These Are the Best Chips in the World

I really love chips. Nibbits make me feel seven again, plain ridged chips are the stakes in bets (if I think I’m right, I’ll gladly bet a bag of ridged chips) and I prefer to eat those deliciously disgusting cheese puffs when I’m home alone – and no one can see me wiping my dusty chip fingers on the cat. But the best chips in the world? I ate them on holiday a few years ago, and I still haven’t been able to find them in the Netherlands.

These amazing chips look like ordinary plain chips, but their colour leans towards red-orange. The bag is beautifully dark green, with an orange lion on it. And the flavour is very surprising: mango chutney. My favourite chips are the mango-chutney-flavoured chips from the Simba brand. The only downside: you can only buy them in South Africa.

An Angular Bottle of Deliciousness

Mrs. Balls is famous in South Africa, and perhaps beyond. That name appears on angular bottles filled with a thick sweet-and-sour chutney that makes pretty much everything delicious. Mash sweet potatoes and add a generous splash of chutney, with a handful of rocket: fantastic. It also belongs in bobotie. And with fried eggs (tip) and bacon, with grilled meat and as a marinade for chicken, it’s delicious with everything. Could it get any better? The makers of Simba chips thought so, and they came up with these fantastically delicious chips.

A Braai Is Still Different from a Barbecue

I first ate them at a braai, the South African version of a barbecue party. In the Netherlands, you simply get some meat and a salad for a barbecue, then some baguette and satay sauce, and you don’t buy chips to go with it. But the braais I’ve attended in South Africa are a little different. Everyone spends hours watching the fire with a nice beer in hand. The self-appointed braaimaster, the only person allowed to do anything with the meat, makes sure it’s cooked deliciously. Meanwhile, snacks are passed around, and they can be absolutely anything, because when we drink beer for hours on an empty stomach while watching the food, things can get rather raucous. Luckily, someone had bought a bag of those delicious chips, and I – rather embarrassingly, I have to admit – gobbled them down one after another.

Eleven Hours by Plane

Delicious! They’re sour and salty, with a little sweetness, and spicy too. Highly moreish, with a unique aroma (yes, that matters) and sooo wonderfully crunchy! I definitely wanted to eat more of them! Luckily, I found them quickly in the supermarket the next day: those green bags. So they became my favourite holiday snack.

I Miss Them…

And then you come home, do your laundry, look at the photos, tell your holiday stories to anyone willing to listen, and everyday life starts again. I soon realised: I miss those chips. Of course I was happy to see my friends in South Africa, enjoyed the beautiful nature, tasted delicious wines and ate fantastic food in unique restaurants, but every time I go grocery shopping, I think: where are those Simba chips? Yes, eleven hours by plane away, that’s where they are. Unfortunately. The holiday really is over.

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