Paris, France — These are potato chips directly from the good earth of France.  This is farm to table at its finest. In the rural village of Boisville-la-Saint-Père in the Beauce, the region west of Paris known as the breadbasket of France, handcrafted potato chips have been made for nearly a decade now, gracing the most gourmet tables of France and beyond. Clémence and Matthieu Maisons, engineers by training, decided to return to the family farm, that Matthieu’s family had been cultivating for three generations, and plant potatoes, turning them into craft potato chips drawing inspiration from Matthieu’s grandmother who served homemade potato chips during the Sunday meal.

The house of Belsia was born with Belsia being the Latin name for the Beauce, the region where the farm is located.  They began producing 50 tons of chips in 2016 and today more than 300 tons emerge from the farm where 1.2 tons of potatoes are grown annually to be transformed on the spot into the craft snacks by a group of dedicated workers. It all starts with the Lady Claire variety of potatoes that are planted in the springtime and enjoy the good earth of the Beauce until they are harvested in September and hand-sorted. Thick slices of the potatoes are then plunged into a kettle of steaming French sunflower oil. They are slow cooked in small batches until a golden light brown. 

There are no artificial colors or fllavorings added into the production process with the result being a one hundred percent natural chip. Seasonings all come from France, ranging from the salt of the Ile de Ré or herbs from Provence or red pepper from the French Basque country. Even the bags they are packaged in are made in France. The latest innovation from the house: chocolate covered chips, as addictive as all of the other types. 

Belsia kettle chips: the making of. From the Lady Claire potatoes in the fields of the farm to the sorting, into the steaming cauldron  and emerging as crisp, crunchy kettle chips. Photo courtesy Belsia. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

It should be noted that these are real kettle chips which differ from regular potato chips in that they  are thicker and singularly crunchier. Kettle chips are traditionally cooked in small batches, tossed right into hot oil, while potato chips are conveyor belt cooked. Belsia kettle chips are found in gourmet grocery stores, on the tables of monuments like the Château de Chambord and the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte which serve them on their food and beverage menus. You can also find them on-line at https://www.belsia.fr/ or outside of France at
https://www.faire.com/ in the snacks section of the Food & Drink section.  ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette