Junk Food Nation, today’s hypothetical is a very simple one.  For me, there’s nothing I’d rather be than a rockstar or a star athlete.  Just a personal preference, but I’d rather be Albert Pujols hitting home runs, Aaron Rodgers throwing touchdowns, Bono belting Where the Streets Have No Name, Justin Timberlake bringing Sexyback, than be Obama, a five-star general, a Pulitzer-winning author, an actor of any sort (movie/TV/Broadway), or a celebrated reality TV star.

But between the two, athlete vs. rockstar, it’s a tough call.  Would I rather be the lead singer of U2, singing a sell-out crowd at the Meadowlands, commanding the crowd so much that I can just sing the first two bars of With or Without You, and then stop but the crowd continues to sing the entire song?  Or would I rather be Drew Brees, seconds left in the Super Bowl, throwing the game winning touchdown in front of million of TV viewers worldwide?

How about you, JFN?

As you contemplate that, today’s junk food is Ruffles Molten Hot Wing Flavored Potato Chips!

The Money Shot

You know I’ve been doing this blog for a little over two months, and I’m seeing a trend – I apparently love Buffalo flavored snacks.  Or rather, I love to try them.  And why not? I grew up near Buffalo, NY, I love the Buffalo Bills, I love the Buffalo Sabres, and I grew up eating Buffalo Wings! In my hometown there was a bar called Flamingos, where they have dime-wing night.  Do you understand? A dozen wings was a $1.20. Yeah, that’s right.  So whenever I see a new Buffalo snack, I am drawn, like gravity, to that snack.  Sue me.

BAM!

This will be the fourth snack of the Buffalo variety I’ve reviewed. Ruffles take on this is very basic – they show big ole Buffalo wings on the front of the bag, and this is the promise – that the chips will taste just like these little drumsticks dripping with molten Buffalo sauce.

Um...leave the schtick to me, Ruffles

Um… I’m always curious who writes this drivel? (Because I WANT THIS JOB!) It blows my mind that some clown gets to sit in his office writing the text on the back of these snack bags while I grind it everyday in my own office.  Grrrrr.  “Dream big, chief”???? Fail.

Love the color

Classic ribbing

Red pepper burn!

Ruffles are basic in form, and familiar to everyone. Let’s skip right ahead to the taste.

I took a bunch of chips and chomped.  Great Buffalo taste, I must say.  Tangy, with the necessary tomato-ey savoriness.  Definitely spicy, but not too spicy – one of those spices that builds up over the course of many chips.  I would’ve preferred spicier but I understand the need to appeal to mass taste buds. The flavor still lingered satisfyingly after the potato-ey flavor emerged.  All in all a very successful chip.  Sufficient flavor powdering to give just the right punch of taste.

Compared to the Pringles Blastin’ Buffalo Wing flavored chips, these were different – in that they were fried potato chips. The salty oiliness of these chips contributed to the overall flavor profile differently – not in a bad way, however.  Whereas I thought the Pringles version gave a better Buffalo flavor, I thought these Ruffles tasted just as I expected – like potato chips dipped in Buffalo sauce.

Nice work again, Frito-Lay.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy