2 posts tagged “chocolate”
Yes my friends, that's about US $180 (or more) worth of expensive Swiss chocolate, French delicacies, rare Japanese green tea made from tiny baby leaves picked at dawn by nubile naked virgins, and more, way more, that could be yours for donating as little as $10 to the United Nations World Food Programme!
Complete details are on Just Hungry.
What was your favorite candy when you were a kid? How does that compare to now?
Wow, you mean some kids actually ate only just one kind of candy? :o
Since my childhood occured in three countries, I have to divide my candy by nation.
1. Japan
Chupa Chups! What girl did not go through a Chupa Chups phase? Curiously I don't remember boys eating Chupa Chups, ever. Ever. Odd. Is there something inherently girlie about Chupa Chups? Or maybe I knew what it was, but have forgotten now. (yes I know Chupa Chups are international...but I went through my CC phase in Tokyo, so there.)
Morinaga Chocolates that came with Flower Fairy (the Cicely Mary Barker ones ) illustrated cards. I collected those cards obsessively for a year, which meant that I had to have one of those 100 yen boxes every week. I don't remember how the chocolate tasted...I think it was okay. I still have the cards and I still love the Flower Fairies.
Glico caramels, the ones with the running man picture on them. So classic. They still sell those caramels. I get them occasionally and they are still deliciously soft and creamy.
Milky Candy, with the pictures of Peko chan and Pero chan (I think) on the bags. This is also still available, but now it's too sweet for me.
Koume Candy - umeboshi flavored candy! They also still sell this, with retro-Japanese illustrated packaging. Marvelous.
2. U.S.
Hmm, oddly I don't have many candy memories of the U.S. Maybe Tootsie Rolls, but I think I still thought Japanese candy was better. The one thing I adored was Snickers. I think I had one a day for like 6 months. Ah, the days when I could eat all I wanted and still not gain an ounce.
I do remember my first Trick or Treat, and coming home with a bag full of candy. Everything about America was just overwhelming to me, after the austerity of England. It was so...abundant!
3. England
The Quality Street tin of toffees (caramels) and chocolate was, to me, an object of desire to the max. My mother never bought it - we only got ours as gifts. Fortunately at the time Quality Street was an ubiquitous gift item. I used to steal the toffees (especially the flat gold ones) and hoard them in my room before my little sister could get them.I loved the colorful foil wrappers too, and after reading Rumer Godden's The Kitchen Madonna, collected a boxful of them intent on making a foil picture, until I lost interest.
A couple of years ago I bought a Quality Street tin in England out of nostalgia. And...the chocolates tastes really bad to me. The toffees were still okay, but I did feel sad that the chocolates were so awful. I guess my taste buds have changed quite a bit when it comes to chocolate.
So what's changed now? I guess now I can't eat most 'regular' chocolate...Cadbury's, Hersheys, etc. I think Swiss chocolate bars are the best, though there are some great Belgian and Italian ones too. But I still love most Japanese candy, and Snickers.
