This is no secret ad for Lay’s – just a humble declaration of appreciation (and deep love!) for one of their products: «Чипсыизнатуральногокартофелясовкусомбелыхгрибовсосметаной» [chips made from natural potatoes with the taste of ‘white mushrooms’ with smetana]. Ever since I first saw this baby in the store last year I knew it was meant for me – a huge lover of everything with mushrooms – also I had a hunch that it was a taste made especially for the Russian market. And after reading up on Lay’s on Wikipedia my hunch turned out to be right on the spot!

Chips arrived late in Russia, but it didn’t take long for the Russian people to take them both to their hearts and to that mysterious soul of theirs. I was not a fan of chips before I came to Russia, mostly because they’re sold in too big bags in my home country and I mostly saw them as a product of «коллективного потребления» [‘collective consumption’] to serve as snacks at parties or movie nights attended by large or not so large crowds. But in Russia – the best country in the world at making packages of the exact right size («и этим же Россия должна славится!») – they’re sold in perfect packages of 30 gr., 85 gr. and 170 gr. (and no bigger, at least I haven’t seen those scary half kilo bags sold here in the Urals). The small pack fits one person just right as a snack, and the middle one is great for two people to share, whereas the big one is necessary when more people get together to drink vodka (as an example, just an example). The year 2009 has already seen the introduction of a new taste in Russia – «краснаяикра» [red caviar], but I’m still stuck on my old favorite «белые грибы со сметаной». If you’re ever in the mood for chips in Russia, and who isn’t from time to time?, you should definitely give them a try! But if you’re not quite convinced yet, then just read this little text that’s on the back of the bag (do note the photo of a sun-drenched forest with lush green grass on the right edge of it):

«Попробуйте новые хрустящие и удивительно вкусные чипсы Lay’s Белые грибы со сметаной. Они напоминают о походе за грибами всей компанией и дарят ощущение свежести утреннего леса, хорошее настроение лета и отдыха» [Try the new crunchy and surprisingly tasty Lay’s chips White mushrooms with smetana. They bring back memories of going mushroom hunting in a group and give the feeling of morning forest freshness, the good mood of summer and rest.]

Everyone who has ever had the pleasure of experiencing «походзагрибами» [in a Soviet textbook I used back in 2004 this was translated as ‘mushroom hunting’ and I like that English expression so much that I have stuck with it ever since] in July, August or September in Russia can probably already guess what these chips taste like. One of my most beautiful memories of summer in Russia is from August 2005, when I, some students and teachers from the university rented a bus and drove away early in the morning to pick mushrooms far away from town in the woods. We picked mushrooms, of course, but it wasn’t really the main interest we had as for why we went all the way out into the unknown wild Siberian landscape – we wanted «отдых» [rest]; laying in the grass in the shade of birch trees, picking flowers and braiding them into each other’s hair, talking about everything or nothing, and making a fire to cook tea and fry mushrooms as the afternoon came around…