Jaffa Cakes have long been one of my favourite sweet snacks. Last week I saw a Cherry one in Waitrose.
I tried it – ghastly.
Now I hear they are bringing out a blackcurrant one next month. Don’t fuck about with my Jaffa Cakes.
Why do food manufacturers feel the need to tinker? Anyone remember green ketchup? That was a real money spinner – not.
Willing to accept Lemon and Lime Jaffa Cakes, but beyond that … Leave it!
I concur. The lemon/lime ones are merely disappointing rather than objectionable.
FWIIW, I have eaten & enjoyed pineapple & lime Jaffa cakes.
Pineapple JCs are excellent. Don’t listen to the naysayers.
Greed. Pure and simple.
The widely available triple pack of Jaffa Cakes is the true evidence of McVities’ naked, pure greed. Means I must take ten minutes to demolish the whole packet rather than a mere three minutes. Evil bastards.
You need to get the supa dupa 12 Box packages, they can last a whole half a day.
Hi @Baron-Harkonnen do you mean 12 in a box or a pack of 12 boxes? If the latter then I want one. If the former you might be eating out of date Jaffa Cakes because they stopped selling 12 in a box versions a couple of years back. Now 10 per box apparently for the health of the nation however they give you a price break if you buy a triple box. Nothing to do with increasing profits of course.
Why is a company trying to make a profit for it’s shareholders, trying to keep it’s employees in a job, greed? They’re a business, not a charity.
I agree that Product Variety Engineering (that’s what it’s called – confectionery and biscuit companies have whole departments working on new varieties and flavours – ) rarely works. Think of Kit Kat as an example. Over the years we’ve had mint, orange, dark chocolate (Japan has had 36 flavours, by the way,) and there is a vegan version too. None of them have really stuck. Kit Kat Chunky was the last launch that really kept it’s shelf-space, and that was 1998.
Dark chocolate Kit Kats still around. A friend is devotee. Sales probably not huge but enough to keep the line on the shelves.
Very much in favour of orange flavoured variants. Orange Twix was fab.
Think dark chocolate kit kats are very popular
They are indeed.
Confectionery companies have always tried out new lines.
Usually they used to introduce them in a particular UK region to see how they fared.
The mint and the orange Aero are examples of bars that have done alright. Introduced alongside the classic version when it seemed to be losing sales.
Companies don’t want to just carry on with the same old ones, because there’s a risk in that. Certain items have been known to go completely out of favour in the past.
Mint Aero is my favourite of the Aero’s. Can you still get the orange one? I haven’t seem them for a long time.
I went out with Bonnie Tyler once. As we were strolling round, we passed a newsagents, and I asked if she fancied a chocolate bar. She assented, so I suggested a Mars. “No thank you boyo”, was the answer. “How about a Snickers, then?” I ventured. Again the answer was negative. Flake, Bounty, Double Decker…all were politely declined. After further suggestions of a Twirl, Turkish Delight and Caramel were refused, it suddenly became clear to me.
She was holding out for an Aero.
I salute you. That joke alone has justified my week.
I remember working in the Psychology Department of Liverpool University many years ago with Ian McNabb who was just starting out with Icicle Works at the time. Those were very much the days of behaviourism, and, like the legendary Pavlov, we often used animals in our experiments. We had monkeys and dogs working their ways through mazes, reptiles reacting to different levels of lighting, and rats working out their favourite rewards for challenges they’d overcome. That was all small fry, though, compared to the day we tested pigeons for their levels of attraction towards various simple carbohydrate snacks. The received wisdom in the psychology world back then was that pigeons, and other creatures of the air, didn’t differentiate between sugar levels in what they gravitated towards: it was all the same to them, high sugar content, medium sugar content. What McNabb and I discovered, though, was that if we interrupted them whilst they were eating one item and presented them with a foodstuff of higher sugar content, they would immediately take off and go for the latter. It’s permanently etched on my mind, the triumphant summary that McNabb wrote in his notebook as we watched this happen. ‘Birds Fly (Wispa To Ice Cream)’
Hmmm. Not sure you’ve recalled that right @black-type. “Aero” is a pretty good approximation of the French pronunciation of “hero”.
