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Your e-Mails

Nik Whitehead Garibaldi Review	Far back in the dim and distant past (the late sixties and early seventies) I was in love with the most wonderful biscuit on Earth - the plain chocolate garibaldi. Now of course, the milk chocolate garibaldi was good, but the bitterness of the dark chocolate combined with the sweetness of the fruit made this, for me, the ultimate in 'sitting with my grandfather watching television' treats. Sadly, I have not seen such delights for many years, although a friend of mine once presented me with a Christmas gift of several packets worth of garibaldi over which he had carefully spread melted chocolate. Ah... those lost biscuits of the past...
	Nicey replies: Nick, Yes our best information on the Chocolate Gariballdi is that it was probably made by the now defunct south London biscuit manufacturer Chiltonian biscuits. Not only were they able to cover some in chocolate but theirs were much more moist than today's Gariballdis. When ever I'm in the presence of one of the powerful people in the biscuit world I habitually put in a plea to bring back the Chocolate Gariballdi. So far there is no sign of this happening.
Geraldine McCathy Garibaldi Review	Hi there, I found your site whilst looking for information on the Chiltonian Biscuit Factory in Hither Green, London. I worked there in the mid 1970's and I can assure (your correspondent) Kevin Sowerby, that I packed many, many garibaldi biscuits while I worked there. They were just delicious and I have never tasted a garabaldi biscuit as good as them since those days... We packed biscuits for Sainsburys, Peak Frean and many others at Chiltonian - there was also a broken biscuit shop where customers and staff could buy a huge bag of broken biscuits for 10p!... I am sad to learn that the Chiltonian factory is to be converted into housing development..... God bless all, Geraldine
	Nicey replies: That's great to have the location of Sainsbury's wonderful 1970s Garibaldis tracked down. Presumably the much missed Chocolate version was made there too. I certainly remember a time when Garibaldis were a softer and the raisins a bit plumper, perhaps they were Chiltonian ones. Still it would be good to see if they could whack a bit of chocolate on a modern Gariabldi just to see what they came out like.
Ian and Barbara Smith	Great site. We were dismayed to discover from Fortnum and Mason that chocolate covered Bath Oliver's are no longer available. I expect some marketing "geek" somewhere, who has no discernment, has reached this decision. A nice lady in F & M, who knew her biscuits, put us on to you. We need a national campaign to save one of our countries great products. What will Christmas be without them? Why can't these wretched people just leave a good product alone? What do you think? Ian and Barbara Smith
	Nicey replies: Well Bath Olivers are made under license from Fortts by Jacobs, we presume the chocolate covered ones are too. Two glimmers of hope are the acquisition of Jacobs within the last two weeks by United Biscuits (McVities,Crawfords,KP), which might see some changes the most likely being a focus on Jacob's brands and a move away from generics. Who knows this may benefit the Bath Oliver (my dream scenario is that they fix the Club biscuit back to how it should be while they are at it). The second strand of hope comes in the form of the recently revived Huntley & Palmers, which really is an attempt to combine the brand name with a range of premium products utilising other manufacturers. H&P at one time owned Bath Olivers and so have a historical association with them. We know the MD of the new H&P has been exploring the idea of adding Chocolate Bath Olivers to his range. Actually we were in Bath last weekend and took this picture of what we believe to be the ancestral home of the Bath Oliver, which is now a pub in Green Street Bath, but once was a bakery operated by the late Dr Oliver's (inventor), coachman Atkins, to whom he bequeathed the recipe and lots of flour.
John Swift	Thought you may be interested to know that in my local Sainsbury's I recently came across what was to all intents and purposes a Dundee biscuit. Made in the instore bakery, the biscuit had the same taste (so far as I can remember, it must be 15 years since I last had a genuine Dundee) texture, and ability of the chocolate to melt onto your fingers as soon as you pick it up. The only thing that was missing was the Dundee branding across the biscuit, not enough to diminish my enjoyment. The biscuit cost 70p. Quite expensive for a single biscuit, but well worth every penny for a trip down memory lane. John
Scott Wilding	Quite simply what ever happened to Cadburys animal biscuits-does any one know if they still sell them?
	Nicey replies: Well all the Cadbury's stuff is made by Burton's foods and they still make Cadbury's animals. However, present day animal biscuits aren't really comparable to those of old. Todays, are in mini-format in snack bags. The biscuit is quite dark for a shortcake. Old style Animal biscuits came in a box, the animals were proper zoo/circus type ones rendered in a rich pale shortbread. The chocolate had a distinctive wavy piped pattern, and I considered them to be a delicacy.
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