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 |
Lee Chamberlain |
Hi,
Last night I went to see a friend play in Battle of the Bands. Being on a tight schedule to see the gig, I had little time for cooking, so instead settled for a cup of tea & a cookie or 2....or 3.
The mug I used is almost 20 years old & close to my heart, it is an original Farside mug depicting 2 reindeer standing up, one with a bullseye on his chest. The comedy tag is "Bu mmer of a birthmark Hal" I digress...
My cookie of choice was of the Lyons make, a fine disc of wheat & a championship dunk contender if ever I saw one. I do like these biscuits & honestly think it could easily destroy a Hobnob when soaking in tea, based on it's weight to ratio. I do so like them so much, I finished a whole packet with one cup of cha cha cha. Now full, I went happily to the gig.
5 bands appeared, 1 victorious. My friends band won, my support was appreciated, the night was a hoot. They were judged by George Michaels base player, a producer for Virgin Radio & some woman who I cannot recall & now means nothing to me. I went home.
When I arrived home at around 11:50 pm, I made myself a cup of tea, recalling the nights events. My thought was distracted however, I found my eyes moving by there own accord to the sight of the other packet of Lyons cookies lying suggestively on the kitchen top. I was in trouble. No sooner had my eyes betrayed me, all the cookies had disappeared into my belly along with a fine mug of tea.
By my estimate, within a 5 hour period yesterday, I downed over forty cookies. The actual total eating time I have estimated at a true 12 minutes.
I need to know-
1. Is this a record?
2. Why are these not reviewed on your far superior world dominating website?
3. Am I a pig?
Thankyou for your time. Tonight I will be eating dust to counteract my calorific intake. Also the band is called "The Jan Watkins band", they travel to Londons big smoke soon for the final, then on the highway to stardom. |
Nicey replies: 1) Undoubtedly, although it might not be a world record or a UK record, but if we narrow it down to say your street or house or kitchen I would be pretty confident of it being one.
2) I don't know.
3) Look deep within yourself to find the answer to that question. |
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Sylvia Schmidt
Lidl's Choco Softies Review |
Dear Nicey,
As in so many cases, there is no getting around the original with this kind of confection. Super Dickmann's are by far the best Schaumkuesse (as they are now called, in politically correct terms) in existence. And yes, I do consider myself something of an expert! The chocolate covering of a real Super Dickmann's is actual dark chocolate - or a very good approximation - rather than some strange pseudo-chocolate, the filling is fluffier and yummier, and the wafer base is crisper.
The small Mini Dickmann's have been feted since their first appearance on the market and have only risen in popularity since, particularly as party food (for grown-ups, as well!). I suspect this is because their convenient size makes them easy to pop into your mouth without sticky fingers and messy eating practices, both of which are sometimes involved when an amateur attempts to eat a real Super Dickmann's. They also come in three varieties - dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate - which means they can be pleasingly arranged on a buffet or such. However, the covering is pseudo-chocolaty, thicker and not nearly as good, and the wafer base is not crisp, and therefore these little fellows can't really compete with their big brothers when push comes to shove.
To conclude, you should not give up your quest to try Super Dickmann's until you have tasted the original. Choco Softies will not give you an adequate idea of what a glorious thing a Schaumkuss can be.
In the interest of science, I will add that I utilize two different eating techniques, depending on the occasion. At home, when no-one is watching, I set the Dickmann's on a small plate, lift off the top with a spoon, and spoon out most of the interior before eating the chocolate covering with just a bit of soft white fluff left attached. I suspect this method is unique. When in polite company, I utilize the common eating strategy of nibbling off the chocolate entirely or in part before proceeding to the filling.
By the way - the wafer base is one of the best parts in my opinion and should not be carelessly discarded!
Sylvia |
Nicey replies: If ever I encounter a pack of genuine Super Dickmann's then I won't be shy. |
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rosiwoods
Nairns Stem Ginger Wheat Free Biscuits Review |
In the interest of health my colleagues and students have all been eating NAIRN's Oatcakes. We LOVE the ginger ones best, which surprisingly perhaps, go very well with cheese. The only problem is that not many places sell them, so I usually get sent to TESCO in Millbrook Southampton with a huge order. Why are they not more freely available? |
Nicey replies: The Ginger ones are a bit scarce but the rest of the range is everywhere. As for availability, well that comes down to a plethora of reasons. I'll start you off, customer demand, sales performance, pre-existing successful products, effective manufacturer sales team, brand loyalty, retailer and manufacturer relationships, products unique qualities etc etc. |
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Maggie Leung
Strawberry Newton Review |
Hello, you lovely Brits. Your wonderfully amusing and informative Web site inspired me and a friend (we're Americans) to hoard biscuits on our recent visit to London. We traipsed from store to store looking for biscuits. It turned out that the best selection was a block from our hotel in the West End. A cubby of a store called Food City on the Strand had about two dozens types of biscuits, which we obligingly purchased. (The storekeeper thought us odd.) Then friend and I ventured from store to store to supplement our purchases. Back home, I've just broken into my cookie, er biscuit, stash. Now I'm tempted to eat them all by myself, instead of sharing them with my lovely co-workers, as I'd planned. Sigh. This just means I will have to return to London for more biscuits. If anyone has suggestions on which London stores have the widest biscuit selections, I would appreciate knowing for my next trip. This go-around, friend and I each left with carry-ons full of biscuits. The bellhop tried to carry my biscuit bag, but I yelped and grabbed it back. I didn't want my stash reduced to crumbs. Now I'm enjoying my biscuits with a nice cuppa. Oh joy.
Biscuitly yours from the Silicon Valley,
Maggie |
Nicey replies: Hello Maggie,
Just off off the Strand is a small Sainsburys supermarket, and just across the other side is a small Tesco's Express. Either of these would be a useful biscuit top up spot. The nearest Marks and Spencers is just up above the Strand opposite Covent Garden Tube Station. If you clean out those three you'll need to charter your own plane to get the biscuits back to California.
Last time I was in Silicon Valley I had to eat Strawberry Newtons, purchased in down town San José. |
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Jack Briggs |
Hi Biscuit Noshers,
I'm delighted to have found your website, whilst searching for Peek Freans. I was trying to track down a local supplier of their digestives as I remember really liking them. I think that many of the current ones that I buy seem to lack something (Co-op own brand and might be Foxes). The Peek Freans ones are a bit better cooked and more brittle but with a lovely flavour. I recall that their dunkability is a bit limited as they are inclined to break up quickly in a mug of tea.
After my local Co-op, I usually buy my biscuits from a wonderful stall in Huddersfield's Market Hall. They have (nearly) every kind of biscuit and cheap too. You can also buy big bags of broken biscuits for something like 50p a bag. My yardstick for price is the fig roll and they sell them for just over £1 per pound weight - very good value compared to packeted ones. So, you see, biscuits don't always arrive in packets. The best value is where they bag them up by weight.
By the way, I always drink Tetley's tea from the various pound shops in Huddersfield (100bags for £1). A good brew. That means you could live on tea and biscuits for a week for just £2 (plus a bit of milk). If I fancy an exceptionally good mashing of tea, I'll get some 'Yorkshire Tea'. Dear but very good.
Keep up the good work. You are kindred spirits to me.
I'll bet that you are the non-political wing of the BCCCA. |
Nicey replies: Hello Jack,
First congrats of your website I think its lovely, I particularly liked the snickets and ginnels. I'm left wondering what use I should make of this detailed information, I feel like I have had one those intelligence briefings that operatives get before going into the field. It seems as shame not to capitalise on the fact that I now know you can get from the chemists to the bus shelter via a little path. The bridges were terrific too.
Anyhow, Peek Freans as a manufacturing company hasn't existed for years (about 20). After many take overs and mergers its brands and products passed to Jacobs who still used to bake the odd thing and label it as Peek Freans, mostly selection tins. Now Jacobs in the UK has passed to United Biscuits, (McVities/Crawfords) and we all know how many Digestives they make. Jacob's in Ireland were bought by the Fruitfeild group and still bake biscuits in Dublin. There is some cross supply between the two Jacobs for obvious reasons of economy, so some products in Ireland are baked in the UK and visa-versa. There is also a Peek Freans in Canada although I haven't been able to establish its precise connection to the original London based company set up in the 19th century. It seems logical that this was an offshoot that has gone its own way, and many of its products seem like very traditional lines indicating a branching from the parent company many years ago.
Fig rolls by the pound, wonderful.
No we are nothing to do with the BCCCA but we did pop round for a cup of tea once as we were passing by and thought we would go in and say hello. |
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