Snacktime: US v. UK
Most people in the US think of traditional food in the UK as appealing a pair of beige socks. At best bland. Although that is of course not true, when you are talking Brit food I think they topped out with bangers and mash. I can however with some certainty say that they kick our asses when it comes to snack items. With chocolate and crisps the British still rule the seas.
If you eat a typical Cadbury or Nestle chocolate bar from the UK and then it's equivalent in the US you will realize that we are being short changed by our candy makers. I am primarily talking about the big companies like Hershey's and Mars. We have some smaller companies that are turning out some good chocolate but if you are charging $2.50 for a chocolate bar it better not be a piece of shit.
The real difference in the chocolate bar war can be seen with milk chocolate. The UK bars feature a lighter yet richer milk chocolate that isn't gaggy sweet. The US versions tend to be relatively dense and seemingly so packed with sugar the granules are buffing the enamel off your teeth as you eat it. The classic Hershey bar? So fucking waxy and tasteless I think Yankee Candle could put out a chocolate candle and it would approximate the flavor.
As for the other major category of snack being discussed here crisps the US isn't so much behind on quality as we are in variety. Walker's and their competitors put out flavors as varied as roasted chicken, steak and onion and pickle. We have 400 fucking variations of cheese/sour cream and seasoning. Yea, we really are imaginative with our potato chips. I know there are some smaller companies in the US who have tried some different flavors but the bigger companies have yet to step it up.
Maybe the reason for the lack of chip variety is the US consumer. I can see how a lot may not be willing to even try a wildly different flavor. Or maybe the companies here have just not put together many successful flavors even though they tried. Doritos was testing a new flavor in a bag labeled X-13 and people who tried them were supposed to submit names. Apparently it was supposed to be cheeseburger but after trying them I decided the appropriate name would be Rim Job With a Pickle.
So, while we have Mexican food and barbeque to kick the Brits' asses in culinary superiority we definitely must bow to them in the realm of snack foods.
posted by Steve @ 10:03 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I always think that when people talk about the supposed blandness of typical British food they can’t have had a good Shepherd’s Pie, Lancashire Hotpot, Bubble and Squeak or Toad in the Hole, for example. All very tasty despite the unusual names. There is a sad lack of barbeque here, but you can get good Mexican a bit more easily these days, as well as Indian, Chinese, Italian and various other cuisines. But I digress.
One of the things I love about Cadbury’s chocolate is the variety of different bars. There’s maybe a dozen at least these days. And have you tried Terry’s Chocolate Orange? Soooo good. And Thornton’s chocolate is wonderful; they do bars and boxes of chocolates. http://www.thorntons.co.uk/ThorntonsSite/pages/home/default.asp I’ve also recently discovered Hotel Chocolat which have some orgasmically good stuff but are damn expensive. http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/ And do you get the range of Lindt chocolates over there? I just love the Lindor chocolates they do.
As for crisps, I’m really surprised the US doesn’t have a wide range of flavours. I’d just assumed. I love trying new ones. I wish I could recall some of the more offbeat flavours I've encountered.
I need a job as a crisp taster. And a chocolate taster. And a biscuit taster.
Hungry now!!!
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