Are you sure you weren’t just Lost In France..?
I offered that joke with the best of intentions, but now it’s a heartache.
A modified version of the Bonnie Tyler classic gets regular airings at Hairnet acres. In an effort to cut down on the booze I’ve switched from my usual Steinberg (German sounding beer made in France and sold in certain Spanish supermarkets at 23 Euro cents a can) to the slightly pricier but non-alcoholic San Miguel Cero (=zero). Any time the San Miguel is chosen over the Steinberg, I cover my disappointment with a lively rendition of “I need a Zero. I’m holding out for a Zero ’till the end of the night” with all kinds of Steinman-esque flourishes to lighten the load. Whatever it takes.
TimTams – the Australian Penguin – have been bringing out a few new varieties. I have, duty bound, tried them all.
Not a duff one among them.
But: it wouldn’t increase my total spend on them. I may buy a wider variety of them, but I won’t buy a bigger quantity
Of course brexit has been worth it as our wonderful salesman brings us the joy of Tim Tams.
One of those occasions when a) He was plainly trying to distract the news agenda from what was happening, b) If had spouted that in a working class accent his words would have been seen as the utter crap they were.
There’s a Tim Tam variety now which has a runny licorice centre. Doesn’t sound promising but – oh my! Delicious.
The peanut version of Kit Kat chunky is/was a thing of joy.
I bought a whole case for the nurses on the maternity ward in Oxford after my daughter was born. They were very happy!
Peanuts are savoury.
Peanuts and chocolate should never meet.
I don’t think anyone is tinkering with the ‘smashing orangey bit’ original and no one is trying to take them away from you Steve. Surely there is no problem with expanding into other fruit flavours which may or may not find their own devotees.
The problem is when manufacturers tinker with the version you already like. There are few more dispiriting shopping experiences than reaching out to pick up a favourite product and seeing the words ‘new and improved recipe!’ printed on the wrapper.
Who can forget the New Coke fiasco of the mid-80s?
Research showed that worryinly large numbers of of the Coke drinkers they surveyed preferred the free sip of Pepsi they were offered over its Coke equivalent.
Problem was, that while Coke loyalists loved the odd sip of Pepsi, they couldn’t stomach drinking a full can of the stuff.
Ignoring the sage advice of board member, M. Love “not to fuck with the formula”, the brand did just that.
Cue a corporate climbdown so rapid and vertiginous, it took until this week to equal.
You can still buy the orange flavoured ones @SteveT yer daft get!
Orange Aero? Not in any shops by me @Baron-Harkonnen – bring me a supply to our meet up in May.
But then without tinkering, we would not have plain chocolate hob-nobs………..
But I would like to add my horror at the americanisation of British biscuits…..
I just went to McVities website to confirm that chocolate hob nobs did actually come later than plain ones for my above comment. First thing I get is a message about their cookie policy. Now call me old fashioned, but these are biscuits, not cookies.
batman-slapping-robin dot gif
Club Biscuits used to have a much larger range – now down to 5 core items (Orange, Mint, Fruit – and 2 latter day interlopers: Orange Crunchies and Honeycomb Crunchies).
Mainstay of my lunchbox as a kid – now I’m more interested in Club Whisky
Me at 15: Club biscuits, Club International, Club Classics Vol. 1.
Them fruit ones were like eating bogies.
FWIIW, I think chunky peanut butter Kit Kat’s are wonderful.
I like the dark mint ones. And the honeycomb. I bloody love Kit Kats me.
All of the above options widely available. Not averse to cookies and cream either. Variety is the spice of tea-break.
…except where Jaffa cakes are concerned…apparently…
Reminds me of the old Essex* girl joke which will get me cancelled if I repeat it here.
*insert (arf) alternatives here
Showing my age here but i think the same joke used to have a reference to Joan Collins in most 1970s school playgrounds.
