Hello and welcome to the food chain from the BBC World Service.
I'm Ruth Alexander, perched on a bar stool in the cork of the north,
a wine bar in the town of Salem in the northwest of England.
And I'm here for a food and wine pair in the evening, with a difference.
I'll let owner and sommelier Mark Huff explain.
Right then, hello, good evening.
Welcome to the cork of the north of tonight's wine tasting.
which I think it's safe to say will be the most ridiculous wine tasting you've ever been to in your entire life.
So you're probably thinking, well, what's the purpose of this?
So this is, of course, a wine and crisp tasting.
I have to say, I was very pleased to be at this event.
I have always loved crisps, even though I know they're not good for me.
I just can't stop eating them.
I reckon I'm not alone in that.
So in this edition of the Food Chain from the BBC World Service with me Ruth Alexander I want to know why crisps or potato chips
as you may be called them are one of the world's most popular and enduring snacks.
I'm going to find out when our love affair with them began and meet the company execs travelling all over the globe to find the next big flavour sensation.
But first...
Let's start with what they can apparently do for wine.
Right, so the next one we're going to have is a particular favourite mine, and it's Riesling.