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 |
Elizabeth Chow
Lincoln Review |
Hello Nicey,
While my husband and I were shopping for fathers day presents in David Jones (a fairly upmarket department store here in Australia) we saw and bought a packet of "strawberry biscuits". They were in a cardboard packet with a big picture of strawberries on it, but no picture of the biscuits. The ingredients listed strawberry flavour, and the packet said there were four biscuits in the pack. This sounded like rather luxury level biscuits to us, and we were eager to try them.
When we opened them, though, we found four (not five) Lincoln biscuits. As far as I know these aren't regularly available here in Aus, but I recognised them from your site which I'd been browsing the day before. Like you say in your review, the most exciting thing about them is the pattern of dots on the top.
So what I'm wondering is, are Lincoln biscuits normally strawberry flavoured? Is strawberry flavour one of the standard Lincoln ingredients? Not that it was very noticeable in ours.
Anyway, thanks for a very enjoyable website.
Cheers,
Liz |
Nicey replies: Liz,
Whoa, these biscuits are bringing me down. First off, four is a miserably small number isn't it? Typically that's seen as the amount for a small individiually wrapped serving (sorry to use a dodgy transatlantic term), as exemplified by the Oreo or even our own Penguin MIni Splatz. However, there is usually a bunch of said servings in the box not just four biscuits in total.
As for the strawberries I think there are some mixed metaphors going on here. Strawberry shortcake is a sandwich of shortcake (sort of as it's an American recipe) with fresh strawberries and cream. Fair enough. Lincoln biscuits are a shortcake biscuit, a fairly dull and unassuming one at that. They wouldn't even dream of getting a cream filling let alone fraternising with Strawberries. As for these biscuits only tasting slightly of strawberry despite there being pictures of them on the box, well that's enough to make your blood boil.
I await the emails telling me about Lincoln creams, now I've said that I'm sure there was such a thing. |
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Brian Barrett |
Dear Mr Nicey,
If Monika Duhig lives in Melbourne, she'll find lovely hand-made Eccles cakes, made by a pastrycook from Lancashire, at JT's Bakery, Pinewood Shopping Centre, Mount Waverley.
Can't eat 'em meself, now, because of diet restrictions.
Greeties,
Brian |
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Monika Duhig |
Dear Nicey,
Thanks for the great site (and thanks to contributing readers/authors). As an Aussie living in your wet islands I came to adore the eccles cake and a hot drink, practically anytime, really. I wanted to know if any Brit company distributes eccles cakes down under - please, somebody......it is too tragic that I and my recently converted sister should be EC free. Specifically the Lancs company that makes them in Manchester and stacks them in a cellophane wrapping - can't think what the brand is and manufactured in Manchester is probably dodgy but whatever they had in them was utterly addictive (heroin?) but really, any EC of comparable quality will do
Ta
Monika Duhig
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Nicey replies: Monika,
Regrettably I don't think thats a likely scenario. Still maybe somebody knows different. As for the secret ingredient, I think its simply our old friend butter which makes the pastry so tasty.
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Jim Williams
Romany Creams Review |
Dear nicey,
Just found your site and saw your review of Romany creams. I remember as a kid during the 60's, here in the UK, wolfing down packets of 'Gypsy Creams'. I can't remember who made them or what they were like and I don't know if they are still about. A Google search for 'Gypsy Creams' will yield some interesting results. Apparently they are the favourite biscuit of TV quizmaster Richard Whitely (channel Four's 'Countdown') and recipes for them abound. I suspect that Gypsy Creams are the non-PC equivalent of the South African 'Romany Creams'.
Regards, Jim Williams |
Nicey replies: Yep, we are up to speed with all of that including the dodgy Google search outcome. Typically when using Google to search for biscuit stuff it either brings up dubious stuff or our site. Interestingly Arnotts in Oz make Romany Creams under licence from Bakers, and call them Kingston. I picked up a pack a little while ago in the Australian shop in Covent Garden. |
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Alice Gorman |
Dear Nicey,
Thank you for your charming response. You've made me think that perhaps biscuits in space is a much-neglected research area that I should pursue. I'm attaching a picture of a 1959 Russian biscuit tin featuring Sputnik 1 for your enjoyment.
Regards,
Alice |
Nicey replies: Alice,
That is a fantastic biscuit tin, you must be very proud. I tend to think about biscuits in space about 3 or 4 times a week at the moment, which I think is healthy. In our book (out in November) I thought about which would be the best biscuit for zero-g or micro-gravity situation. This is surely going to be an issue for the in flight catering on any future sub-orbital space planes. Inevitably I think its the fig roll. |
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