Happy Saturday, Junk Food Nation.  So, I’ve been eating red meat for close to a week now and it reminded me of this convo that my co-workers and I have all the time – what would your last meal be?  Kind of a morbid discussion but obviously more of a commentary of what your FAVORITE meal is.  We did add in some limitations:

1) No BS like, “My mom’s home cooking, etc.”  Of course you’d want a family favorite…but that’s boring. So those choices are disqualified.

2) The meal HAS to be a complete meal that makes sense.  None of this, “Well, I’d want pizza and swordfish with a side of ice cream balls.  Tomato soup to start, and egg salad.”  Yuck.

My buddy Nilo constantly battles between a perfect cheeseburger/fries/milkshake meal and a perfectly cooked steak with all the trimmings.  You’d think with all the red meat I have been consuming, mine would be one of those two choices as well – but it’s not.  Find out what it is after the jump.

Today’s junk food comes from across the pond: Walkers Smoky Bacon Potato Crisps!

The Money Shot

Walkers Potato Crisps in the UK are basically the same as Lays Potato Chips here in the states; Walkers is indeed owned by the Frito-Lay Corporation.  Walkers and Lays Potato Chips share many similarities in the packaging – the potato slices turning into chips, and the big yellow circle with red sash logo.

Shout out for this junk food goes to my buddy Nevin, who provided me with this treat. (Nevin is also a super talented writer and food blogger! Check out his stuff HERE).  Secondary shout-out to my buddy Joe, who told me about these crisps from his days in the UK (and informed me of Walkers Roast Chicken flavor….wha????)

Potato Slices 🙂

For the uninitiated, “crisps” are what UK peeps call “chips.”  Sounds silly, maybe, until you realize that Americans call cars “whips” and talk about going to work to make that “chedda.”  Mmmhm.

I love bacon, so I was immediately intrigued by these bacon crisps.  Meat flavoring on chips is always a little dicey – is it going to taste like bacon, or like something reminiscent of bacon?

Yeah...wait, what?

You know, I read this little blurb on the back of the bag several times, and I still don’t get it.  Why are certain words quoted?  Am I missing some kind of slang here?  And do I even want to know?

Simplicity, sort of

The ingredient listing was key, as I wanted to see where the bacon flavor was going to come from.  Only three ingredients to the crisps themselves, I moved onto the ingredients in the seasoning itself. Bacon..bacon..bacon… no bacon listed.  Oh wait…”Flavouring.”  Ah.  Well played, you sneaky devils. Walkers, I’m onto you.

Crisps indeed

Opening the bag, these crisps definitely looked good – light, flaky, but lacking the powdering or seasoning I expected to see.  I’m so used to seeing US chips doused in paprika-red powder, or bits of green and black, that the lack thereof on these British crisps gave me pause.

The odor that emanated up from the bag, however, spoke a different story.  To be very blunt, it smelled like bacon, but even more smelled like Bacos.  You know, the bacon bits you put on salad?  Just like that. I was eager to munch.

Flaky Closeup 1

First impression: these crisps were MUCH crispier than the Lays brand chips.  I’m not sure if they cook/fry them differently, but they had a flakiness that I’d never felt before.  A good firm chip, it was easily crushed by my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

Flaky Closeup 2

Second impression: flavorful, but not overpowering.  Did it taste like bacon?  Sort of…it strangely tasted more like Bacos, which isn’t a bad thing.  My mouth filled with a smoky meaty flavor which exuded a porky flavor – a porky flavor that quickly gave way to the potato flavor.  An interesting balance.  Although the chip didn’t taste ENTIRELY like bacon, I’m not sure I would change a thing – I felt like the chip delivered on its name, Smoky Bacon.

Flaky Closeup 3

Final impression: the best part about these crisps is that they were not overly greasy nor overly salty.  Salt wasn’t one of the first things listed in the ingredients, and that’s a good thing.  These crisps concentrated more on the flavor than the bite of salt.  Interesting sidenote, however – on one hand, there wasn’t too much salt to drown the excellent flavor of the crisps that Walkers had designed.  However, without some salt to end the taste, the flavor kind of just goes flat in your mouth.  No aftertaste, nothing residual at all to keep your mouth watering.

All in all, an impressive chip.  Can’t wait to try some other Walkers products!

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My final meal would be Eggs Benedict.  Stop laughing.  A perfect poached egg, on some crispy smoky canadian bacon, on a crunchy English muffin, slathered in hollandaise sauce, side of shredded hash browns and asparagus.

Look, my reasons are simple.  (1) I love breakfast.  Breakfast buffets are my JAM.  Endless bacon, sausage, pancakes, syrup — heaven.  And if you give me a spoon and some cold milk, I’ll eff up a box of Cheerios.  (2) I like balance in a meal.  I can’t just eat carb carb carb or meat meat meat…I like a green, a carb, different textures, etc.  Finally, (3) pork products are my favorite thing in the world, as well as eggs. For me, you can’t beat the tang of that runny yolk on meat plus the creamy buttery…er…butter sauce.  It’s decadence on decadence.

What would be YOUR last meal?  Post in the comments below – have a great Saturday!  And follow me @junkfoodguy on Twitter!

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy