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Seate takes the wraps off salted potato chips

MMMMMMMM?: Stoan Seate test plain salted chips. Pic. Moeketsi Moticoe. 05/09/2008. © Unknown.
MMMMMMMM?: Stoan Seate test plain salted chips. Pic. Moeketsi Moticoe. 05/09/2008. © Unknown.

Kwaito star Stoan Seate of the highly successful South African group Bongo Maffin is the new presenter of music show Afro Cafe on SABC 2.

Kwaito star Stoan Seate of the highly successful South African group Bongo Maffin is the new presenter of music show Afro Cafe on SABC 2.

Seate hardly has any time to relax, put his feet up and enjoy a braai with friends. But when he does he enjoys snacking on a bowl of chips while the braai sizzles and the summer sun beats down.

"I've never been crazy about plain chips but I suppose that if you want to eat them with dips, they're the best option."

Seate found the Lays Lightly Salted Potato Chips very easy on the palate.

"They're not too salty and wouldn't clash with any dip. They're thin, which gives them a crispy texture, not too oily, and the salt is evenly distributed."

Lays Chips are made from fresh potatoes, refined vege- table oil with antioxidant salt and maltodextrine but they pronounce boldly on the packaging that the product is gluten free with no MSG or tartrazine.

Yellow seems to be the colour of choice for plain salted chip packaging, with Woolworths producing a variant blue packet that makes it stand out. Seate liked the packaging because it seemed as if more effort has gone into the design. The Woolworths Handcooked Crisps have a much sharper, saltier taste, according to Seate, with more flavour, but, he says, they have a bitter aftertaste and are very oily.

"You feel like you need to wipe your face for fear of breaking out in acne after eating a whole packet."

They are made from potatoes, vegetable oil with anti-oxidant, salt, maize flour, maltodextrine, anti-caking agent and flavour enhancer. The crisps claim to be prepared the traditional way and taste more home-made to the singer.

"They taste like dried-out slap chips to me," he says.

The Pick 'n Pay Plain Salted Potato Chips are just what their name implies.

"Very, very plain. These chips have the most neutral texture, not too light, fairly crispy, but still with some substance, yet they quickly get quite soggy in your mouth."

These chips are too lightly salted for our taster.

"I need more taste in my chip," he comments.

Like the chip, the Pick 'n Pay packaging is also very plain, dominated by a large salt cellar and the ingredients include potatoes, vegetable oil and salt.

The Willards chips look just like the Pick 'n Pay ones, says Seate. They use exactly the same yellow colour for the packaging, but they taste quite different. The flavour of these is just right, not too salty and not too mild.

"They are quite more-some," says Seate having a few more.

"I could easily eat a whole packet of these if I was hungry. They're a common chip though and I wouldn't recognise the taste. It's forgotten a few moments after you've swallowed."

Pringles Original have a novel way of presenting their chips in a long thin can that goes "pop" as you open it.

"These chips are uniform, How do they do that?" asks Seate.

"They disintegrate in the mouth, releasing a smooth, creamy flavour that reminds me of biscuits but without the sweetness.

"You just can't stop popping another one into your mouth.

"The packaging is functional and keeps the consistency of the chip's shape, and it's iconic."

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