Lay’s New Flavors Try to Capture the Tastes of America; Do They?

Lay’s released a slew of new potato chip flavors out to capture the different Tastes of America and… they mostly seemed to nail it.

Here’s a list of the new flavors from Lay’s Tastes of America:

Cajun Spice – Gulf Coast

Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice – The Mid-Atlantic/Northeast

Chile Con Queso – The Southwest/Tex-Mex

Giordano’s Deep Dish Pizza – Chicago/The Midwest

Fried Pickles with Ranch – The Midwest

New England Lobster Roll – New England

Pimento Cheese – The South

Thai Sweet Chili – The Pacific Northwest

Fried Green Tomatoes – The South

Ketchup – The North and North Midwest

Bacon Jalapeno Popper – The Southwest/Texas

West Coast Truffle Fries – The West Coast

Not a lot to argue with here. The flavors of the United States seem to be pretty well covered by Lay’s.

That said, as a Midwesterner myself, fried pickles seemed like a little bit of an odd choice. That definitely was not something I grew up on, but hey, if hordes of Kansans, Iowans, and Nebraskans are shoveling fried pickles into their mouths the way I shoved Toasted Ravioli into mine, who am I to say it isn’t Midwestern? (It also, admittedly, sounds like something Midwestern… or Southern).

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The ranch part, on the other hand, is spot on. Midwestern folk love ranch dressing the way French love wine — in that, we have it with every meal. You could probably convince someone from the Midwest to eat fried broken glass if you offered a side of ranch dressing with it.

The only other real eyebrow-raiser on the list is the ketchup flavored chips. Ketchup itself is, yes, quite American. Ketchup chips, however, are a notoriously Canadian snack. But maybe, like flannel, hockey, and maple syrup, this northern treat seeped down south. That’s unfortunate because it sounds like a legitimately disgusting flavor. They couldn’t just give us Poutine?

Hey Lay’s, here are some flavor recommendations for your next Taste of America series:

French Dip – Southern California

Provel Cheese – Midwest

Spicy Italian – New York

Tobasco – Gulf Coast

Brisket – Texas

Hatch Green Chile – Southwest

Carolina Vinegar and Mustard BBQ – The Carolinas

And, of course…

Bath Salts and Python Meat – Florida

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