Tyrrells New Red White & Blue Crisps

Back in September Helen from The Crazy Kitchen and I, went on a little mystery trip to Hereford on an over nighter, which at the time we were not allowed to talk about to anyone!!! Such a secret infact that we both had to sign a declaration promising that we would keep our trip under wraps until we were told it was no longer embargoed.

Well, now I am allowed to tell you where we went and why and it is so lovely to be able to do this. It is not that I am rubbish at keeping secrets, I think I am rather good, BUT my memory is not so good the older I get, and the longer the embargo continued, the more  I may have forgotten all of the facts about my visit lol! Anyway, Helen and I were invited by the lovely people at Tyrrells Crisps to go along and see first hand how their brand new red white and blue crisps are made, from the potatoes in the field to the manufacturing process where they are prepared and cooked to make crisps. The great and unique selling point of Tyrrells is that they hand cook their crisps, which means that no two batches are the same. Machines are not able to make sure the crisps have great character, so people are employed to stir them with a paddle and to keep an eye on the fry times of each individual (50kg) batch of potatoes. The fry times can vary between 7 and 12 minuted depending on how much water is in the potato, and this is influenced by the potato variety/ the harvest time/ weather/ drainage in the field etc.

It was an exciting day when we visited on 7th September, because not only were Helen and I the only bloggers to be invited but we, along with Tyrrells got to see the first ever harvested Herefordshire-grown red and blue potatoes!!

Normally Tyrrells use white varieties of potatoes for their crisps, and therefore their farmers grow Lady Rosetta and Lady Claire mostly, because both are great ‘crisping’ varieties. The blue and red potatoes, however, are better ‘all-rounders’ and can be used in meals as they are or mashed.

So once we were in Ross -On-Wye we were taken to meet Patrick who over sees the farming side of the potatoes for Tyrrells, and liases with the farmers. He unveiled the new coloured potatoes before our eyes as he dug them out of the ground, and showed them to us. I was really impressed how colourful they were especially once they were cut open.

Then Helen and I were allowed to ride in the tractors that were harvesting the potatoes – they were amazing pieces of machinary, and I was also amazed to discover that the potatoes are sown and therefore found via GPS! I would never have known that before!

Having seen the potatoes, I was allowed to take some sample home with me where upon I made some delicious Bacon, Leek & Potato Pasties using the blue potatoes, which I think helped to make my pasty filling look really impressive! Tasted good too!

However, the highlight of the trip to Tyrrells was to see the unveilling of the red, white and blue crisps before any other person outside of the company did! I think they look brilliant – what fantastic colours! It was so satisfying to see them as a crisp after seeing them in the field before, and wondering how well and how vibrant the colours would be after being cooked. I think they look fab and they were lovely and crispy and tasted like a handcut crisp should. I can definately see these crisps looking perfect to serve guests over Christmas, I mean they look so different and eye catching don’t they?  And they will jazz up a plate of sandwiches for sure!

You can enter a give away with Tyrrells to win some of these brilliant red, white and blue crisps – headover to their facebook page for more information.

I had a wonderful trip to Hereford and learnt so much about the life of potatoes, how they are harvested and got to ride in a tractor! It was also fascinating going behind the scenes of Tyrrells, to see how their tasty crisps are made. I would like to see a huuuge thank you to Cath, Patrick and Charlotte (and Tyrrells) for their hospitality and allowing me to see these crisps for the first time.

I was invited on this trip by Tyrrells, who paid for my travel and accommodation for one night too.