Considering how much of it was probably developed during the California Gold Rush, I consider it authentic American cuisine, and something to be proud of as part of our national heritage. 
Are Pringles even made with “potatoes”? I always assumed that they were made out of pressed potato flakes, like boxed mashed potatoes. So instead of starting life as a whole potato that is sliced, fried and seasoned, the company just buys potato flakes, adds some flavoring and presses them into shape. Sort of like crackers made out of potato flour instead of wheat flour.
If that’s the case then does it really matter what “grade” a potato is before it becomes a powder? And, as long as it’s not moldy or un-ripe, is there such thing as a bad potato?
USDA pdf:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5050438
Potatoes are not graded by letter, they basically have two grades (for processing type taters) "US #1, and “US #2”.
Thus, he’s wrong.
If I’m correctly recalling the proper episode of Unwrapped, you are right. Pringles are made out of potato flakes, not potato slices (that’s how they get such a nice even shape to all of them; you know, the shape that fits so beautifully over your tongue and against the roof of your mouth?
).
I agree that unless the potato they’re turning into flakes, to mold into Pringles, is spoiled, it doesn’t matter what the ‘rating’ is!
I wasnt going to say anything, (no one likes a wannabe globe-trotter, which was what my initial post was all about in the first place) but what the hell, odds are I will never meet any of you…
but
…since I last saw this couple that I was talking about in my original post, I have been able to travel to Europe on 8 different occasions (since 2001). This is all thanks to a few assorted friends and relatives who work for Delta, (they have a hub here in SLC) who have been generous enough to have hooked me up with “buddy passes” that allow me to fly (usually business or 1st class, no less) RT from Salt Lake to several different European cities for a little over $200 in taxes and fees.
If I do run into the Sophisticated Epicures again, I might have a hard time refraining myself from doing a bit of one-upmanship of my own…
I think what applies to this case of grading is this U.S Standards for Grades of Potatoes for Chipping PDF. Although, there is no A-E grading. The orthodox chipping industry does have some high standards for their potatoes due to the unforgiving nature of defects in their dissected and transparent final product. That was sort of the genius and bottomline moneymaker of Pringle’s “reconstituted” potato chip, they could just use the freeze dried processed flake product and eliminate waste due to quality control. I however don’t necessarily discount the A-E grading scale within initiial agricultural sorting- It could be an “in-house” or common agricultural/industrial, cosmetic, sorting method and scaling as they come off the truck.
I like them. They come with the sauce that they used to use in Santa Fe style gorditas and chalupas. Man do I miss those things, best thing at Taco Bell. At least I think that’s the sauce… last time I ate one of those it was many years ago and I may be getting the taste confused with something else.
I noticed that the taco bell near me (not sure if it’s national) now has regular crunchy tacos at $.39 as a regular menu price - not a special day or time or anything. How can you manage to sell food that cheaply? Do the cows walk themselves to your back door and then slaughter themselves to save on costs?
If I was super poor, I’d consider starting myself on the 10 crunchy tacos per day for $3.90 diet.
There is probably some perfect Corporate Incest going on with some freeze dried potato flake manufacturer and Proctor and Gamble (Pringle’s Mothership).
As long as they keep the sulfites out of the flakes I’m good.
Sulfites and Nitrates… it’s got electrolytes!
It’s like having the Incredible Hulk in your pants!
And a shut-down order to my lungs!
Some book I once read had the following line: “All extremists are nutters.” I’m finding that more and more apt as time goes on.
Some things do make a difference: Bounty paper towels and Charmin asswipe are far and away superior to any alternative your mother says “…is almost as good!” If more than 50% of your recipe calls for chocolate, for the love of GOD please spend a couple of extra bucks and spring for something better than Baker’s or Hershey’s. Your feet and wallet will be much, MUCH happier if you buy that one pair of $150 shoes instead of 10 pairs of $15 BOGO Payless shoes. Oven roasted garlic+butter is a million times better than sprinkling garlic powder on margarined toast. Wonder Bread is neither bread nor wonderful.
But trust me - once you dice up those green peppers and smother them in sauce, no one - NO one - will be able to tell you whether they came from that exclusive organic farmers market or the local big-box grocery. Unless it’s actually gone rancid, few will notice that the olive oil in which you sauteed your mire poix came from the bottom shelf rather than the top.
I’m a huge fan of the slow food/buy local/buy in season movement because I think it’s important to favor small, local growers over international conglomerates* and I don’t mind spending a little extra to do that every now and again, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to drive 20 miles to buy the perfect radish.
And, finally - salt? SALT? It’s a ROCK! Under which I shall make you crawl if you try to tell me your version is better. You’re stupid. Go away.
*Take your problems with that statement elsewhere; it’s not my main point and I’m not going to argue semantics with you. Becuase you’re a nutter.
Okay first my credentials. Idahoan here who has spend alot of time on potato farms, toured the processing plants, and met old J.R. Simplot way too many times.
Reconstituted potatoes are made of the lowest grade potatoes in the processing plant. At the local plants that means failed all resturant and frozen brands standards. They are the ones that would not be appetizing to look at, too many small defects, the same as all instant potatoes. The reason you don’t see the the defects in instant potatoes is a bleaching process. There is really nothing wrong with the potatoes health and nutrition wise just not pretty to look at.
I completely agree with this statement and pretty much had an office feud with our accountant who would buy a new pair of payless shoes every month ( even though they hurt her feet) for $10. She could not wrap her head around buying Birks or Danskos for $110-$120 where they last for years.
People look at me funny when I tell them my clothes are from the Salvation Army ( except underwear and socks) and my shoes are $120, which is usually more than what I spend in 6m-1 year in clothing.
Oh, and I like Wine In a Box, Taco Bell and Pringles.
…and if they didn’t spend all that extra money on imported or organic everything, they’d probably be able to save up for another trip to Europe sometime in this lifetime 
My elder son prefers boxed macaroni and cheese to my homemade stuff. (Boxed mac’n’cheese is an import here, but not frighteningly expensive.) I’ve soothed my soul many times by thinking of them as separate food items.
This thread reminded me of the great cult movie “Repo Man”. In the movie, the hero (Otto) goes home (his zombielike parents are staring at a televangelist on TV). Otoo is hungry so, he opens the refrigerator door-and sees contaners labelled “food” and “drink”. This is what TacoHell has brought us to!:eek:
Meh…I wouldn’t call it “guff” so much as simply having pointed out that for a couple bucks more, you could have had a pure, unadulterated Riesling which is a superior wine to Liebfraumilch in every conceivable way, and even that the “betterness” of the Riesling can be grasped by non-wine drinkers.
The box wine thing: yes, they are putting better wine in boxes than they used to in some instances, but most boxed wine is still dreck, and even the higher quality stuff generally needs to be drunk young/immediately. You’re not going to put a box of wine in your cellar for a couple years!
/wine snob rant (possibly forever, since I’ll be going into alcohol rehab next week!)