Pipers Trealy Farm Chorizo Crisps, 150g

Pipers make sharing crisps with named ingredients, and this is the meat one: a smoky chorizo seasoning with real chorizo sausage on the list. This is the 150g sharing bag. The full product name on the pack is chorizo flavour potato crisps, and the pack names Pipers Crisps of Elsham, North Lincolnshire, as the maker.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower oil, lactose (milk), sugar, salt, smoked salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, smoked sugar, onion powder, natural flavouring, yeast extract powder, black pepper, chilli powder, citric acid, paprika extract and chorizo sausage. The chorizo sausage contains pork, salt, paprika, spices, herbs, dextrose, an antioxidant (sodium ascorbate) and a preservative (sodium nitrite).

Real chorizo

Unlike most meat flavoured crisps, this one has meat on the list: chorizo sausage, made from pork. The pack says the chorizo is produced from British accredited free range pork, with smoked paprika, chilli, herbs and spices.

Smoke three ways

Smoked salt, smoked paprika and smoked sugar each carry smoke into the seasoning, and they give the crisp the deep, smoky paprika character of a Spanish style chorizo.

Smoked sugar

Smoked sugar is sugar smoked over wood. It brings sweetness and smoke together, softening the salt and deepening the paprika.

The cure

Dextrose and sodium ascorbate, a form of vitamin C, are part of the chorizo's cure, alongside the sodium nitrite and the paprika that gives chorizo its red colour.

A gentle heat

Chilli powder and black pepper give a gentle warmth that builds. It is a chorizo warmth rather than a hot crisp.

Sweet and savoury

Lactose, sugar and smoked sugar round the salt and smoke, and garlic, onion and yeast extract give savoury depth. Citric acid adds a little tang.

Sodium nitrite

The chorizo contains sodium nitrite, the preservative used in cured meats such as bacon and ham. It is listed because the chorizo is a cured sausage.

Numbers per 100g

The label gives 526 kcal (2196 kJ), 30g of fat, 3.1g of saturates, 57g of carbohydrate, 5.6g of sugars, 3.6g of fibre, 5g of protein and 2g of salt per 100g. The listing gives no serving size, so the figures on this page are per 100g.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 30g is red, as it is for fried crisps generally. Saturates at 3.1g are amber. Sugars at 5.6g are amber, just over the 5g line. Salt at 2g is red.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight milk, in the lactose. The published listing gives no may contain advice. The pack says the crisps are not suitable for vegetarians, because of the pork chorizo, and carries a gluten free claim. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Not for vegetarians

The chorizo makes this the only Pipers bag we stock that is not suitable for vegetarians, and it is not suitable for anyone who avoids pork.

Gluten free

No gluten containing cereal is on the list, and the pack carries a gluten free claim, so a coeliac guest who eats pork can share the bowl.

Sunflower oil

The crisps are fried in sunflower oil, the only oil on the list.

Crisps as they should taste

The back of the pack carries the line crisps as they should taste, and the brand describes its aim as bold flavour from named ingredients and good potatoes.

The pack

The magenta and white bag carries the Pipers trumpeter over the Pipers name, with Trealy Farm in magenta above chorizo crisps and the 150g weight.

The Pipers range

Pipers name the source of a key ingredient on each bag: Wyke cheddar, Atlas Mountains thyme, Trealy Farm chorizo, Burrow Hill cider vinegar and Anglesey sea salt. The five bags we stock share the same 150g format and are all fried in sunflower oil.

A sharing bag

At 150g, the bag is made for sharing. Tip a handful into a bowl rather than eating from the bag, and clip it shut between servings.

Who it suits

A smoky, meaty crisp with real chorizo suits a tapas night or a drinks table. It is not suitable for vegetarians, for anyone avoiding pork or for anyone avoiding milk.

Serving the bag

Chorizo crisps belong on a tapas table, beside olives, manchego and a glass of red wine or a cold lager.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the crisps make a smoky crumb for the top of a bean stew, a patatas bravas or a macaroni cheese.

Storage

The pack advises a cool, dry place and eating the crisps within three days of opening; the bag is packed in a protective atmosphere.

Other Pipers flavours

In the same 150g bag we stock Pipers Anglesey Sea Salt, Wyke Cheddar and Onion, Burrow Hill Cider Vinegar and Sea Salt and Atlas Mountains Wild Thyme and Rosemary.

Other 150g packs of Pipers we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.