There’s a Hanover, Pa., based potato chip company called Utz…they market a variety of chips that are fairly popular in the NYC area. The standard variations…plain, ruffled, low-salt, BBQ, etc.
I was standing in a deli today waiting for a sandwich when I noticed that they had a mustard-colored bag proudly proclaiming CRAB CHIPS.
Closer examination showed that the potato chips inside were flavored with Old Bay Seasoning, a product popular in the Chesapeake Bay area as an ingredient in crab boil…you season the cooking water with the stuff (salt, pepper, red pepper, celery seed, whatnot), and simmer the shellfish in it.
Not a bad idea for a potato chip flavoring. But JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY…CRAB CHIPS?
Looks like Old Man Utz put his bonehead son-in-law in charge of Research and Development. Can’t think of any other reasoning behind this…I mean, at LEAST call them Old Bay Chips, or something. The first thing that popped into my head was the Homer Simpson joke about choosing Mountain Dew or “Crab Juice.”
I’ll be monitoring the Crab Chip situation closely to let you know when the cobwebs start to accumulate on the bags.
Actually, Ike, as you have probably seen, you can get shrimp chips (as well as many other unlikely seafood-related snack foods) at Japanese grocery stores. The shrimp chips are really made from shrimp, and they look a lot like those little styrofoam half-shells that are used as packing material.
Perhaps you’d be interested in my favorite Japanese icthy-snack: “Kasugai Peanut and You” – peanuts covered in a crunchy rice cracker coating, liberally laced with shredded cuttlefish. Yum!
pug: Yeah, I love those shrimp chips! But I’d maintain that there’s a difference between walking into a Japanese grocery with your mind open and your taste-buds quivering, and stopping at a deli on a weekday afternoon to pick up an egg salad on whole wheat. In the latter situation, you don’t want to be challenged.
Eve: 50th Street near Seventh Avenue…DAMN! You tricked me into revealing my location again! Klptzyxym!..but I’m sure the delis down in your neck of the woods carry them, too, if they’re Utz-friendly.
You other comment reminds me of the dear old days at my old college frat, Eta Kau Pi.
Okay, I’ll buy a bag of Crab Chips on Monday and post a critique, in the interests of fighting ignorance.
Chocolate in the form of cow pies is already available from a candy company in Brattleboro, Vermont. They also stock them at Rein’s Deli in Connecticut (off I-84 in Vernon), in case you New Yorkers ever get out of town.
There’s an Irish brand of potato chips known as Taytos. http://www.tayto.com (For reference only. I make no form of income - not even warm fuzzies - by mentioning this site.)
I came across them as a result of working as a lighting operator for a community theater (the Staten Island Shakespearean Theater) production of “The Beauty Queen of Leenane.” Well, it’s an Irish play and one of the characters makes a reference or two to Taytos. The actor playing that character came across some at a deli near where he lives, so he picked them up and brought them to the theater. Well, there was some variety there, I’ll tell you. For example, one of the ones that struck us as odd was “Roasted Chicken.” However, the ones that really blew our minds were “Prawn Cocktail” and “Wuster Sauce.” (Granted, they weren’t has hideous as they sounded.)
I’m reminded of another bizarre Japanese snack I’ve seen. They are small WHOLE FRIED CRABS, shell and all. They come in a cellophane bag, like chips or cookies. The crabs are about an inch or two across, fried to a dry crunchy-looking texture, teriyaki glazed and sprinkled with sesame seeds. I bought a bag as a joke to stuff in someone’s Christmas stocking, but we never had the courage to actually broach a crab. Wouldn’t that be a conversation starter on your next hors d’oeuvres platter?
I second that! I grew up in Maryland, and moved away eight years ago. Everytime I go home for a visit, I bring back at least one bag of crab chips with me. Love the stuff!
I turned my ex-roommates (non-Marylanders) onto Old Bay. The stuff is not only great on chips, try sprinkling it on french fries or popcorn…
Hey Uke! Crab chips rock! We’ve had them here in Baltimore ( Home of the Blue Crab ) for years! And when you steam crabs, you don’t put the Old Bay in the water, silly, you cover the crabs with it. The water boils under the crabs and the steam cooks 'em. C’mon down to the land of plesant living sometime and I’ll cook you up a bushel!
According to legend, another fine seafood delicacy is finding a miniature crab in one of your freshly shucked oysters. Proper protocol requires that you spear the little seagoing arachnid and pop him directly into your mouth.
I will say that I actually encountered one of these rascals as I was shucking some bluepoints once. I will not say that I snarfed him, however… [sub](because I didn’t)[/sub]
I have encountered stranger chips… while I was living in Belgium we used to buy chips made by a britich company called Walkers. They had flavors like Smoky Bacon (yes, they did taste and especially smell like bacon) and King Prawn. What I wouldn’t give for a bag of them now…
Another Marylander rings in - Crab Chips are the best! This from a girl who puts Old Bay on everything from tunafish to cheese sandwiches…You have not lived until you’ve experianced crabs fresh from the steamer, drenched in Old Bay and hot as hell. It’s just not a summer here without that.
The crab chips get me through the winter until the next crab season.
A local supermarket chain, Wegmans, occasionally features some truly bizarre snack items. Being as I take a Nietzschean approach to cuisine, I’ve bought a few. The wasabi dried peas and candied garlic were particularly good.
Wegmans ROCKS! I was on vacation with my then wife in Syracuse one year. I poped into Wegmans to buy some soda, and it blew me the fuck away! I actually WENT AND GOT my wife at our hotel and took her back to the store- “You gotta see this place!”. I would pay real money if one would go up here in Baltimore.
Ha! I used to WORK at Wegmans!
Crowd: “Ohhhhhhhhhhh”
AND, I’ve HAD crab chips! (Actually the ones I had were called “Old Bay” by Herrs, and were excellent)
If you see 'em, try them. Meantime, weirdave- I’m going to Wegmans today for groceries- I’ll have a nice latte in your honor while I’m there.
Zette
PS- if you’ve never been to Wegmans, it’s the best grocery store in the world (IMHO). The employees are tops, the food is the freshest, and shopping there is a sensory experience. They are also very good to their workers- many at our store have been there for 10 years, since it opened here.