Lady J on Eat: Food Junkie

I’m a junk food aficionado. Back in the day when I was holding a corporate job, the magical hours for this tummy to growl and rumble would be 11am and 4pm. I would reach out for that bag of potato chips that would be sitting on my table and chomp away happily as the stress melted away. I’d worry about the calories later.

As you can imagine, potato chips are a staple in my home and are always on the grocery list when it is time to stock up on necessities for the home.

When we found out that we were moving to Geneva, the one thing we did before leaving Singapore was to fill our shopping cart with all the local food that we could find at Giant Hypermarket (a local supermarket in Singapore). From Asian sauces, canned food and our favourite instant noodles, to my favourite snacks (of course), we were practically shopping for an army. Kiasu-ism (Singaporean slang for "fear of losing"), perhaps? Not exactly, for we just wanted to be prepared, in case we couldn’t find the food we love in Geneva.

Red Rock Deli Sweet Chilli and Sour Cream Chips - THE BEST!

Before the movers came, J came over to inspect what I’d packed. He frowned upon the bags of chips that I had secretly snucked into the box. "Potato chips?!" he exclaimed. I pried the bags of Red Rock Deli Sweet Chilli and Sour Cream Chips from his hands and stuffed them back into the box. "These are imported from Australia, I’m sure they don’t have them in Geneva," I retorted. "We're going too far away, so just let me have those chips!" Of course, he refused and those two precious bags of chips were unloaded from the box.

When we arrived in Geneva, one of the first things that we did was to stock up on groceries for the apartment at the local supermarket near our neighbourhood. A visit to the supermarket would of course not be complete without the customary visit to the snack corner. I was expecting to find a huge selection of potato chips lined up for my picking, but what stood before me was just four shelves of chips from two to three different brands with simple flavours that I could choose from: "natural" or "paprika". Not very exciting at all! Where are the flavours like "honey dijion mustard" “sweet Thai chilli” "cheese" or even "honey roast chicken"? Where are the Pringles and Lays? Those were not in plain sight.

The potato chips section at the local supermarket near our place

Instead, guess which snack had huge rows for the picking? Why, chocolate of course. This is Switzerland after all so I guess the Swiss are really into their chocolate. I was sorely disappointed but grabbed a pack of chips to satisfy my craving. Thankfully, a visit to the larger supermarkets in Geneva yielded better results for the selection of potato chips and I grabbed a couple of packets with different flavours to stock up for good measure.

My secret stash of potato chips procured during our weekend trips around Europe

On a recent grocery shopping trip with a Singaporean girlfriend who’s lived here for over 14 years, I sheepishly asked if the Swiss are huge on snacking for I noticed that the selection for junk food namely potato chips is pretty limited. She smiled and said that the Swiss are generally more health conscious, preferring to snack on fruits or diary products such as cheese or chocolate. I retorted, “Chocolate! That’s not healthy at all!” She chuckled and explained that while chocolate may not be the most healthy snack around, it does contain a number of nutrients (potassium and magnesium) as well as vitamins such as B, D, and E.

I researched further and found that there are actual health benefits to eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Apart from tasting good, it stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure and can also act as an anti-depressant. Dark chocolate is good for your heart for it contains a large amount of antioxidants that can protect the body from aging caused by free radicals. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well.

After-dinner chocolate treat :)

Well, well, what do you know? With this newfound knowledge, I’m now walking into specialty chocolate stores in Geneva to check out their selection of dark chocolate. I’ve fallen in love with dark chocolate that are infused with fresh and fruity flavours such as “orange", “framboise (raspberry)” and “ginger”. And, we started to enjoy having a small bar of dark chocolate after our meals together with our cup of coffee or mint tea.

Will I ditch my love for potato chips and turn into a “choco-monster” instead? Who knows? But living in Geneva and with chocolate being the epicentre of sweet Switzerland, I just might.

Health advisory from Lady J: There’s nothing wrong with snacking, but please do so in moderation.

[Photo credit: Red Rock Deli]