The Kabuto Chicken Ramen Pot Noodle is a snack par excellence. The Chilli Chicken version is too hot for me but Twang Jr, a hot spice junkie, says it’s even better. Sadly its unwanted little brother the Singapore Noodle pot is dreadful.
Big fan of the Bombay Bad Boy – perfect for those balanced moments of spice intake and chemically created dehydrated food
In 64 years I have never tried a pot noodle even though I love noodles.
I may have to rectify that.
Now that’the sort ofbucket list we can all aspire to!
*Delete “swim with dolphins”. Insert “purchase a Pot Noodle”
Have already swum with Dolphins and done shark cage dive so a pot noodle would be at the sedate end of the bucket list.
Kabuto is the way to go.
Diverting the thread from snack territory into the Land of Dinner…
The pencil-necks at the BBC are getting snooty about the fact that Marcus Rashford’s budget cookery plan includes a fish finger sandwich. The BBC is presumably staffed by people who think that fish fingers disappeared about the time of the Berlin Wall.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56825700
A fish finger sandwich is a mighty thing. Who’s with me?
Fish Finger and Salad Cream sandwich – food of the gods.
Has to be Mothers Pride Sliced Loaf – none of this Artisanal Sour Dough malarkey.
For that extra excitement, and to meet your 5 a day intake, swap the Salad Cream for Sandwich Spread
Funnily enough I was just thinking about something similar for lunch. Well, veggie fingers in a sandwich with some salad and sweet chilli sauce, but recognisably of the same family.
Oh yes. I used to make fish fingers for Twang Jr when he was little and got a Jones for a quick FF butty for me (I mean, the grill was hot…)
In the immortal words of Orson Welles: crumb-crisp coating.
One of the two things I keep Heinz tomato ketchup in my cupboard for is the noble fish finger. The other one is boil-in-the-bag kippers.
Sandwiches of the gods, along with sausage, bacon or black pudding, which all naturally require HP sauce.
Tiptree brown sauce is my preference.
Bacon and Black pudding sandwich and Fish finger sandwich are neck and neck in my sandwich league.
Fish finger sandwiches are sheer beauty. But I’m with Rigid, give me the home cooked version with proper supermarket fish fingers and branded white sliced bread and just a smidgeon of ketchup over the newfangled “battered fish in seeded bap” nonsense that you get in many places now.
No a fish finger sandwich is wrong. You basically take fish coated in bread and then put bread around it. Same goes for meat ball sandwiches or “subs” as they normally contain bread crumbs.
Fish sandwich (no batter) is ok.
You’re not my Dad!
You can never have too many breadcrumbs. Like that deep-fried and battered Scotch egg I had in the Cairngorms. McLovely!*
(*) Inedible.
Awful. Fish finger in a sandwich, awful. Even worse with tomato sauce. Next you will be putting it on eggs – a total abomination.
Actually Scotch egg wrapped in black pudding is pretty good.
Oh yes. And the mighty Dragon Egg from Waitrose which has some fierce spices involved too.
Once, in Madrid, I had a Tortilla (a Spanish diced potato omlette) in half a French baguette. How’s that for fusion cooking?
I must admit, all those lunchtime carbs made me fart my way round the Prado.
From Sainsbury’s ready meals shelves.
A tub of Bombay Potatoes, heated and mashed up, then eaten with tomato ketchup in sandwiches. No butter necessary on the bread.
That belongs on this classic thread:
The other day I chanced upon an article online where various notable foodie-types were asked what was their suggestion for good hangover food.
One of the suggestions was frying up some slices of chorizo until the fat was bubbling out and then breaking a few eggs into the pan and stirring it around till the eggs were just cooked. Sprinkle with grated cheddar, stir again off the heat and serve with bread and butter.
Sounds like something worth a try.
I saw that article. I agreed with some comments that with a true hangover even thinking of getting out the frying pan and cooking would not be remotely possible.
This is true. But once you’ve barfed out all the previous night’s poison, you can’t ‘arf get the munchies.
