Monday Munchies - Tostitos Hint of Jalapeño

I'm old enough that it seems like every day I encounter something that reminds me how old I am.  Sometimes it's a joke that Jimmy Fallon makes on his late night talk show.  Usually it's the realization that, despite being legal, the chick I was thinking of hitting on is too young.

But I'm also of the age where I can remember when Jalapeños were a frighteningly powerful south of the border pepper that would literally melt your face off.  It something was branded jalapeño it meant that it was for someone much more manly than the average American.

Now I could toss together a witty line involving "Arizona" "border" and "Republican's worst nightmare" but this intro is already running too long.  Needless to say the "Average American's" palate in 2011 had adapted to tolerate jalapeño everywhere, even snacks, like Tostitos Hint of Jalapeño.




I was glad to see that Tostitos had expanded their "Hint of" line of corn chips, being that I'm a fan of their "Hint of Lime" flavor.  It it literally a hint of lime and they work well with salsa, as part of nachos and even by their lonesome.

But could those scientists at Tostitos replicate their success with Lime's equally green but considerably more powerful fruity cousin, Jalapeño?

Um, yes.

First and foremost it's a corn chip and I was raised on corn chips.  I love them and they're certainly one of my go to choices for something to crunch on.  But more importantly they've got flavor, because even though I love corn chips, they can be bland after a while.

The hint of Jalapeño works really well.  It's not enough jalapeño flavor to elicit a reaction (watery eyes, coughing, desperate need of water or milk) instead it's literally just a hint.  It doesn't bring any heat, just the flavor, which makes the chips highly addictive.  Honestly they're better than Hint of Lime.

And given the preponderance of Jalapeño flavored chips on the market, I'd imagine that the Hint of Jalapeño variety will probably do big business in the the flyover states, where Jalapeño has yet to take a serious foothold in the taste buds of consumers.  

They're good, they're available, try them out.