Back on March 13, 2021, I did a post about chicharrones, which can refer to snacks made from the skin of a variety of animals--pigs, cows, sheep, and chickens. That one was about the most common kind to me, the pork chicharrones, typically called "pork rinds" here in the U.S. But, recently in my grocery I saw another take on this, in the form of snacks made from chicken skins. So, of course I had to try them. Specifically, I ate the original and then the barbecue flavor from the Flock brand, made by The Naked Market company, based out of San Francisco, California.
As so often happens, the official Flock and The Naked Market websites were a little short on information about the company's history and founders. Fortunately, other websites filled in the gaps. The Naked Marktet (formerly The Modern Food Ko., and yes, that was the spelling of "co." for "company" that was reported) started in 2018, being founded by Harrison Fugman, Alexander Kost, and Tim Marbach. This company has several food and beverage brands, including Original Breakfast (protein drinks), Avocrazy (avocado puff snacks), Rob's Backstage Popcorn, Beach House Bowls (smoothies), Piggy Snacks, and Haus (a type of alcoholic beverage). The Flock website mentioned a 2 year anniversary, so evidently it began in 2021. The website also mentioned how the Flock chicken skin snacks are made--they use skins that would have otherwise been thrown out and put into landfills. Or another example of "upcycling," which is a term I just learned about a few weeks ago, in my June 17, 2023 post about some banana snacks. Once the skins are acquired they're fried in a wok, seasoned, and readied for customers. Alternate flavors of Flock chicken skin snacks other than the two I tried are salt & vinegar, and Hattie B's Nashville Hot. Alternate products in this line also include pork curls, biltong (air dried beef jerky), chicken jerky, bacon jerky, and "bread crumbs" made out of pork. Also, I'd never heard of chicken skin snacks before, but apparently they're a thing--other brands I saw from just a brief online search included several, mostly with titles that are folks' names--Kim's, Marty's, and Howard's. Moreover, if you're interested in chicken skin snacks, get ready to hear a lot about the keto diet, which to (over) simplify, is one that suggests eating lots of fat, adequate amounts of protein, and very little carbs. Finally, fried chicken skin snacks are a feature of traditional Jewish cuisine--gribenes or grieven are this mixed with fried onions.
Flock chicken skin crisps, original flavor: These were about the same size as a typical potato chip/crisp, with a brown color and puffy look to them. Aside from the strong chicken-y odor, they appeared very similar to pork rinds. They were crunchy at first, and then got a little softer. Oily, too, especially the pieces near the bottom of the bag. The taste was kind of bland. Once again, they reminded me of pork rinds. The bottom of the bag chunks were a little more flavorful, and salty, but overall these weren't dazzling. Mediocre at best.
Flock chicken skin crisps, barbecue flavor: These were the same random, puffy shapes as the previous, only the color had some reddish overtones to the brown. The smell was slightly different, presumably from the barbecue spices. The texture was also the same as the original kind--crunchy, and oily. The taste was better--the barbecue flavor was nice, and a bit spicy. But not overly so. I liked these better, but still not enough to buy them again.
I should mention that these snacks had a very long, lingering aftertaste--I was tasting them like a day later, even after consuming other foods and drinks. And it wasn't a very pleasant aftertaste, either--kind of fatty and off-putting. So, I don't plan on getting these again, or trying other flavors. It appears that I'm not much of a fan of fried animal skin snacks in general. I enjoy eating the skin off of roasted chicken, duck, or turkey, but that's about the extent of it. However, if you're a fan of pork rinds/chicharrones, you might well like these too.
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