News Flash: American reinforcements land in France in June- history repeats itself!

When my mom asked me what American products she could pack for me for when she visited us in France, aside from my laundry list of geekiness, she suggested chips.  “But what kind?” she asked.  “Anything exotic looking…” I requested breezily.

Well, mothers do not fail, and when I next saw her in her hotel in the 7em Arrondisement, she had one tube of Ragin’ Cajun Xtreme Pringles (making it the second product I will have reviewed making references to the temper of our Louisianan swamp-folk) and a host of exotic Wai Lana South-Asian themed corn-tapioca-chip things.  Motherly Mission Acomplished!

Now, Wai Lana apparently makes a business out of selling bamboo mats and making yoga instruction videos, which is more my parent’s cup of tea, but apparently healthy gluten-free organic chips are a part of the enlightened meditative life style.  Rather than the kindly face of a sage Indian Yogi, the packages all display an alluring south-east Asian island girl apparently inviting you to a day on the beach with cocktails.  Score one for the marketing department!

Now, I figured these chips might not seem as attainable as other products here, but their website ()lists distributors in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Korea, Mexico, Slovenia, and the UK, as well as the rest of Europe through HMV and Virgin.  Sadly, the website doesn’t enumerate the American distributors, but the ones my mom found was in the little exotic snack section of a Marshall's, and presumably there are plenty more places that have them as well.

In general, these crisps have a running rice-and-tapioca texture which is kind of unique, but the shape, hardness, and, of course, flavoring of the crisps has varied substantially between the two I’ve tried so far.  Below, you can see my first review of the Whole Grain Sweet Chili & Lime flavor, soon to be followed by a review of the Sweet and Sour variety.