Leader Price FineLigne Crackers gout crème oignon

Image coutesy of July Wattitude,
who reviews light foods and was rather
fond of these.

So I’m pretty much stretching the definition of chips right now by reviewing what are undeniably crackers, but this product is definitely consumed just like chips and even has sour cream and onion flavoring, and the main ingredient is still potatoes, so all in all I feel justified.

This is another example of some guys coming over to party at our house and leaving tasty things behind which I subsequently snatched for the purposes of my review.  I feel it’s a fair compensation for the paranoia these parties have inflicted upon our neighbors, one of whom accused us of sacrificing pigeons and dripping their blood on her balcony.  (No, I’m not making this stuff up.)  It does make me wonder if I’m somehow missing the more interesting parts of these parties, but what can you do?

So, this product is basically made up of water crackers, which are a very plain white flour-based crackers of extremely limited flavor and absorption that beg to have cheese or dip spread on them.  Apparently these were formulated in 1801 as a means to feed sailors on long voyages at sea, then soldiers during the U.S. Civil War, but somehow these have gotten classed up as being the perfect accompaniment for the wine-and-cheese course at your fancy soiree- how’s that for rags to riches? 

The FineLigne crackers are cut in a sort of oval clam shape pretty close to a chip, separated by empty air bubbles in the middle which can make them a just little awkward to crunch, but not unreasonably.  They are covered with a white and green flecked sour cream and onion powder which is sweet and gentle to the taste, just about as you’d expect it, and counterpoints very well with the bland floury base of the water crackers.

These are specifically advertised as being light, and at 104 calories for a 25 gram serving, they aren’t really that bad.  I didn’t feel like their flavor suffered for being healthier, except in the sense that the airy emptiness on the insides of these chips was not entirely satisfying.  I also am inclined to whine in favor of thicker and stronger flavoring, but really what’s there is adequate and reasonably nice, and it was interesting to have a floury water cracker base, even though ‘potato powder’ is listed as the primary ingredient, it looks like these are potato chips after all!

Stars: 2/4

Spiciness Rating: none

Pros:

- Flavored water cracker snack food makes for an interesting change of pace

- Soft and sweet sour cream and onion flavoring is quite pleasant

- Reasonably light on the calories without obvious shortcoming in flavor

Cons:

- Water crackers are too airy on the inside to be very satisfying to crunch on

- Might leave you yearning for additional flavoring