# What are Crisps like in the UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748 "2017-05-02T20:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/41 "2017-05-05T19:13:26Z")
I used to love going to the British import shop for hedgehog flavoured crisps! Having had friends that owned the actual article I can definitely say that they taste better as a crisp than they smell as an animal… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/42 "2017-05-05T23:36:53Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > I don’t even know how you’d go about doing that. I’ve never heard of anyone making them or selling them other than in packets. Here in the US, there definitely are places where you can get freshly made potato chips. For example, [here in Chicago](http://chicago.seriouseats.com/2013/10/7-housemade-chips-we-love-in-chicago-slideshow.html). ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/43 "2017-05-06T11:27:35Z")
I have seen home-made crisps on the menu at a few places (usually hipster type places) but they’re not common, probably because they’re not as good as packaged crisps. They seem a lot more like fried potatoes than actual crisps. Apart from the very wide variety of flavours available at even the tiniest corner shop - smoky bacon, prawn cocktail, beef and onion, roast chicken, Worcester Sauce, pickled onion, steak and onion, BBQ, chilli, tomato - the main difference to the US is the size of the bags. The usual size here is 32.5g and intended for one person as a snack, costing about 45p. Although you can get that size in the US it’s definitely less common than the larger bags which over here are less widely available (as in, supermarkets will have them but corner shops will have only a few if they have any). Plus it’s common to buy a multipack of 6, 10 or 12 smaller individually packaged bags. Flavourwise you can get anything you can think of and probably lots of things you haven’t. Wine flavour, for example, or chilli chocolate or scampi, flavours people actually eat unlike squirrel and hedgehog which were just a marketing gimmick really. We also sometimes eat them inside a sandwich either as just a crisp sandwich or put in in addition to whatever filling is already there. Some people hate this practice but they can’t deny people do it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/44 "2017-05-06T13:07:27Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I have seen home-made crisps on the menu at a few places (usually hipster type places) Pretty much the same type of places here. Doesn’t necessarily have to be a hipster place, but a mid-scale or higher pub of some type, often along the lines of what you might call a gastropub down there. They definitely are different than packaged crisps. They always taste more “cooked” or browned to me, but they can be quite nice in their own right. They are fairly dry and crisp, though, so still more towards the crisps/chips side of the spectrum rather than something like fries. Eating chips in a sandwich is not unheard of here–it certainly was fairly common in my grade school. That said, I don’t really recall seeing it much outside of kids doing it. I don’t think we really have an equivalent of a chippy sandwich here, but I might be wrong; food varies a lot from region to region and social circle to social circle, even class. ---
**Author:** ![jackstarr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jackstarr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackstarr)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/45 "2017-05-06T13:09:24Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > hedgehog which were just a marketing gimmick really. They may have been a marketing gimmick, but it definitely worked! Hedgehog crisps were a favorite of mine when I was growing up. Allegedly, according to [http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/hedgehog-flavoured-crisps](http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/hedgehog-flavoured-crisps), Hedgehog crisps were actually made with hogs, although not of the hedge variety; pork fat was the flavoring. > [@](#): > > Hedgehog flavoured crisps were actually flavoured with pork fat and no hedgehogs were used in the manufacturing process. Consequently, it wasn’t long before Hedgehog Foods Ltd was in court (1982), up against the Office of Fair Trading, on a charge of false advertising. > > Bizarrely, a settlement was finally reached when Mr Lewis, of Hedgehog Foods, interviewed gypsies who actually did eat baked hedgehogs, to ascertain the flavour of hedgehogs. Mr Lewis then commissioned a flavourings firm to duplicate the flavour as closely as possible and changed the labels from “hedgehog flavoured” to “hedgehog flavour” and all interests were satisfied! Phillip Lewis, the inventor of Hedgehog crisps, died earlier this year; presumably not run over by traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/46 "2017-05-06T18:45:31Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I have seen home-made crisps on the menu at a few places (usually hipster type places) but they’re not common, probably because they’re not as good as packaged crisps. They seem a lot more like fried potatoes than actual crisps. > > Apart from the very wide variety of flavours available at even the tiniest corner shop - smoky bacon, prawn cocktail, beef and onion, roast chicken, Worcester Sauce, pickled onion, steak and onion, BBQ, chilli, tomato - the main difference to the US is the size of the bags. The usual size here is 32.5g and intended for one person as a snack, costing about 45p. Although you can get that size in the US it’s definitely less common than the larger bags which over here are less widely available (as in, supermarkets will have them but corner shops will have only a few if they have any). Plus it’s common to buy a multipack of 6, 10 or 12 smaller individually packaged bags. > > Flavourwise you can get anything you can think of and probably lots of things you haven’t. Wine flavour, for example, or chilli chocolate or scampi, flavours people actually eat unlike squirrel and hedgehog which were just a marketing gimmick really. > > We also sometimes eat them inside a sandwich either as just a crisp sandwich or put in in addition to whatever filling is already there. Some people hate this practice but they can’t deny people do it. Mmm crisp sandwiches. It’s a good way to liven up a boring sandwich too, but do add the crisps just before eating. This reply is very comprehensive but I thought it worth pointing out that 6 or 12 packs often feature a variety of flavours. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/47 "2017-05-06T21:02:38Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Plus it’s common to buy a multipack of 6, 10 or 12 smaller individually packaged bags. Larger multipacks make excellent ad hoc Christmas presents for younger recipients. Physically large present, tasty, parental disapproval, it’s win win! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/48 "2017-05-06T21:24:25Z")
Potato chips are going through an explosion of variety right now, but it seems like it’s not anywhere near the variety in non-US markets. When I was a kid in the '70s it seemed like the only flavors were plain, barbecue, sour cream and onion, and green onion. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/49 "2017-05-06T21:58:43Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Potato chips are going through an explosion of variety right now, but it seems like it’s not anywhere near the variety in non-US markets. > > When I was a kid in the '70s it seemed like the only flavors were plain, barbecue, sour cream and onion, and green onion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen green onion flavor. Interesting. Always sour cream & onion. I grew up in the 80s, and it was plain salted, BBQ, sour cream & onion for the “normal” ones; also “Hot Stuff” (Jay’s), salt & vinegar and dill & vinegar. Maybe a cheese one, too. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748/50 "2017-05-07T08:27:57Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I do get the impression, and it’s only that, that twenty-odd years ago your regular chip in the US came in not quite as many flavours as available nowadays. The UK was possibly ahead of the game on that one - we’ve been cobbling together random powdered flavourings for yer humble crisp for all my nearly 50 years. Ah, so YOU’RE to blame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-crisps-like-in-the-uk/785748.md?page=2)