My kind of celebrity endorser.
I'd share with you a little about the life of Joseph Banks, the British naturalist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but the charming animation on the New Zealand snack maker's website already covers the territory very well. The cassava roots used in his namesake chips are sustainably farmed in Java, though in my hands the chips themselves (4 oz.; $2.99) — crosscut to show their fiber, then sea-salted, cane-sugared, and lightly spiced to draw out their flavor — will always be an endangered species. (I'm still hunting for the chili-and-kaffir-lime.)
Previously at the supermarket: OU-P Coca-Cola — that is, certified by the Orthodox Union as acceptable for Passover — appears in the United States only during the few weeks leading up to and during that religious observance, and only in cities with a sizable Jewish population. High fructose corn syrup, which has been Coke's standard sweetener since 1985, runs afoul of kosher restrictions during the eight-day holiday, so to avoid a substantial loss in sales, some bottlers make a temporary return to permissible (but more expensive) cane sugar. Comparing the two versions side by side, I found that old-school Coca-Cola offered a foamier head, a more rounded mouthfeel, and an overall impression that I think of as "pruny."
You can spot cane-sugar-sweetened Coca-Cola by its yellow cap, printed with the Hebrew version of "Kosher for Passover" as well as the OU-P designation. (I've heard it's embossed on cans, too, but haven't seen it.) This bottle (2 fl. liters; $1.50) reared its head at my local D'agostino — and going against the grain of widespread increases in the cost of food and drink, this year's bottle actually cost 19 cents less than last year.
D'Agostino
2830 Broadway (at 110th St.)
(one of many locations)
212-932-0061
www.DagNYC.com
