Trader Joe's Plaintain Crisps

Nina spotted these at the store, brought them home, and served them with dinner at her house last night.

When I first opened the bag, I was startled to see some thick, wet, yellow goop clinging to the inside of the bag:

Turns out this is dust from the chips, clumped and moistened by the excessive oil in which they are cooked. Harmless, but unattractive--and not what one expects to see upon opening a bag of chips.

This gives you a hint of how oily the chips are. It's their worst feature, and a complete deal-breaker for me. They are the greasiest chips I've ever had. Which is too bad, because they otherwise have a nice flavor and crunchy texture.

This oiliness is made worse by reading the list of ingredients and realizing that they've used palm oil. Orangutans are being endangered because their native forests are being burned and chopped down to plant palm trees. I don't want to contribute to that. I see no reason that Trader Joe's couldn't use something else.

They're nothing like either Trader Joe's Sweet Plantain Chips or TJ's Jerk-Style Plaintain Chips, in either flavor or texture.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Jerk-Style Plantain Chips

I thought these had almost no chance of being good. I've had plantain chips before, and hated them. (Exception: TJ's own Sweet Plantain Chips.) Throwing a little spice at them ain't gonna change their fundamental problem of tasting like cardboard.

I was wrong. They're actually quite tasty. I think the spiciness is a little much if they're eaten straight from the bag. But scoop up some TJ's Hummus Dip or Chipotle Bean Dip (as I did), and they cool down or balance the heat nicely, in addition to being good flavor complements.

For the record, Nina was not as impressed with them as I was. And I didn't like the fact that the bag contained a large number of small, broken pieces. So they're not perfect, but I still think they're an unexpected win.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes.

Trader Joe's Sweet Plantain Chips

Brand-new product; see the company's introduction to it here. $1.79 per bag.

I've had plantain chips before, and they did nothing for me--like eating cardboard. These, though, are different. They're much, much sweeter than any I've had before, despite having no sweeteners added. They also taste more like bananas than others I've eaten. To make things even better, they've got the texture nailed--fried just crispy enough.

Bottom line: Excellent. Nina and I nommed our way through almost the whole bag before dinner even started.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes.