These
Maple Bacon and
Sweet & Salty chips from
Kettle Brand have cause a bit of a stir, specifically the Maple Bacon ones. Why? Because the Maple Bacon Chips are Vegan. Yes, some Vegans are upset that "bacon" is a Vegan flavor. I tend to be a pretty non-judgmental Vegan and I even enjoy the flavor of fake bacon in
seitan,
tempeh and now chips. As long as the flavor is created without harming an animal, why are you complaining? Go whine about something else while you type on your non-Vegan computer. Anyway...
So let's start this off with the Maple Bacon chips on the left. Do they really taste like bacon? There's definitely a hint, but I would align it closer to a BBQ chip. I do like it! It's sweet with a little bit of tang and some bacon inspired smokiness. Even if you are not a bacon fan, you're not going to cringe at the taste of these. I'm going to say the bacon name is mostly for marketing purposes. Good for Kettle for taking a bacon chip and making it Vegan!
Now, let's talk about the more innocent Sweet & Salty chips on the right. I find them really interesting. It's a basic potato chip that has been sprinkled with a sweet and salty coating. Pretty tasty actually, they remind me of sweet corn. The sweetness is restrained and doesn't take over the traditional potato chip flavor. They're probably best on their own, but I could imagine them tasting good with some Vegan sour cream dip.
Thank you to Kettle for making these flavors of potato chips Vegan! They didn't have to, and I certainly appreciate it.
