Sunday 7 March 2010

Seabrook Crisps

Ostalgie. This term evokes the nostalgia that East Germans feel over certain aspects of their lives before reunification. Whilst I can't even begin to comprehend what life behind the Berlin Wall was like, I can understand how you can feel nostalgic about times past, even when those times were tough. 

That's because I'm an exiled Northerner and suffer from northstalgia. Mind you, I don't feel half as northstalgic as I used to and that's because England has become more Northern. Not of all this is good, Greggs the Baker, Chris Moyles and Vernon Kay can never be good.

Before I forget that I'm writing a food blog, one factor that has made England more Northern is the southward creep of Morrisons. I know many foodies look down on this supermarket because it’s too Northern but that's why I like it.

Morrisons champion the North, by giving shelf space to stuff like black pudding, Eccles cakes, and my favourite, Warburtons bread. Lately, they've started stocking Seabrook crisps (currently on special offer at 60p for a six-pack) in their London branches.

These crinkle-cut crisps take me back to the school playground but would they be as good as I remembered ? The answer is yes and I reckon they're tastier than many of the posh crisps doing the rounds. That said these are the ramblings of a nostalgic Northerner !

Sod all to do with crisps but I recommend that you get ‘Good Bye Lenin!’ out on DVD. This bittersweet comedy is the definitive Ostalgie film and ranks alongside ‘Downfall’ and ‘The Lives of Others’ as one of the finest German films of the last decade. 

17 comments:

  1. Fab crisps (love how thin they are) and fab film too! I had such a craving for pickles afer watching it.

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  2. I like Red Sky...tis southern I think.

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  3. Su-Lin - the Spreewald gherkin as featured in 'Good Bye Lenin!' is EU protected in the same way Champagne and Parma Ham are.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreewald_gherkins

    Fat Les - Red Sky are made by Walkers who are in turn owned by Pepsi. Worse than being southern, these are corporate crisps. Seabrook on the other hand are a good old fashioned family business from Yorkshire.

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  4. Those Seabrooks do look pleasingly old school. They bring Hedgehog Crisps to mind - does anyone remember them?

    Great trio of movies there - and Goodbye Lenin is the most repeatably watchable of the three...

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  5. Hmmmm, never tried Seabrook Crisps (unfortunately they never made it to Brazil as I was growing up) but have watched Good Bye Lenin!, Downfall and The Lives of Others, some of my favourite films!

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  6. GW & LF - just remembered another film, 'The Edukators', which I think you'll like.

    I also remember Hedgehog crisps but I can't say I thought they were any good.

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  7. Eccles cake? Warburton bread? What on earth are these things??

    I'll keep an eye out for your Seabrook crisps, but they'll have to go a long way to beat my affinity to Walkers crisps!

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  8. WB - as well spreading the word about noodles and Chinese food, I've taken upon myself to big up the foods and brands of the North. Personally I'm not that a big a fan of Eccles Cakes but when it comes to sliced white bread, Warburtons Toastie beats the likes of Kingsmill and Hovis all hands down.

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  9. Funny that you mention Warbutons. I'm a Northerner currently living in Oxford and hadn't noticed that they don't stock Warburtons in the local supermarket.

    Other things that the South is missing out on: gravy and chips, and parmos (although the latter is more of a Teeside specialty as opposed to the northern region as a whole).

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  10. Morrisons definitely have Warburtons but failing that I'm pretty sure Sainsbury's do too. You can get chips & gravy in some chippies in London but I guess Oxford might be too la-di-da! I've heard of Parmos but they are pretty unique to Teeside. Anyway, I think the infidel South will eventually warm to our Northern treats !

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  11. I first had a Seabrooks crisp a few years ago, and it was love at first bite! Now definitely in my all time top five of crisps! And available from most supermarkets in Cambridge.
    Good film too.

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  12. Oh yes another Seabrooks fan !! At this rate, I'm tempted to say bollocks to noodles and bang on about the North and German cinema instead.

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  13. I love Goodbye Lenin and I love all but especially seabrook crisps. You might just be my new favourite Mr Noodles!!

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  14. Gastrogeek - thanks! I must admit that i'm surprised how much attention this post has attracted!

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  15. I'm not surprised this post has attracted a lot of attention. After all, everyone loves crisps! And anyone worth their salt (no pun intended) knows their German cinema. I like the Smiths crisps with the blue bag of salt inside. Oh, and have you seen Der Baader Meinhof Komplex?

    P.S. You're on my blogroll now :)

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  16. Bittersweet City -Salt 'n' Shake did make a comeback and I like those. Not seen much German cinema as of late so I'm afraid the answer is no on Der Baader Meinhof Komplex.

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  17. I love Seabrook crisps! The wasabi flavour packs a punch, but my absolute favourite is the habanero and jalapeno flavour.

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