You sit down to enjoy a lovely, high-quality craft beer. And then you ruin the gourmet experience by shoving a bunch of Pringles into your gob.
One brewer in Sweden is rectifying this not-really-a-problem problem with a goofy but fun stunt: To go along with the supposed epicurean majesty of its beverage, St. Erik's Brewery created a very high-class snack—potato chips featuring rare Nordic ingredients and sold in a pack of five for a whopping $56.
"St. Erik's Brewery is one of Sweden's leading microbreweries and we're passionate about the craftsmanship that goes into our beer. At the same time, we felt that we were missing a snack of the same status to serve with it," brand manager Marcus Friari says in a statement. "A first-class beer deserves a first-class snack, and this is why we made a major effort to produce the world's most exclusive potato chips. We're incredibly proud to be able to present such a crispy outcome."
The recipe for the chips was dreamed up by chef Pi Le. The ingredients include matsutake, one of the world's most sought-after species of mushrooms, and a special truffle seaweed from the Faroe Islands that can be found only in cold tidal waters.
"All of the chips have been made by hand," the chef says. "It took a delicate touch, a finely honed sense of taste and time to ensure that each chip would achieve a perfect balance between the various ingredients. The taste is a very Scandinavian one. … Most people recognize potatoes and onions, but what stands out is the quality. All of the ingredients are of a stature that not many will have tried before. These chips are an excellent accompaniment to craft beer, or simply enjoyed on their own."
A limited batch of 100 boxes of five chips each went on sale last week, and are already sold out. So, you're out of luck, I'm afraid—and you'll have to stick to Paqui's hellish hot, single-pack Carolina Reaper Madness chips instead.
The stunt was devised by Swedish agency Abby Priest, which seems to specialize in wacky stunts. Its previous work has included the Adobe stock-photo clothing line.