The Meatball sandwich is an abomination.
With practice and care, a sandwich should be able to be consumed with one hand and no plate.
Something in-achievable with yer poncy (or not?) Meatball Marinara sub
At morning school breaktime we would visit the ‘tuck shop’ at the bottom of the hill, Cornish pasty sandwich in a teacake/bread bun or for some a pork pie teacake/ bread bun combo.
I think I’ve posted this before, toasted tea cake/currant bun with cheese and pickle.
Sounds terrible, but I bet it’s one of those taste explosion things that shouldn’t work, yet curiously does (like Marmite, Ham, Cheese, Peanut Butter and Bacon).
I’ve got a Tea Cake in the bread bin – I’m going in …
Well … this may be like Bob Dylan or Van Morrison where it takes a few go to “get it”.
I can certainly detect the sweet and savoury flavours fighting against each other, but maybe not for my pallette.
I shall persevere though. if only to repeat the look of confusion on Mrs D’s face (“are you really going to eat that?”).
Who knows where this will lead – I said the same about the Scampi Fry and Worcester Sauce Twiglets (now sadly discontinued)
At least you tried it.
That’s what they said about… oh dear, I’ll keep that to myself.
One of the best boxing days I ever had – about 30 years ago. There was snow on the ground. My brother and I and our respective wives went on a walk with the old folks and quite a few of their neighbours through woodland that ended at a nice country pub. This was in the days before relaxed licencing hours.
The landlord locked the doors and then proceeded to bring out trays of doorstep faggot and mushy pea sandwiches. Gratis. They were the tastiest sandwiches I have eaten but a lot of beer had ben drunk.
The walk back included a mass snowball fight.
Cheese is a natural bedfellow of fruit (whether fresh or dried), as any fule kno. I love it with fruit cake of any description.
Blue cheese in a toasted hot cross bun is terrific. has to be the melty soft sort so it does melt. Yum scrum.
Stilton & mince pie – food of the gods.
Could not agree more.
The Pret Swedish meatball wrap is pretty good.
I should have said “fish”, don’t think they use prime fillets, probably what they sweep up off the floor at the end of the shift in the fish factory.
Fish finger sandwiches? – Oh yes.
I prefer “fish and finger pie”
Fish finger sandwiches are well loved in our house. We’ll skip round the fact that the last time I ate a home made one I managed to chip a tooth on a carbonised clump of breadcrumb. I look EVEN MORE handsome as a result.
Anyway, I’ll see your fish finger sandwich and raise you a Crisp Sandwich. With salad cream and a happy shopper processed cheese slice. Naturellement.
*chef’s kiss*
@Beezer
Chipped tooth… crisp sandwiches…insouciant use of French…
I think Ladbrokes can finally close the book on who’ll be
succeeding Daniel Craig
I’ve been waiting by the phone drumming my fingers since Skyfall.
Concur re fish finger sandwiches – the addition of black pudding sounds even, er, better. *heart finally gives in*
Innovation eh? There’s no future in it.
I was on nights, many years ago, and the first Kit Kat variant, the orange one, had just come out. I was sat in the staff room and offered…how am I going to say this without sounding like Finbar Saunders???…I offered one of the fingers of my chocolate orange Kit Kat to the Sister who was on a break with me. She took a bite and said “it’s nothing special is it. It’s just like a Kit Kat except it tastes orange”. So I asked her what exactly she was expecting from an orange flavoured Kit Kat??
Do go on…I am expecting this one to turn in to the letters page of Penthouse..
An innocent thread on sweet treats and two “mucky books” have already been mentioned. For shame.
With your presence, how else would you expect it to play, boy?
Take that back, you knave!
He sat in the staff room and offered her his finger and lived to tell the tale.
Impressive.
Which you didn’t used to read.
New variants of established brands do well initially for their novelty value but you’re never quite sure if the person buying, say, a Nutella and Soy Jaffa Cake would normally have bought the ordinary one anyway. The Orange Twirl caused a sensation last year mainly because you couldn’t find them – now, no one gives a stuff because it tastes like yuck.
