Tropical chips that are salty and sweet
What: Terra Tropical Chips Why: Since Terra Exotic Vegetable Chips first came to Canada about 15 years ago, hungry munchers have been eating up the colourful, crisp slices of such exotic and colourful vegetables as taro, yuca, batata and sweet potato, seasoned with sea salt. Porter Airlines even makes them their snack of choice.
Six different flavour mixes — from Sweets & Beets to Blues — have come out since, and now a seventh: the new Tropical mix.
The first chip mix in Canada that includes both fruit and vegetables, these new chips in the Tropical bags add coconut and plantain to the mix, making a saltysweet combo that might be the most addictive yet. Other new twists include dipping some vegetables in beet juice, which makes them a dramatic deep red, and including salty coconut seasoning (contains milk), brown rice syrup and evaporated cane syrup.
These additions don’t make the new chips much higher in calories: about 150 calories for eight of the Original chips versus seven of the new Tropical ones. Sugars creep up slightly: from three grams for eight Original chips to four grams for seven Tropical ones.
But if you’re watching your sodium intake, these new chips are a better bet: just 45 milligrams of sodium per one-ounce serving, versus 110 in the Original chips, prompting a “low sodium” label on the distinctive black bags.
The background: Terra chips were developed by two New York chefs as a bar snack. When Saks Fifth Avenue ordered 50 cases, they had to ramp up production drastically. By the time orders were pouring in from across the U.S., they moved out of their small Manhattan storefront into a much larger facility in Brooklyn.
How to use them: Like most chips, they’re great for munching, but unlike many chips, they don’t leave your hands greasy. Terra’s website offers some recipes and the new Tropical mix would be especially good in the Terra Crusted Salmon recipe, in which salmon filets are topped with crushed chips before grilling and broiling.
Where to buy: Most food stores have some version of Terra chips; look for the new Tropical mix at Loblaws.
How much: $5.49 to $6.49 for a 160gram bag.
More: terrachips.com
Laura Robin, Ottawa Citizen