They’re not chips. They’re not crackers. They’re Crispers.
The commercials were everywhere in Canada in the 1990s when these launched, and from the very beginning they played at the snack’s manufactured identity crisis.
Are they crackers? They’re made with wheat flour, they’re thick and have a snap to them when eaten, they’re baked instead of fried, and they’re found in grocery store cracker sections.
Are they chips? Potato flour is second on the ingredients list, followed by shortening, and they’re drenched in flavouring powders that are associated with Canadian potato chips. That means barbecue, dill pickle, salt and vinegar, and – as highlighted here – ketchup. If Pringles are considered chips – potato mush formed into uniform saddle-shaped “chips” and coated in a flavouring powder – it’s hardly a stretch to extend the definition to Crispers.
If forced to pick a side, I’d say they’re crackers, but it’s complicated. For example, you wouldn’t put these on a cheese-and-crackers platter unless you were hosting some sort of ironic hipster party. Even basic grocery store crackers like Ritz, Breton or Triscuits are at home next to cubes of Swiss, aged cheddar and spiced gouda, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone include Crispers on a charcuterie board.
As a kid, this cracker-association was a selling point, a sort of loophole in my household that made it possible to pack these in a school lunch. Potato chips were a special-occasion snack, confined to rumpus-room birthday parties and Grey Cup games. But crackers passed the lunchbox test, so I could bring a baggie of salt and vinegar or barbecue Crispers to school, no problem.
What do they taste like?
At their core, every Crisper is a flavouring delivery vehicle for whatever seasoning is applied to it. As there’s no such thing as a “plain” Crisper, you can’t taste the base on its own without a seasoning applied to it. Through the flavourings, you can tell it has a hybrid wheat/potato character, with some oily mouthfeel from the shortening. The base is neutral and inoffensive, but it does the job, allowing the flavouring to shine. They’re crunchy like a cracker, and have more heft than a light and airy potato chip.
In this case, the ketchup seasoning is exactly what you’d expect, in that it tastes like summer-picnic-standard ketchup chips. And ketchup chips have a sweet, salty, vinegary tomato vibe that you either love or you don’t, with a bit of onion and garlic twang to make it a bit more interesting. If you’re not sure about ketchup, the salt and vinegar variety is also a good bet.
The Details
Price: $1.88 (on sale) for a 145-gram bag at Superstore in Edmonton.
Value for Money: At that sale price, fantastic. Even at full price, it’s a decent value. It’s not meant to be a single-serving portion.
Availability: In Canada, Crispers are everywhere, though there are enough flavours that a lot of stores won’t stock the full range. Ketchup seems common enough, though.
Nutrition: 140 calories per 30 grams. By way of comparison, feel free to consult the nutritional info for the mainstay ketchup chips from Old Dutch.
Verdict: Worth keeping in an office drawer in case of snacking emergencies. And sure, if you’d like to start a trend, by all means include them next to the prosciutto, salami and smoked gouda on your next backyard-party charcuterie board.
