Trader Joe's Organic Elote Corn Chip Dippers

When I saw these bags on the new-products display at Trader Joe's, I couldn't understand why they were promoting one of their most stalwart old items as new. I had to look more closely to notice that these were not the usual Dippers.

I loves me my Dippers. You could send a SWAT team to break in and do a random surprise inspection of my kitchen any day, any time, and you'll always find at least one bag of them in my cupboard, and usually two or three so that I'm never at risk of running out of them. So of course it was an instant "yes" to try this new version. Heck, I love the original so much that I would have bought any new variation on them that TJ's cared to offer, short of "Super Onion Flavored Onion Corn Chip Dippers, Now With Extra Onion."

I confess that I had never heard of "elote" before. Relying on the first result in a Google search, I learn: "Elote corn is Mexican street corn roasted over an open grill and coated with salt, chile powder, butter, cotija, lime juice, and mayonnaise or crema fresca." That sounds delicious!

Compare that with the seasonings added to these new TJ's chips: maltodextrin, sugar, salt, chipotle peppers, nonfat dry milk, lowfat buttermilk, "spice," corn flour, "natural flavor," citric acid, sunflower oil, habanero pepper powder, "natural smoke flavor," turmeric extract, and "trace of lime."

I'd say those lists are only vaguely similar.

So how do they taste? Not so great, if you ask me--and nothing like what my brain conjures up from the quoted description of elote. There's definitely some mild heat from the peppers (though this is quite variable from one chip to another, I found). Then there's a fairly complex mix of other tastes that I can't put my finger on--presumably the sum of the turmeric, "smoke" and other unspecified "flavors."

This is one of those times when I can't explain exactly what I don't like--but I don't like. Maybe it's the turmeric, which I haven't liked in any of the TJ's products in which it has appeared.

Nina and I were eating them with the last of my stockpiled jars of Fall Harvest Salsa. I objected to the chips clashing with and even dominating the lovely flavors of the mild salsa. Nina, conversely, thought it was a fabulous combo. In fact, after a dozen or so salsa-laden chips, she declared these to be her favorite corn chips of all time. This is not the kind of announcement she drops casually or thoughtlessly.

So you've got a very, very mixed review here.


Will I buy it again? 

No. Well, not unless I accidentally grab the wrong bag, once these migrate to the regular snack shelf of the store.