🔗 Share this article Move Beyond The World of Gourmet Cheese: France's Crisps Are Absolutely Sinful. I recently was staying in the French countryside, which was exuding refined charm. Tasteful, twinkling lights, market stalls piled high with remarkably pristine fruits and veggies, and a vast array of cheeses to coat every mile of the Chunnel with arterial plaque. Heaping dishes of lustrous seafood resting on ice visible behind fogged brasserie windows. As I watched a long but orderly line of well-dressed citizens picking up their craft Christmas cakes, I mused, with some guilt, that my home town, York, that transforms into a contemporary interpretation of Hogarth’s Gin Lane during the festive season featuring mince-pie flavoured vapes and ready-to-drink concoctions, would do well to absorb some pointers. The Sophisticated Front But all this “art de vivre” affectation is just an elegant facade – France succumbs just as easily to its basest appetites like any other place. Merely enter any grocery store to witness it. The snack food corridor constitutes a temple of indulgence, lined with flavours including *bleu d'Auvergne*, chickpea fritter, beer-braised beef and salted butter tastes. What kind of person consumes butter crisps? It is reminiscent of an item typical of those infamous US state fairs where they deep fry sticks of butter. An entertainer recently claimed they represent the pinnacle of snacking in her experience, but she’s obviously succumbed to a form of Breton brainwashing – she grew up in that very region. Worldwide Anarchy I know the world of potato chip seasoning internationally is as lawless and unregulated as big tech. There is a refusal to permit the tuber to taste of itself, embellished as it should be by a modest application of seasoning. Our own nation possesses a checkered past with crisp flavours on British soil, especially at this time of year. The year 2025, let us not forget, gave us gingerbread Doritos and limited-edition Beef Wellington Walkers. And who could forget the instance where a major retailer believed “prosecco and winter berry” was an appealing flavour on a potato chip? I had higher hopes from the home of haute cuisine. What is the logical conclusion? Foie gras crisps? Choux pastry flavour? Cigarette-tasting crisps? I should stop, lest I provide inspiration.