Back in January, I created Salt & Pepper Chicken for the Walkers ‘Do Us A Flavour’ competition and somehow made it all the way through to the final two. When I entered, I had absolutely no idea how seriously Merseyside takes its salt and pepper chicken. I certainly do now!
The crisps started appearing in supermarkets earlier this month, and since then, people on TikTok have been referring to it as the “Scouse flavour”. I’ve even been called a “Scouse hero” several times, which is hilarious and flattering at the same time. You’ve got to love that Liverpudlian sense of humour!
Having Liverpool backing my flavour is particularly special to me, and I actually feel quite emotional about it. My grandad was from Liverpool; back in the day, his family ran the Knotty Ash pub. He’s no longer here to see any of this, but I like to think he’d be exceptionally proud that Liverpool has got behind his granddaughter and her crisp flavour.
The whole experience has been slightly surreal. My crisps are now sitting on supermarket shelves around the country, with my face on the back of the packet – and there’s a lot at stake! The winning flavour could eventually become a permanent Walkers flavour, and there’s also a life-changing prize of up to £500,000.
But I’m not writing this to ask anyone to vote or to buy anything – I simply wanted to say thank you.
I came up with a crisp flavour without realising I’d accidentally stubbled across one of Liverpool’s favourite food traditions. Now Liverpool seems to have adopted it as its own – and I couldn’t be happier about that.
So, from the accidental “Scouse hero” behind Salt & Pepper Chicken: thank you, Liverpool. You’ve been absolutely brilliant. ❤️🐔
Lydia Houghton
Creator of Walkers Salt & Pepper Chicken
