May 6, 2008

Cassava Chips, the Crack I Can Snack On

cassavachips.jpg
Cassava chips made by Arico

Why am I updating in the middle of the day at work? Because right now I'm finishing off the final shard-like dregs of a bag of Arico Cassava Chips and they possess all kinds of crack-like addictive qualities. They beat potato chips by a light year for being less greasy, crispier, and lighter than their more well-known foe.

[shovels a handful of broken crunchy tuber bits into mouth]

I bought this bag of Sea Salt Mist cassava chips (seasoned with just the right amount of salt) at my local awesome grocery store, Ramsey Farms, but you can also get them at Whole Foods and, I would assume, other health-minded grocery stores. Not that these chips are necessarily healthy, but perhaps less deathly than potato chips.

[another shovel]

Or maybe these chips aren't that mindblowingly tasty and I'm just really hungry, but you tell me: are you a fan of cassava chips? Is my reaction normal? Is anything I do normal?

Posted by roboppy at 11:48 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.roboppy.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/594

Comments (19)

Ooh, cassava chips. I tried them a few months ago. I liked them but wasn't overcome with insatiably moreish nibbling. The ones I had possessed an extra sweetness compared to potato chips but weren't "crispier" I'd probably say "brittler" and more dense than their potato counterparts. I thought they were similar in consistency to Kettle Chips. I'd have them again, but probably not a large bag to myself this time.

Posted by: SuperChomp at May 6, 2008 2:48 PM [#]

I've bought a bag before at, I think, a Carribean shop in London. Or maybe it was Indian. Not too sure, but they were chili flavoured. And they seemed very very greasy! Tasty though.

Posted by: Su-Lin at May 6, 2008 6:29 PM [#]

Maybe the chips are mind-blowingly tasty! Maybe it's because I'm hungry!

Seriously, I want some.

Posted by: Christina at May 6, 2008 8:34 PM [#]

SuperChomp: I love Kettle Chips, but these chips weren't like those...they were ...finer? I see what you mean by denser though. I'd compare them to Terra's taro chips, if they were cut finer. (Taro chips are my fave!)

Su-Lin: I haven't ventured into chili=flavored territory yet! Nor have I been to a Caribbean food shop. There must be one around here somewhere...hmm.

Christina: If you get your hands on em, let me know what you think!

Posted by: roboppy [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 6, 2008 10:24 PM [#]

oooh...

I would love to try those, just so I can compare them with cassava chips available here (Philippines) locally.

I would think that these would have a more refined taste being a mass-produced commercial product. The cassava chips available here are more of the rustic, home-made kind. :P

And, yes, cassava chips beat potato chips hands down for being less greasy. ;)

Posted by: Ed B. at May 7, 2008 2:42 AM [#]

I love vegetable chips, especially the Terra brand ones. They're big, thick, crunchy and SO COLORFUL.

Those look tasty. It's 11 am and I have a chip craving. What a day it'll be, darn you final exams!!

Posted by: Chrissy Castellano at May 7, 2008 11:03 AM [#]

I've never even heard of them, but since I've developed a ridiculous potato chip habit here in Florence (I know, heresy, but they must be made differently here -- they're FANTASTIC), I could probably use a more healthy (or less deadly, lol) substitute when I get home.

Also, didn't get a chance to say so last night when I read it, but I'm glad your friend Tristan is okay! Those tour buses are murderous.

Posted by: Kathryn at May 7, 2008 11:05 AM [#]

Here in the Caribbean (Dominican Republic) I see these all the time.
They have a special bag with plantain and cassava chips (Yuca chips actually, here Cassava is the bread you make with the Yuca) they serve them with a spicy salsa (1 large tomato + 3 chiles + 1 clove of garlic) ¡Really tasty!

Posted by: Giselle at May 7, 2008 12:04 PM [#]

Yucca (another name for the root) chips are to die for. No matter how full I am.. it's the only type of chip where I devour the whole bag mindlessly; god help anyone who attempts to interfere, lol.*sighs* Wish I had a bag or 5 now.

Posted by: Bella at May 7, 2008 1:44 PM [#]

Chips are my down fall. I LOVE THEM.
These looks so great!