Then you have the kind of aspirational repackaging where you find yourself attracted to Fillet Steak, Shallott and Horseradish crips, and when you get them home… it’s The Flavour Formerly Known As Beef.
The German Curry Ketchup (heinz) is however ELITE as my kids would say. Only available in Germany.
That sounds ace!
We bring some back every time we go to see family in Berlin.
She For Whom I Cook orders it online (try the Low Carb Emporium).
Hmm, just mentioned to her, and she said “Peasants! Hela is the only fully leaded curry ketchup! It’s Dutch.”
I used to bring that back from jobs in Germany for my brother who got a taste for it when he was stationed there in the late 70s.
We don’t need the new fangled “elite” products; products that are merely catering to the global audience, whilst forgetting the cultural significance of the original flavours to the working man of the UK. I also understand that while the new Jaffa Cake and After-Eight flavours have a massive advertising budget, there will be no “promotion” of the original flavours.
This is just pure greed. I’m going to speak to Gary Neville.
All we want is life beyond…..the thunderdome!
I see what you did there Moose. Very good indeed.
I think the Curry Ketchup is protected under the German 50 plus 1 rule from Heinz deciding to ever withdraw from their domestic market in favour of a global product.
I had a souvlaki recently. Do you call them that. Kebab maybe.
Flat bread salad yoghurt chicken lamb or falafel…
Well it was full of chips ! Horrible, so gluggy.
Mrs Wells advised that it was the thing these days. Not my thing. No Sirree.
Wasn’t this, was it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal_snack_pack
Souvlaki is just meat and sometimes veg on a skewer.
And the “hope you like our new direction” album by Slowdive.
Can be that, a kebab being mince meat and the souvlaki lamb or chicken. Down here kebab typically refers to the dish I described except more Middle eastern. Flat bread and tahini. Souvlaki is the Greek equivalent with pita bread and yoghurt. Mmmm I’m getting hungry.
As stated above souvlaki just large chunks of meat (mainly) on a skewer, can be served in a pita or on a plate with salad, rice, potatoes etc. Stuff that is shaved off a huge gigantic rotating piece of meat goes in a kebab or “shawarma” or “gyros”.
That’s the (Greek/Lebanese) Canadian way anyway
Huge rotating meat known as “Elephant’s Foot” round these parts.
‘Elephant’s Feet’ are also those large round choux buns filled with cream, with coffee or plain icing on top. As seen in Greggs.
A doner kebab here, @dai, fit to burst within minutes of eating, hole in yer tummy an hour later. Best eaten drunk, with a paper bag of chips, the paper swiftly becoming translucent. And a rum baba for pud its you are really steaming. Best consumed from the shop next to Queenstown Road station at midnight, fresh off the last train.
Disclaimer: last practised this lesson of life in, perhaps, 1979.
I have had many in the UK after pubs close. And, yes, chips with everything there. Remember eating mac and cheese in Scotland, came with chips. Eat anything in Scotland …. comes with chips.
The music pub I frequently went to before lockdown* served mac&cheese (with bacon bits if required) and chips.
*Hopefully will again in May, when they reopen.
See also lasagna and chips, shepherd’s pie and chips and baked potato with chips (made that one up)
A pub near us used to do ‘Lancashire’ hotpot, which came with either chips or mash. In addition to the layers of sliced potatoes within said hotpot.
Sweets have not been the same since the demise of “Nutty”s, “Texans”, butterscotch fruit gums, and Opal Mints. I think chocolate doesn’t taste as good as before, and the proportion of hazel nuts in a Whole Nut bar has definitely significantly reduced.
Anyone remember Aztecs? Or Horlicks tablets?
High Land, Chewy Rain.
We Could Send Spangles.
Spangles were always rubbish uh..
Talking of which – whatever happened to mintellas? For those who don’t recall they were the mint variety of Munchies if I remember correctly.
Shurely the mint version of Fruitellas?
