Taste

For a little bit this morning I was pre-occupied with taste.  It was initiated when a friend of mine living in Nevada posted a Jeopardy answer to which the question was: "What is (Skyline) Chili?"  Skyline Chili is an anomaly found primarily in southern Ohio and is unique in that it contains cocoa, cinnamon, and is served over spaghetti.  This fellow in Nevada was a transplant who has made it a point to run into a Skyline Chili parlor every time he heads back to visit friends in the Buckeye State.

I'm guilty of doing the same thing, but with a different twist.

Years ago I became enamored of Herr's Salt and Vinegar potato chips.  Herr's bought the chip factory in Chillicothe from the Carroll family back in the '70s and came forward with a delightful treat embraced by many members of my extended family.  My two oldest nieces dubbed them "juicy chips" as in "Grandpa, can I have some of your juicy chips?"  My father was more than happy to allow them access to his private stash.

Eventually, I moved out of the area where Herr's distributed their product.  If I was going to find more "juicy chips", I had to find other, less satisfying in some cases, substitutes.  For a while, Lay's offered Salt and Vinegar chips here in north Texas then inexplicably dropped the flavor.  What really frustrated me was that they were still selling Salt and Vinegar chips at least in Ohio.  Damn!  I would think that Frito-Lay, based literally next door in Plano, Texas, would consent to offering Salt and Vinegar chips again to us poor ex yankees living here in Allen!  But no... they saw fit to offer bags of "Chicken and Waffles" chips as part of some sort of contest.  (Yes, I bit, but only because I had heard so much about the combination, a local abnormality, that I just had to try.)

My usual way to get my fix soon became to take a trip to Ohio or to find someone taking a trip to Ohio to get several bags to bring down here.  The problem I had was that if I went up and purchased, say, two bags of chips, at least one, if not both of the bags would be gone by the time I got back here to Texas.  They're great while on the road.  I also got in the habit of purchasing other brands of Salt and Vinegar chips if Herr's weren't available.  Tom's and Snyder's have fairly good substitutes... that is, when I can find them.

I have found other people who have particular preferences in chips who have been similarly frustrated by the lack of distribution of their favorites in this area.  One woman I know would quite gladly kill for access to Wise potato chips... a friend in McKinney (just to the north of us) is partial to Mike-Sells.  There seems to be something about the way each of the chips is made which makes fans of otherwise sane and rational people.

Which leads me up to a few months ago when I stopped into an Odd Lots/Big Lots store and made a wonderful discovery.  There in front of me were bags and bags of Herr's chips!  No Salt and Vinegar chips, but Herr's chips!!!  I took home a package of Horseradish and Cheese flavored chips and was sated... the horseradish was particularly potent and particularly welcome.  Not only was I able to satisfy my craving for Herr's chips, but someone at Odd Lots/Big Lots seemed to be listening.  Wise, Snyders and Mike-Sells chips were on display as well.

At least someone was listening.

In this past week, I noted that Herr's chips are available at my local "Tom Thumb" store as well as at a "Cracker Barrel" where the family gathered for an Easter dinner.  Dang!  It was almost like being back in Ohio!

To be fair, there are other food items from other parts of the country which I particularly appreciate.  Texas-style barbecue can't be beat... unless you're talking about the Tennessee style served at a local place called Bar - B - Cuties, or Virginia style, or Kansas City Style... come to think of it, I have yet to find a barbecue I dislike.  The aforementioned Chicken and Waffles are decent - yes it seems like an odd combination, but it actually works.  Friends in Chillicothe will swear that the best-ever pizza is at Jerry's on Paint Street as I'm certain that residents in other places will direct you to their own home-town favorite when you visit.

Back to Skyline Chili.  I'm happy that Skyline Chili made it to Jeopardy... adding more useless trivia to those of us who delight in being fed morsels of trivia.  I'm sure that the local Kroger will see a slight uptick on sales of both the canned and frozen Skyline Chili I see everyday here in my little section of DFW.

Now, if I can just convince them that Herr's Salt and Vinegar will cause an avalanche of customers... I'm ready to buy.

Be Seeing You!

bdharrell