Your Views

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Your e-Mails

Dr Alice Gorman	Dear Nicey, My best regards to you, Wifey, and the younger members of staff. I feel like I have been out of contact for too long. Academic life, it must be said, is not always conducive to engaging with the broader world. Last week, as you know, was a momentous anniversary in the history of space exploration. To celebrate the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 my colleague Dr Lynley Wallis spent all night in the kitchen making special sputnik cakes. We offered them to our graduate students in a masterclass on the day itself. The presence of cake brought home to them how significant this day was in the creation of the modern world. I knew you would enjoy seeing the results of our efforts and attach a (only slightly blurry) picture of the special sputnik cakes. I remain your most humble devotee, Alice
	Nicey replies: Its always good to hear from NCOTAASD's favourite space archaeologist. We too were excited about the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, which for good reason is the artificial satellite that I most often think of. Despite all the hundreds of other ones up there routing our phone calls, guiding our transport and keeping an eye on the weather, Sputnik is the only one with its own vegetable. The Kohl-Rabis that turn up in our weekly delivered veggi-box are the spit of it, and very nice in a stir fry it is. I'm impressed that each cake seems to be unique in its design and colour scheme and I note that Dr Wallis didn't spare the food colouring. I hope this didn't render all your students hyper-active with attention deficit issues. Granted the latter is always difficult to diagnose in students although working in such a stimulating field I'm sure you don't suffer from such things.
Goldie Polish Jaffa Cakes Multireview Review	Nice one Nicey, I currently live in Chicago, and Chicago being the second largest Polish city outside of Warsaw, there are a lot of Poles here. Thank God. In my local supermarket there's a burgeoning Polish section, right next to the British section. Recently whilst perusing the eyewateringly expensive British imports, my eye wandered to the Polish section. "Hello, what's that?" I thinks to myself. "Blue wrapper, chocolatey, spongy, orangey - must be Polish Jaffa Cakes." Brushing aside the pickled herrings and borscht I investigate, and indeed, they are Jaffa Cakes - just with funny writing on them. I look at the British section - McVities jaffa cakes also, of course, now comes the price comparison. McVities - $3.25 per pack. Delijce - $5 for FOUR packs. That was it - elbows flying, heart pumping - it was like a supermarket sweep gone mad. I cleared the shelf in about 30 seconds, jealously eyeing other shoppers whilst guarding my horde. I have since, magnanimously I think, informed by fellow ex-pats, but I still horde them when I get the chance. And they are just as good as the 3 x as expensive McVities; chocolate is just right to the sponge ratio - and that "smashing orangey bit in the middle." Goldie, Chicago.
Joan Todd Nabisco Nutter Butter Review	Hi, I love your website. When I left England at the tender age of twelve, I did not realize that America didn't have proper biscuits. Luckily they do import biscuits from England and Canada, so Digestives and other yummies can be found from time to time. Unfortunately, our local blood drives have Oreos and Nutter Butters (a peanut butter flavored sandwich cookie in the shape of a peanut) as the reward for donating blood. To wash these down they provide juice boxes or bottled water. No cups of tea in sight. :-) I do drag my husband back to England every few years - he survives on sausage rolls and Jaffa cakes. He's American. :-) Keep up the good reporting on all things biscuity.
	Nicey replies: It seems only right and proper that if somebody removes a pint of the very lifeblood from an average British person that they should immediately administer tea and biscuits to replace it like with like. I'm sure the same could be said of the Irish. As for the other nations of the world I'm not sure but there is good sport to had coming up with tongue-cheek suggestions.
Hiromi Miura Polish Jaffa Cakes Multireview Review	Dear Nicey, wifey and YMOS! Thank you for your wonderful review of "Polish Jaffa Cakes Multireview". I believe that Wifey was able to get such fine biscuits by giving her right arm that she risked abandoning beloved Nicey and YMOS for a while. It must be just trophied biscuits. Sad to say, I have never tried any Polish Jaffa cakes. However, I am lucky to have enjoyed some "McVitie's branded Jaffa cakes" biscuits in the U.K. I loved the fruity tartness of the orange jelly rich in gelatin that could work as a skin moisturizer. (or jam ??) I think many people in the U.K.and Poland are really happy to be able to eat Jaffa cake biscuits. As you guess, Korea has no Jaffa cake biscuits. However, I recently met a nice biscuit named "Big pie" . The "Big pie" manufactured by CROWN is a biscuit with a strawberry flavoured jelly in a chocolate. The main reason I love the biscuit is that I can enjoy three key- points such as "the biscuit, the chocolate and the jerry" at the same time as Jaffa Cake biscuits in the U.K. Of course,I know that the "Big pie"biscuit is not a "Jaffa cake"biscuit. But I will taste the Korean "Big pie" as Korean Jaffa Cake" with gratitude in Korea. (Important) The "Big pie" is a SMALL round biscuit around 4 cm in diameter. Sincerely, Hiromi Miura (Seoul Korea)
	Nicey replies: Hiromi, Glad to see that you have settled down in Korea and are busily finding new biscuits. As you point out not only are those pies not big but they don't appear to be pies either. We are very lucky to have your Japanese view of Korean biscuits based on your working knowledge of British biscuits. I feel that one day there might come to pass a course of events that would see you at least saving the world using your specialised knowledge that is a Japanese view of Korean biscuits based on your working knowledge of British biscuits. The smashing orangey bit in the middle of the jaffa cake to give it its full technical name is as you suspect actually jam. Industrial jam at that. Which means that the inclusion of the Jaffa Cake in the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary with the definition as a sponge biscuit with an orange-flavoured jelly filling and chocolate topping is wrong on two counts and very obviously throws doubt on the validity of every other piece of information held in it. As for Wifey she gave her left arm today, as she gave blood. She tells me she had a cup of tea afterwards and three Crawfords Gingernuts, although Digestives and Custard Creams were also on offer.
Philip Neaves	Wonderful site - but has making tea really come to this? A tea bag? Dreadful. For instructions on "real tea" (in the same manner as "real ale") please visit our tea page Also a tea quiz - see link at bottom of page. Keep up the good work. Philip & Catheryn
	Nicey replies: Philip, Whilst I'm very pleased to use at least four of our tea icons to go along with your mail, I would urge restraint on your part and not to descend into full blown tea fascism. A live and let live attitude is the enlightened path unless of course you are having to drink somebody else's ropey tea, then its all right to have a go especially if you are having to pay for it. One pound forty on the P&O Dover Calais ferry for half a cup of warm water drizzled over a one cup bag with a small plastic pot of milk, now that's something to get upset about. These vessels are now effectively the very edge of British tea culture. Leaving our shores they are the last chance for a cuppa in a place that should recognise the significance of such a thing. They are also a welcoming sight for the weary travelling Brit and should be a stronghold and embodiment of mass tea provision, in a way that we can be both grateful for and proud of. Of dear you appear to have set me off on one now.
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