Back Die Bokke

 So the Salty Bag's international correspondent sent in a whole wack of notes/reviews/what have you. Without further ado:

Various Mayonesa (mayo) flavoured chips were all over Ecuador, Sometimes powdered flavour and sometimes an actual sachet of mayo to throw in the bag (Yupi Rizadas). Neither good nor bad, salty and fatty as expected, I preferred the (Tostitos) Pizzerolas (sabor a pizza). 

I didn't find a lot of chip variety where I was wandering around in Spain but the (Ruffles sabor a Jamon) ham flavour made sense, they were salty.

The UAE had these (Lay's) French Cheese chips. I don't know how you expect to distill all the cheese in France into a chip but these were forgettable (not like French cheese which is amazing) and perhaps an apt metaphor. 

The Sun Chips (not the North American Sun Chips brand) Mix Masala chips from Sri Lanka weren't actually Lankan. I think they were imports. I wanted them to be more spicy. 

The Maldives had a fair amount of chips, the (Kitco kettle cooked) Arabic Spice was fine. The (also Kitco kettle cooked) Flaming Chili was not particularly flaming. I did not purchase more. 

I think the (F. East [Flavours of the East]) Hainanese Chicken Rice chips were from Singapore but I ate them in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian food in KL, and food there in general, is mind blowing and Singapore isn't bad either and then these chips were a massive letdown of blandness (sorry!). 

Vietnam had a lot of pleasant chip flavours that were medium in seasoning, I wanted the (Swing, viga) teriyaki (Osaka) to be more extreme than it was. 

The Philippines has a lot of snacks like these (Tattoos Pizza, and Spicy Cheese) Corn Tubes, which like Jolibee, I never exactly felt love for. 

The hot pink garlic beef Doritos from Japan were stinky and weird, the packet had to leave the room we were staying in because the artificial garlic meat smell was so strong. This is crazy because almost everything else we ate in Japan was mind blowingly good. 

Various South African chips:

Willards (Crinkle Cut) bunny chow (curry) chips do not do Durban curry justice and have rightly disappeared. I ate a range of Lay's during hard lockdown that were fine (Sweet & Smoky American BBQ flavour, Japanese Teriyaki Chicken flavour). PnP (pick and pay) generally makes substandard chips and these (PnP Brai time) Potjieko flavoured chips were crumbled into more dust than chip and tasted like charred vegetables in a bad way. It's pronounced poy-kee-cose and it's a cast iron cauldron with feet, you slow cook over coals layered with meat and veg in a specific way. I like salt and vinegar so acidic it's near caustic but have warmed to sweeter vinegar notes here like the balsamic Flanagans, they were the best of the bunch (which were MacGilly's Balsamic Vinegar, Spanish Chorizo, and Basil's Cheesy Pesto). Messaris chips are Lay's style but perhaps a cut above in terms of flavour if you et a fresh bag. I wanted the Chili-Chippi version to be super fire, it was not (bag misleading!). Winnaz (Paprika) chips are from Rwanda and are a ringer for a really good bbq chip and made me think about how smoky paprika really is the backbone of BBQ flavour. The Woolies Farmer's chips (South Africa) were so good I had to not buy more because I would eat them until I possibly had a salt issue. The winner is pickled onion which was like dill pickle, S&V, and sour cream and onion in a single chip. I don't usually like meaty chips but the (Farmer's) Braai Lamb Chops chips had notes of mustard and rosemary that changed my mind about this issue. (Farmer's) Chili Chutney were in the vein of sweet chili, weakest of the set (trio) but still good. Pringles have made some inroads here and do some interesting flavours; The Sichuan Style Kung Pao Chicken did not taste like Sichuan food but did have spicy American mall food court Chinese vibes that were moreish, the Italian Style Black Pepper and Parmesan tasted like unercooked Kraft Dinner - chalky and weird (win some, lose some!). I keep going back to PnP for the special editions and finally these Chicken Dust (Salty Bag comment, the bag literally states "Chicken Dust Flavoured") Salt & Peppery Smoky Charred Corner Chicken chips were tasty - lots of black pepper with a fire roasted chicken vibe. Simba chips are the best South African chip, period. They are ridged and always nicely seasoned. Roarrrs with Chakalaka flavour is a bit like vegetable stew and spicy salsa in one. Somehow these chips actually had hints of things like green peppers and green beans and just the right amount of spice. A complex chip flavour well executed.

The Lay's Strong (Chili and Lime ["perfect with Beer"]) were German and I think the concept is chips to pair with beer - crunchier and more flaour than regular Lay's to my recollection. I like the concept of chip pairings and the German taste for crunchy spicy chips.