest when they put a picture of an angry-looking man on the front of their chips with the caption: “Win a fleeting look of contempt or 25,000 pounds!” But, unfortunately for the unrefined potato chip company, poetry aficionados and academics are the ones giving them that the look of contempt. It turns out the picture of the angry man on the cover of the chip bag is famed poet R.S. Thomas (who passed away in 2000) and one poetry expert isn't happy about it.

[iwasateenagechippo]

Sweet Chili and Red Pepper

Brand: Tyrrell's Type: Kettle Cooked Chip My first time having this brand of chip, and although I'm not super into the flavor, the chips are great! I love that they have the skins on them still.

Taste: I'm not really into this flavor, and I'm not really sure why. Something about it just doesn't click with me, it's sweet, salty, no real spice at all, maybe just a touch, so I should love them, but I don't. I had to look at the ingredients to figure it out and it has anise in it, and I think that's what throws me off so much. 

Pairs well with: Went with my cider pretty well. But not sure what else I would have them with.

Rating: These aren't a bad chip, just a flavor I don't like. They are good enough for me to eat the bag no problem, but that's about it. 

3/5

[romanceoftravel]

Bar service on Virgin Atlantic Little Red

[crispwrappers-blog]

Schoolboy Q - Tyrrell's Salt & Black Pepper

[katiewantspie]

Vegetable crisps are possibly the best type of crisps ever.

[bookspiesandvideotape]

PIES: Tyrrell's Proper Popcorn

Gourmet popcorn?  Blame Heston.  I didn't realise that putting flavours onto popped corn constituted luxury.  An ex-boyfriend and I would frequently pour a concoction of melted butter and curry powder/fajita seasoning/Frank's Hot Sauce over freshly popped corn.  A trip to the States revealed a plethora of popcorn seasoning, and we returned to England with suitcases full of shakers of delicious corn toppers.  So why has this become a gourmet commodity? 

When Heston (Blumenthal) attempted to 'reinvent' cinema food, the first thing he addressed was popcorn.  It is a product which yields high profits, and is yet dry and uninspiring, usually just an overly salty (or sugary) packaging material.  Heston 'reinvented' the cinema snack by adding 'new and exciting' flavours (including the curried concoction that my ex and I had been eating for years).  This idea of adding proper flavour to popcorn was sold through the programme as being somehow innovative, really shaking things up.  And it's a notion that has been carried through to Heston's popcorn range for Waitrose; the sleek black and silver packaging instantly suggests luxury.  Luxury, curry flavoured popcorn.  A luxury version of something that costs just pennies to make.  As I'm sure you can gather, I'm having difficulties with popcorn being branded as a luxurious and decadent snack option.

All of which leads me to Tyrrell's Proper Popcorn.  I have just happily sat and eaten a whole bag of their delightful Sour Cream and Jalapeno Chilli corn.  Delightful, as the seasoning is both delicious and strong enough.  There is a satisfying finger coating quality (something I regard very highly in bag based snack foods).  According to the nutritional information, there are fewer that 400 calories in the veritable sack I've just munched through.  Excellent!  But perhaps even better than this, the product is not marketed as 'luxury'.  Yes, they are playing the 'British' and 'eccentric' angle to death ('It's Proper English Popcorn from Tyrrells', despite the ostensibly Mexican flavouring, and there is a quirky, B&W photograph of a be-goggled child in a wooden fire engine on the bright purple packaging) but at least it's not 'luxury'.  Sell me quirky popcorn, sell me eccentric popcorn, sell me 'English' popcorn, but please, please, please don't sell me 'luxury' popcorn.