Lidl is now selling Smokey Braai chips: lekker or lekker laten liggen?
We’ve known for a while: as a chip lover, you’re pretty well catered for at Lidl. Besides the regular flavors, including paprika chips and bolognese chips, you can also buy chimichurri chips and tzatziki and gyros chips there. The latest variety: Smokey Braai chips.
Braai is South African barbecuing. But never say that to a South African, because braai is much more than that. Braai isn’t just a much-loved and indispensable part of South African culture; it’s a lifestyle with its own public holiday (Braai Day, September 24). And the name? It’s a combination of the Afrikaans words ‘braai’, meaning ‘to grill’, and ‘vleis’ (meat).
Is this the bag you want to take to your next barbecue?
What we think of Lidl’s Smokey Braai chips
‘Nice bag, it looks very African,’ says Rick. Manouk, a born taster who immediately sniffs a chip: ‘It smells like satay.’ Lianne: ‘I taste potato, but there’s a herb in it… I can’t place it.’ Jeffrey: ‘Cumin, and it’s very overpowering.’ Lianne: ‘It leaves a very chemical aftertaste, it reminds me a bit of really bad chicken curry.’ Rick, the editorial team’s optimist as always: ‘I don’t find it particularly nasty, and the texture and crunch are really good.’ Only to add a few critical notes later: ‘It’s a little sweet, and it has nothing to do with barbecue.’ Lianne: ‘The cumin is far too overpowering; otherwise you can’t really taste anything.’ Manouk, done sniffing: ‘It tastes like gravy.’
Powdered sugar? Butterscotch?!
On a more philosophical level: what is the robust flavor they refer to on the bag? A fair question from Jeffrey, because: ‘Not very salty, a weak flavor—no, this has nothing to do with robustness.’ After an extensive inspection of the attractive bag, the sweetness turns out to come from powdered sugar and butterscotch flavoring. And according to our test panel, you really don’t want to combine butterscotch and cumin. ‘And the herbs are poorly distributed too,’ Rick calls out as we all stand brushing our teeth.
Sorry, Lidl
Final verdict: at 1.69 euros, we think this is a genuine waste of money. If you still have no sense of smell or taste because of COVID, but do like a crunchy texture, that’s the only acceptable reason we can think of to buy this bag. Otherwise, spend that 1.69 euros on some genuinely delicious chips. Sorry Lidl, this is a misstep. Let’s hope they don’t let anyone in South Africa taste them…
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