I miss “tooty minties”, the cousin of “tooty frooties”, skittles can replace the latter somewhat, but not the former.
Tooty Minties – one of the finest singers to grace Lee Perry’s Ark.
Definitely a few more from him later.
Working in the food industry as I do, I’ve been on the development end of what we lovingly call ‘line extensions’. If executed well a good flavour extension can actually lift sales for a whole trademark it’s what marketers call ‘bringing news’ to the brand. Now, if it’s really successful it can lift a whole category. If Mars bring out a new flavour Mars bar they will likely sell more Mars bars overall. If it’s a really good product it will mean any retailer stocking it will actually sell more chocolate bars overall for all other brands as well. Believe it or not, Mars would be just fine about this. If you can demonstrate that a new innovation will increase turnover for an entire category it gives you leverage to get more shelf space with the retailer. It’s quite fascinating really.
That’s really interesting. I wonder if something like that has happened recently in the world of fancy ice creams (on a stick and in tubs). I love the Magnum vegan range, and now there’s a deluge of non-dairy feasts (though not Feasts) on sticks all over the shop (or at east in the freezer)
This is a great example. Ben and Jerry’s just introduced an ice cream on a stick type thingy (I told you I was in the food industry). It will draw people in.
Only 25 years after Haagen Daz then.
I had one of the Ben & Jerry’s last night – it was shite.
Well, I found it very interesting. Although, I am very dull.
I meant it!
I’m a sucker for a line extension (missus): I’ve gone through most of the McVitie chocolate digestive variations (orange, lemon, strawberry, marmalade, even the vile cherry bakewell, although I never found gingerbread) and all the flapjack versions too (disappointing); brownie Hobnobs (still taste like floor sweepings); orange and lemon Kitkats; orange Galaxy bar; orange and mint Penguins; winter spiced Twix; the limited edition cranberry Jaffas at xmas (outstanding), etc. Cadbury’s seem to be on a tear to add orange oil to all their products at the moment; the orange Twirls weren’t the revelation promised but more interesting than the usual (wish they’d do orange Twirl Bites), and I’m looking out for the orange Dairy Milk bar. I draw the line when they add Marmite to anything (and they are trying to with _everything_ at present) but that’s a personal resolution.
Souvlaki (or gyros) with chips wrapped in a pita or flatbread is the Food of the Gods though: basically a luxury chip butty.
My other heretical food opinion is that fish finger sandwiches are better done posh: battered goujons and tartare sauce on soft granary doorsteps. (But no salad.)
Chilli marmite? Guinness marmite? Old mature marmite? Apart form the price, frankly I can’t tell much difference.
Chilli marmite adds a fine additional nuance to an egg on toast, or a cheese sandwich. But as I use chilli in many forms any way, it seems a redundant development. That said, eating a mouthful of peanuts with a Mars bar does not a Marathon make. (“Snickers”? PSHAW. Damn stupid American name.)
Lidl has a Polish Taste line which they stock occasionally. It includes strawberry, apricot, raspberry and cherry variations of the Jaffa Cake. The strawberry and apricot versions are very tasty.
There are plenty of customers in our Lidl who look like they have a taste for polish – Brasso, mostly.
Oh my God! Jonuts!! This could destroy the Afterword!!!
https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/22/jaffa-cake-has-launched-chocolate-orange-doughnuts-14455293/
Full marks to the McVitie’s marketing team though.
Sweet Jebus on a Stick! Must try those.
Article also mentions imminent drop of Blackcurrant flavour Jaffa Cakes! (runs round garden waving shirt in the air)
That actually sounds very good – look forward to it.
Wagon Wheels, smaller than before?
I wondered why it was taking longer to get there.
It’s bound to take longer to get there if you reduce the diameter of the wheels!
60s 82.55 mm only thruppence
Now 74 mm. haven’t a clue how much.
Aldi Wagon Wheels are ok! Forget what they’re called but not wagon wheels obvs.
Wigan wills?
Car tuiles, I think.
👏 oh very good.
Yes excellent @retropath2 Just got it!