Tyrrells - Questions and Answers

Tyrrells has put together a handy list of questions and answers for all the people that are desperate to learn more about Tyrrells, Potatoes, Potato Chips, Potatoes in Space...

Why Tyrrells?

Tyrrells was named after Tyrrells Court , the farm where William Chase (Owner) was brought up and currently farms. We think Tyrrells is a beautiful name for the company – the potatochips are grown here in the Tyrrells Court fields, and turned into delicious potatochips at the production facility next to the farm.

What makes Tyrrells Special?

We’re passionate about producing potato chips here at Tyrrells Court. In fact, we spend quite a lot of our time tasting different types of potatoes and flavour combinations to bring you the best potato chips you’ll ever taste! We even design our own bags – you’ll often see photos of staff and the farm on the bags, with a little tale about how the chips were made!

Why Potato Chips? How are they different to Crisps?

Potato chips are thick slices of potato that are cooked without removing the starch. This greatly improves the taste of the potato, and reduces the fat content of the chip by 20-25%. The result is a tasty chip full of goodness and flavour. In contrast, crisps are thin slices of potato that have had all the starch, goodness and flavour removed by washing and processing. As a result, when they are fried – they absorb much more (36% more) oil than chips.

Why Vegetable Chips?

Whilst frying a batch of potatoes, William found a few loose parsnips in the bottom of the crate. They were sliced and thrown into the fryer, and he never looked back! Tyrrells have experimented with creating chips from a wide range of vegetables, but the current favourites are carrots, parsnips and beetroot. When hand fried they retain their delicious flavour. Not only are they delicious, but we think our root vegetable chips look really good too! Tyrrells are proud to be one of the original and best UK Vegetable chip producers – we hope you agree.

The Common Sense Healthy Bit

Are potatoes good for me?

Potatoes are an important source of Vitamin C.
A medium portion of new potatoes (175g/6oz) will give you 26% of your Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA ) of this vital vitamin.

Potatoes are low in fat.

Potatoes contain no cholesterol.

Potatoes are high in Potassium and Iron.

Potatoes are packed full of nutrients for your brain and body, so according to the British Potato Council – they can make you feel, think and look better!

Other items of interest

Will Tyrrells Potato Chips Make me fat?

We’re a conscientious lot here at Tyrrells, and we thought we’d have a little section where we talk about staying healthy. Our potato chips contain less fat than most crisps on the market. Why? During the frying process, most crisp producers slice their potatoes and wash the slices to drain out starch, before frying them. The reduced starch levels result in the crisps absorbing more fat when fried. At Tyrrells we slice our potatoes thickly and drop them straight into sunflower oil (i.e. we don’t wash out the starch). The chips absorb less fat, yet retain their delicious flavour. The helpful people at www.nutrition.org.uk advise us to eat a balanced diet (remember the five portions of fruit and vegetables a day rule) and try to keep daily fat intake to 70g for women and 95g for men. So our advice is not to give up work yet and spend all day on the sofa eating Tyrrells Crisps (as nice as that would be). We’d be happier if you ate them with that lonely apple from the kitchen, whilst jogging to work.

The Potatochip Tale

Who was the first to turn the humble spud into tasty potato chips?
In 1853 a chef called George Crumb working at the upmarket American Saratoga Springs hotel was enraged when one of his guests – a rich railway magnate called Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt returned his portion of potatoes to the kitchen, declaring that they were far too thick for his liking.

"How dare this man criticise my potatoes!" yelled George Crumb. He set about getting his own back on his guest by sarcastically slicing the second portion of potatoes into incredibly thin slices, frying them in hot oil and throwing salt all over them before sending them back to the haughty customer. To everyone's amazement, the mighty Vanderbilt absolutely loved his "Saratoga Crunch Chips" and potato chips have been a big hit ever since.

Potato History and Facts

History

Potato ( Solanum tuberosum) originated in the highlands of South America in Peru , where it has been consumed for more than 8000 years. The South American Indians even measured time by the length of time it took to cook potatoes to various consistencies! Spanish explorers brought the plant to Europe in the late 16th century as a botanical curiosity.

The Irish Potato famine

By the 19th century potatoes were available throughout the European continent, providing cheap and abundant food for the workers of the Industrial Revolution. Irish peasants were eating a daily average of ten potatoes per person – making up 80% of their diet. Devastation struck however when a blight known as 'PhytophthoraInfestans' struck the potato harvest three years in a row. The blight resulted in over 1 million deaths in Ireland, and masses of Irish people emigrating to the shores of America to flee hunger and starvation.

Space – 1995

Since its humble beginnings in Peru, the potato has travelled not only to every corner of the earth, but beyond our beautiful planet into space! In October 1995 the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. Astronauts on long voyages in space count super-nutritious potatoes as part of their staple diet as they orbit the earth.