In the US (and many other places around the world) they say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.  For me, it’s absolutely true!  My significant other and partner at World of Snacks initially won my heart with her exotic curry dishes from her home country of Myanmar, formerly Burma. Traveling through Europe as a kid, I came in contact with a variety of unique and delicious flavors, but nothing like what I was later introduced to.  Our mutual love of food and culture ultimately brought us together and also helped us start our International Snack Company.  For the thousands of followers we have made a connection with over the past 15 months or so, this is really an odd way to start our snack review and it’s not normally how we go about it.  So how is this relevant to our review of Bret’s Indian Curry Chips?  We absolutely love curry, in all forms, from all around the world. So we took the snack to our panel of testers to help get a fair review, or at least how Americans feels about this Indian Curry Chips. 

Before we jump into the taste test, let’s take a closer look at the snack under review.  Although the flavor of these chips are titled Indian, this snack is actually from Brittany, France.   Founded in 1995, in under a decade Bret’s has grown to a total output of 20,000 tons of chips annually, and now produce nearly a 3rd of chips consumed in France.  Brett’s has carved a niche offering bold flavors included Braised Chicken, Navy, and Salted Butter Caramel.  As you already know, our review is for Bret’s Indian Curry.  Let’s take a closer look.

We are sampling a full size bag weighing in at 4.4oz.  It’s bright yellow with a purplish pink trim.  The Bret’s logo is a red oval and uses a chip instead of an apostrophe.  Of course it reads “Indian Curry” and just below is a pile of ingredients, most I cannot personally identify.  So now we know what these French Chips look like, let’s get on with the taste test!

As I mentioned before, I am personally a fan of curry.  However, this is my first encounter with a curry flavored potato chip.  I enjoyed the snack, the curry flavor was pretty accurate, and the chips themselves was on par with an American Ruffled Chips.  The cumin and curry flavor stole the show and overall it made for a memorable and enjoyable snack.  So what did our typical American testers think of Bret’s Indian Curry Chips?

This snack from France received mixed reviews from our panel.  Two of the testers actually spit the chip out, and one even mentioned it reminded him of a smelly armpit!  Interestingly enough, they were both from the Southern part of the US, typically a region steeped in traditional flavors and a low influx of exotic items.  The strongest concentration of testers rated this snack OK.  They enjoyed it, thought it was unique, but didn’t really think they’d actively seek it out.  Lastly, one of the testers loved Bret’s Indian Curry Chips. This tester frequents Asia and is too a fan of curry in general.

Will World of Snacks offer Bret’s Indian Curry Chips for sale in our international snack store?  Maybe, we have yet to find a selection of loved French snacks, so we are not sure which items will make the cut.  Currently our online snack store features British Snacks and American Snacks for Export.  In just a few days we will add our full line up of German Snacks and each month this year we will add another country.  If you’d like to stay up to date with our progress be sure to leave your details to the right.  Keep on snacking world!

With over 1.2 billion people in India this country is home to the second highest population in the world.  If we didn’t include delicious snacks from India we’d be missing a very large demographic.  Today our Global Snack Blog is heading to one of the most diverse culinary cultures in the world.  

As we tip toe into the Indian culture and it’s culinary treats we decided to start with a snack from a Parle Products.  Originally the company was established in 1929 by a British Indian who set out to offer an alternative to typical British biscuits.  From what I can put together there has been a split in recent history and now three separate companies out of India are operating under the Parle brand name.  The snack we are reviewing today is Parle-G Original Gluco Biscuits, one of the top selling biscuits in the world with a 35% share dominance in India.

Our taste test panel for the evening was extended and that was the reason for the selection of this snack.  The small package contained an abundance of cookies which made it easy to share.  The packaging was simple and sort of resembled a pack of Ramen noodles in the US.  The writing on the packaging included the words “Milk+Wheat” which lead me to believe there would be a cream filling.  Once opened it was clear that these are simple and tradition biscuit style cookies.  No filling, no frills, and an apparent lack of milk.  After doing some research these biscuits are actually meant a healthy snack for tea time.  But how do Parle-G Original Gluco Biscuits taste?

The cookies are crisp and slightly sweet with a foreign aftertaste.  One of our testers mentioned they resemble a gram cracker flavor.  I personally could see how that comparison could arise but was solely focused on coming up with a description of the aftertaste.  I hate to say it but the first thought that came to mind was melted plastic, which I have not sampled but remember the smell from my mother melting Tupperware in the dishwasher when I was a child.  None of the other tasters noted the aftertaste and one taster with an Indian background really enjoyed the snack.  The second round of tasting including a glass of cold milk.  With a quick submersion the flavor transformed into something amazing.  The aftertaste was gone and the cookie rapidly absorbed the milk making it ideal for dunking. I imagine paired with tea this cookie would be phenomenal.  With or without milk a majority of our taste tester concurred that this snack from Indian is a delight.

Will you be able to buy Parle-G Original Gluco Biscuits on World of Snacks?  It looks like they will be a regularly featured item stocked in our international snack store.   The launch of our snack store will be towards the end of this year.  Be sure to visit the store now and submit your email for an opening announcement and an exclusive coupon valid towards your first purchase.

7/20/2016 Update: World of Snacks now offers Parle-G Biscuits for sale online!