These Dirt-Cheap HEMA Chips Score Highly in Huge Chip Test
They cost 80 cents: the HEMA chips that impressed during a huge chip test by culinary critic Mara Grimm. Out of more than 60 types of chips, all available in the Netherlands, HEMA’s plain chips have by far the best value for money.
You may know Mara as a restaurant critic for Het Parool. She wanted to compile a list of five genuinely good types of chips that you can happily nibble with your aperitif, as they do in Mediterranean countries too. But things got rather out of hand, and within a few days Mara worked her way through more than sixty types of chips—featuring as many major (supermarket) brands and public favourites as possible. She then divided them into plain chips and flavoured chips.
Good to know: of all chips, plain chips are the least unhealthy. Potatoes, sunflower oil, salt. That’s it.
Plain chip test
According to Mara, the differences between plain chips are also smaller than those between flavoured chips. We discovered the same thing once in a plain chip test in the editorial office. At the time, we compared six bags of supermarket-brand plain chips from Albert Heijn, Vomar, Dirk, Jumbo, Plus and Lidl. All those packages look alike, and all those chips look almost exactly the same.
In her chip test, which she approached much more rigorously, Mara reached the same conclusion regarding the appearance of the chips: ‘When you open an ordinary bag, they may even seem interchangeable at first glance. But when you taste them one after another, everything changes. Not only the type of potato, but also the quality of the oil used is essential.’ Chips fried in vegetable oils, such as rapeseed oil, scored lower.
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Fat is no plus
There are also major differences in thickness and hardness, and thinner is certainly not always better. Very thin chips that are extremely greasy do not score highly with the critical reviewer.
HEMA’s plain chips
What makes HEMA’s plain chips so good that they took fourth place in the test? According to Mara, the texture is fantastic—much better than that of all the other supermarket brands she tried: they are so thin, airy and crunchy that they are ideal with an aperitif. Incidentally, these are not only the cheapest, but also the least greasy chips in this top five, according to Mara.
I immediately headed to HEMA at a brisk pace. Eighty cents per bag—stocking up is my motto.
Sarriegui winner
The highest-ranking plain chips are the Spanish Sarriegui. Deliciously thin, lightly greasy, incredibly crunchy and tasting genuinely only of potato. The downside: they are far from being available everywhere. Read more about Mara Grimm’s chip test here.
Also read:
- The great ham-and-cheese croissant test: this is the tastiest one from the supermarket
- Albert Heijn hamburger BBQ Donuts: who comes up with this?!
- Toxic mineral oil in olive oil: government stays silent