Posted by: Ulla at May 7, 2008 3:01 PM [#]

Ed: Yeah, I wouldn't call these rustic. BUT I'LL GO FOR THOSE TOO. I can haz?

Chrissy: I used to be so addicted to Terra, until I couldn't find the bags of only-taro chips anymore. I know they make em! Just that no stores around me seem to sell em. I guess that's for the best.

Kathryn: Florentine chips are awesome? Crap, I wanna try those!

BOO TOUR BUSES. :(

Giselle: Mm, spicy salsa with these chips would be great! I hadn't thought of that.

Bella: Five bags might be dangerous.

Ulla: Anyone who doesn't love chips is insaane! I try to convince myself that it can be an adequate meal replacer cos it's...starch...but nutritionists would probably frown upon that.

Posted by: roboppy [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 7, 2008 8:24 PM [#]

ooh, casava chips! I once worked across the street from an Indian foods store, and over the course of a few months I cleaned out their inventory of casava chips, and they didn't order any more! they were thick and very hard, and sprinkled with chili powder. yum!

Posted by: Leona at May 8, 2008 12:30 AM [#]

1. i don't know, i've never had them.

2. maybe.

3. no.

Posted by: michelle @ TNS at May 8, 2008 10:27 AM [#]

Yes, I like me some cassava chips. Even better than cassava chips, though, is deep fried cassava, or as it's known in Portuguese, mandioca. One of my happiest memories of living back in Brasil was going to a bar when I was old enough to do so and getting the ultimate fried platter: french fries, fried cassava wedges, and fried polenta. Good times. Good times.

Posted by: Liz at May 8, 2008 1:18 PM [#]

Cassava chips are so excellent! I prefer the Caribbean type over the Indian type, but that's probably because I'm from the Caribbean. *g*

If you do manage to find a Caribbean market, I highly recommend trying some plantain chips as well. They're sort of like banana chips, only salty and savoury and better!

Posted by: miss marissa [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 8, 2008 1:59 PM [#]

Mmmm, I'll have to try to find these. A friend once gave me some homemade breadfruit chips that were also very crack-like. I didn't share with anyone!

Posted by: winnie at May 8, 2008 8:40 PM [#]

O holy shizznit, CASSAVA CHIIIIIPS. Yes, your reaction is normal, and no, I don't believe that they're healthier than potato chips per se, but WHATEVS, they're f*cking awesome! Go cassavas!

Posted by: Jesse at May 9, 2008 3:02 AM [#]

Ah! I was looking for those in WholeFoods yesterday and I couldn't find them!!!! -=( I wanted to try them too...boo WholeFoods!

Posted by: wonders at May 9, 2008 2:19 PM [#]

Leona: Thick and hard. Next time I'm around an Indian food store I will look for those! (Or rather, it will drive me to go to an Indian food store, heh.)

Michelle: 4. YAY

Liz: Good lord, deep fried everything...is good. I don't think I've ever even had Portuguese food. I fail so hard.

Miss Marissa: I haven't had plantain chips either! AHH MY PALATE IS NOT EXPERIENCE ENOUGH, I need more chips.

Winnie: Breadfruit chips?! ...Okay, I can't get homemade. Wah.

Jesse: Shhh, they are healthier! Just keep telling yourself that. Cos that's what I do.

wonders: Oh nooo! What kind of lame Whole Foods was that? Actually, I dunno if they have em at my local WF in NJ, but when I went to the one in Chelsea (I work really close to it), they had loads of it in the entrance. Which is how I bought it in the first place. Yay marketing!

Posted by: roboppy [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 9, 2008 11:28 PM [#]

Post a comment

I'll probably reply to your comment on this page. If you have something to ask me that's unrelated to this entry, please email me instead.

After you post a comment, please wait a while before checking if it has been posted. People frequently post the same comment twice by accident. I know that this has to do with the way my site sluggishly handles comments; Dreamhost probably put me on a pooptastic server. If you have any idea how to make MT speed things up, please let me know!




Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)


stuff here

Search

previous entries

» 05/10/08: Momofuku Ko: Yup, I Went There

» 05/06/08: Cassava Chips, the Crack I Can Snack On

» 05/05/08: Four Stitches and a Birthday Cake: A Day Full of Surprises

» 05/04/08: Another 'Snapshots from Chile' post: Massive Hot Dogs and Sandwiches

» 05/01/08: Post-Fried Chicken: Pizza and Gelato (And Alcohol)

» 04/27/08: Fried Chicken: A Prelude to Pizza

» 04/25/08: Sometimes All You Need Is Chinese Take-Out

» 04/24/08: First 'Snapshots from Chile' post: Café con Piernas

» 04/22/08: Pig Heaven and Andre's Cafe: Pork and Strudel in the Upper East Side

» 04/21/08: Chile Post on Serious Eats: Clay Bowls in Pomaire

Forum

forum

Help out roboppy?

If you do want to help me out monetarily, here are some easy non-obtrusive ways to give back:

- Buy stuff through my amazon ID!: This is the BEST WAY to help me out without throwing money at my feet. I buy most of my material goods from amazon.com, and it would help me shittons if you bought stuff through my link. I don't get much per order, but the referral fees can add up.
- buy t-shirts through my Threadless Street Team thinger!
- Get webhosting with Dreamhost.com and enter roboppy@gmail.com as the referral

You need stuff from amazon.com and you should buy t-shirts from threadless (I've been somewhat loyal to them for the past five years). Thank you for making sure I don't resort to pan-handling and robbery!

Site feeds galore

 Subscribe in a reader

Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
BlogHer Ad Network
More from BlogHer Advertise here BlogHerPrivacy Policy

My Latest Posts on Serious Eats

photo info!

another camera
Canon 20D

The Canon 20D is my main camera as of August 2007, although I used to use the Rebel XT before that...and the SD 450 before the summer of 2006. You should also know that I "post process" all my photos in photoshop to make them suck less. Of course, you need a camera to take semi-decent photos first (it has a good macro mode), but without photoshop, I am nothing.

You can has social network?

facebook
The power of Facebook compels you

where the hell are you from?!

mappie
I'm the red splodge!

Add yourself to my pointless map! I won't stalk you, I just want to know where my readers are. IS THAT NOT OKAY? Alrighty. If you add yourself, thank you for being awesome.

another map?

Locations of visitors to this page
yes.

give hydration!

Visit charityis.org. PEOPLE NEEDZ TEH H2OZ.

links

Please don’t hate me if I haven’t included you. I tried to whittle this down to a manageable list, but there are just too many food blogs out there that I like! I shall update this list every so often.

Blogs

A Full Belly
A Hamburger Today
A Passion for Food
The Amateur Gourmet
Adelyn's Kitchen
Annie’s New York Eats
Boots in the Oven
Candy Addict
Cha Xiu Bao
Cheap Eats
Chocolate Obsession
Chubby Hubby
David Lebovitz
Deep End Dining
Dessert Comes First
Eating In Translation
Eating Asia
eggsbaconchipsandbeans
Expired Foods
Foodbeam
Foodstruck
Food In Mouth
The Food Section
Grab Your Fork
Goldilocks Finds Manhattan
The Hungry Cabbie
The Impulsive Buy
Just Hungry
The Kitchen Pantry
Lovescool
Ms Adventures in Italy
My Burger
NYC Food Guy
NYC Nosh
Off The Broiler
Ono Kine Grindz
The Paupered Chef
Paris Breakfasts
Salli Vates
The Scent of Green Bananas
Slice
Smitten Kitchen
So Good
Steamy Kitchen
Suicide Food
Sustainable Table
Swirl and Scramble
Tamarind and Thyme
The Tasty Island
Thursday Night Smackdown
Tommy Eats
Twenty Bucks a Day
U.S. Food Policy
The Wandering Eater
Word of Mouth

Non-Blogs

Blogsoop
Cheap Ass Food
Serious Eats
TasteSpotting

Recurring Eating Companions

These friends have lent me their stomach acids on numerous occasions.

Alice
Allen
Diana
Ian
Jeremiah
Kathy
Lauren and Jones
Morten
Nathan
Olia
Olivia
Sara
Tina
Tristan