Your ViewsKeep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions. To help you work out what is what, are now little icons to help you see biscuit related themes. And now you can see at a glance which are the most contested subjects via this graph (requires Flash 6.0 plugin). Please keep your mails coming in to nicey@nicecupofteaandasitdown.com | If you like, you can use this search thingy to find stuff that matches with any of the icons you pick, or use the fantastic free text search, Yay! | Your e-Mails |
Chris Doyle |
Dearest Mr. Nicey,
I would like to add some gravity to your site's seeming frivolity in regard to the matter of basic biscuit / cake taxonomy. The matter of "is the Jaffa Cake a biscuit" has taxed the brains of the best lawyers the European Union can offer for many years (and I use the word "taxed" advisedly viz.).
The issue has now reached a critical juncture. Due to the different tax legislation regarding the sale of biscuits and cakes it would appear that those people (including yourself), who idly refer to the Jaffa Cake biscuit as a "cake" simply because it has the word "cake" in it's title, could be the "footstep of doom" for many biscuit manufacturers across Europe.
Should the designation of this sponge, orange jelly stuff and plain chocolate confection biscuit be changed from "biscuit" to "cake" then all manufacturers handlers and distributors of said confections will have to pay vast amounts of back tax (estimated at over 30Bn Euros). Such a burden would see the closure of many of Europe's finest biscuit manufacturers and emporia.
We would then have the EU stepping in to centrally manufacture a standard Eurobisc which would be the only commercially available biscuit in Europe. This would inevitably lead to a black market in crunchy comestibles; just think, underground biscuit ovens everywhere. Don't let this nightmare happen, it's not just a biscuit, it's a way of life.
Yours sincerely
Chris Doyle
Biscuit Law Partner
Honbob, Borbun and Dunk Solicitors |
Nicey replies: Dear Mr Doyle,
First I'd like to say how much we enjoyed watching that Spitfire you had earlier this year, the younger members of staff now rate Spitfires as highly as F16s which is praise indeed.
Second as for the Jaffa cake, we certainly do that the matter seriously. Your argument seems a little adrift in places so here we go with the first Jaffa Cake mail of 2004. There are a number of reasons why the Jaffa Cake is a cake and as such the bakers of Europe may rest easy in their beds.
1) As you point out, and as we have popularised, it is called a CAKE.
2) Very very importantly it is made from cake, sponge cake to be precise. This obviously has huge bearing on its status as a cake.
3) Yes yes yes it goes hard when stale, just like a cake, (which it is) not like biscuits which go soft (unless its a Fig Roll or some other biscuit which goes hard etc).
4) It has been deemed to be cake by a law tribunal some years ago now.
5) It has a moisture content consistent with that of a cake, (because it is a cake)
6) Its a little itty-bitty cake
Yes we are aware that it likes to be seen with biscuits, and yes they are about the same size and come in similar packets. |
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Angela Din
Happy Faces Review |
Glad to see you reviewing one of my favourite examples of the biscuit-makers' art!
Several years ago, when I worked in an office, two of my colleagues and I used to regularly demolish a whole pack of these lovely biscuits of an afternoon. We used to compete as to who had the most evil-faced biscuit. We found some of them were rendered quite sinister by the placement of the jam! We used, in fact, to refer to them as "Evil Faces".
As you might have guessed, I left this job soon after, as I was far too bored - the biscuits were the only thing that kept me going. The result was that I did put on quite a lot of weight! Perhaps you could review the Weight Watchers biscuits soon - Sultana and Cinnamon is quite tasty, as is the Ginger variety. Both tend toward the crispy and chewy, but I quite enjoy this!
Yours, in the pure love of a woman for her biscuit,
Angela Din |
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Gordon J. Lowe
Abernethy Review |
Hi Nicey,
Well, this biscuit is one of my friend's favourite biscuits. I used to pop down on a Saturday evening to his and his girlfriend's house for a NCOTAASD and the Abernethys came out. We knew we were rocking then. A mug of tea, an Abernathy and Red Hot Chili Peppers on the stereo and the threat of work in the morning was forgotten. Great!
Anyway, I just wanted to say they are really good dunking biscuits, albeit fragile. More than second dunk would be foolhardy. Don't say I haven't warned you.
Bye.
Gordon J. Lowe |
Nicey replies: Hurrah for Abernethy biscuits. I like the way the holes in them are sort of oval rather than round, like lots of little navels probably.
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Ruth Jeffcoate
Jacob's Orange Club Review |
With reference to the discussion about Clubs - my friend and I used to make "magic mirrors" with the wrappers when we were little (this would have been in the early 80's). We would flatten out the paper outer tube, and then wrap it in the silver paper in the same way you wrap a present. We used to see who could make the smoothest mirror - you still couldn't see yourself in it, too many greasy fingerprints, but we thought they were magic anyway... happy days... |
Nicey replies: That's a wonderful account of why biscuit wrappers are not just packaging.
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Mrs Janet Faik
Happy Faces Review |
Dear Nicey, I have just read, and thoroughly enjoyed and agreed with your biscuit review of Happy Faces. I am somewhat puzzled though at how the youngsters at HQ are eating them with spoons. Are they breaking them in half and eating the cream and jam first (as can and should be done with
bourbon in my humble opinion) or are they dunking them on the spoon to just the right consistency and then eating them off the spoon? I would welcome your advise on this as new ways to enjoy favourite biscuits are always welcome being a definite biscuit girl myself.
Yours faithfully a true biscuit fan,
Mrs. Janet Faik. |
Nicey replies: Simple, bite the face off then eat the goo left behind using your favourite spoon.
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