What's The Actual Flavor Of All-Dressed Chips?
There's a potato chip flavor for everything nowadays, from condiments like honey mustard and sriracha to dishes like hot chicken and street tacos. But there's always been a standard array of the usuals: sour cream and onion, salt and vinegar, and barbecue. Outside of the United States, though, other countries have standard flavors — and in Canada, one of those standards is the all-dressed chip. Just as the name implies, these chips come fully dressed with, well, a little of everything.
Ketchup? Check. Barbecue? Check. Onion? Check. Mix all of the standard chip flavors together and you'll get all-dressed chips, which (depending on the brand) have a pronounced barbecue tang to them. They're heavily coated in seasoning powder and will have your tongue slightly confused but definitely happy.
Along with ketchup chips, all-dressed chips are a Canadian staple, commonly found on grocery store shelves and enjoyed anywhere you might find snacks.
What, exactly, are the flavors in all-dressed chips?
Though the recipe for all-dressed (or "toute garnie," as it's called in French) seasoning varies by chip company, the standard lineup seems to include salt, vinegar, barbecue, sour cream, onion, and ketchup. Some varieties lean a little more sour-tasting, while some are a little more sweet.
The Ruffles website doesn't list the flavors individually, but it does mention dried garlic and onion, as well as paprika, on the ingredient list. There's also a red bell pepper on the packaging (which may be representative of the paprika).
What makes the flavor of all-dressed chips so delicious? You might expect that mixing all of these chip varieties would be overwhelming, but the trick is in the tang. The acidity of the vinegar, barbecue, sour cream, and ketchup flavors cuts through the saltiness in the chips and keeps the clashing flavors from overpowering each other.
Who invented all-dressed chips?
Though it's certain that all-dressed chips came from Canada, no one's quite sure when or how the flavor originated or who coined the recipe. A Quebec-based snack company called Yum Yum has staked its claim, asserting that they invented the chip recipe (secretly) back in 1978. There's no good way to prove this is or isn't the case, though, as documentation on the topic has been pretty scarce.
There are plenty of brands selling all-dressed chips in Canada today, though, with popular varieties including Old Dutch, Compliments, President's Choice, and Ruffles. Ruffles also sells its version of all-dressed chips in some regions of the United States, where it's become one of the company's top sellers. Other chip brands have cashed in on the success as well; Aldi brand Clancy's sells an all-dressed variety that has a cult following, and Whole Foods once had a version as well.
Beware, though — some claim that the United States chips are a little different from their Canadian cousins, with a sweeter versus tangy flavor. If you want to try the "real deal" and see for yourself, you might have to get these chips straight from the source.