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 |
Martin Gorst |
Hi Nice
At the risk of being shot down in flames of derision and contempt, I'm finally sticking my head above the parapet and expressing my astonishment at finding on your estimable site no mention of two extremely toothsome treats of my close acquaintance. Made by some esoteric outfit calling themselves The Biscuit Collection, and seemingly fairly widely available in supermarkets, (local branches of Sainsbury & Aldi to name but two widely diverse extremes of the retail spectrum) the treasures to which I refer are Apple Pie Cookies and their slightly less memorable stablemate Brownie Cookies.
Yes, I'm aware the unfortunate presence of the C word does them no favours with you and your many discerning contributors, but it's hard to avoid in a climate of US Cultural Imperialism and Carpet Marketing. However I truly believe these to be little gems and deserving of your attention. I'd defend their undoubted biscuity qualities before the highest court in the land.
I may of course have entirely missed an extended correspondence on the matter, and I can't help an uneasy qualm arising at Adam's oblique reference to 'those bloody awful Apple and Cinnamon jobbies from Asda', but I would welcome your expert assessment of these unsung delights at some juncture.
I can't imagine you'd have a problem tracking them down, but just in case the packet states that they're produced in the EC for JP Associates, St John's House, Exton, EX3 0PL. I very much look forward to the type of balanced and objective review on which your devoted readers can always rely.
Yours in hopeful anticipation
Martin Gorst |
Nicey replies: Hi Mart,
The things Adam was referring to were something else. A small batch of experimental biscuits which were so troubling that they even made it into our book, getting a mention in the section about keeping strongly flavoured and experimental biscuits away from innocent and law abiding biscuits. They were only around for about eight months.
As for the ones you mention, we have not had them yet so I'll keep a look out for them. |
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Kevin Johnson |
Hello Nicey
My wife was bought your book at Christmas and it was my favourite present.
I must tell you of a memorable moment on holiday in Tunisia, back in February 1988. I was looking in the window of what must be described as a pastry shop in the historic town of Karaiouan. Displayed were a variety of delicacies but unmistakably in the middle were-hand made fig rolls sitting on a tray with a coating of syrup (imagine baklava in a Turkish cafe or restaurant.
It struck me then that in the days of empire British biscuit makers must have surely gained their inspiration from this country in which figs are grown in profusion.
They were very nice but of course lacked the practicality of a Jacobs pack which can be easily consumed anytime anywhere.
Regards
Kevin |
Nicey replies: Yes it makes sense on every level. Perhaps this is why George Lucas was drawn to to Tunisia as a location for filming Starwars, given that its widely accepted (well me and Alice Gorman after I talked her round ) that Fig Rolls are perfect biscuits for space travel. |
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Mrs Ann Day |
Good afternoon Nicey,
Love the site. Anything that keeps me off of eBay is a good thing!
Where do you sit on the subject of date slice? Is it a biscuit or a cake or something else? I have made loads of these as they go well at a cricket tea along with the jam and cream scones, chocolate cake and strong tea. I always know when to start brewing the tea....it's when my husband goes in to bat.
As an addition to my extensive cake repetoire I have invented the bakewell slice and the mincemeat and marzipan slice. Basically the same constrution as the date slice but filled with marzipan and mincemeat/jam of your choice. I especially like making them as my husband hates marzipan and I get to eat them all ;-)
On the subject of tea I have been to India on a number of occasions and they can't make tea worth a damn. what with the hot milk and boiling everything up together in a saucepan. What is it with Lipton's Yellow label tea? It seems to be all you can get in hotels. I've travelled extensively and the only hotel where it wasn't on the breakfast table was in The Dominican Republic where they served proper Twinings Breakfast tea.
Best wishes
Ann |
Nicey replies: Ann,
We had a discussion on this very topic not so long ago and agreed that 'slice' should be a recognised term deserving of its own circle in our mighty Venn Diagram of the baked goods world. It has the significant advantage of neatly solving the 'Flapjack dilemma' that has plagued cake biscuit taxonomy theory for years.
Of course the only problem in all of this is that I had just got the diagram looking very nice for the book and I'll have to redo it. |
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Brendan McGarry |
Hi
According to a report on the radio just now, the Pope is well on the way to recovery from his latest operation, having eaten breakfast this morning. He apparently had a latte (which I know is anathema to fans of your website) and some biscuits. But the reporter didn't say what kind. What kind of biscuits would the Pope eat? The obvious answer seems to be some kind of biscotti, since he's in Italy. But is there a biscuit that's known to be a bit more holy, or pure? Would he eat Rich Tea because their simplicity and unpretentiousness matches the values his faith professes? Or is he more likely to be a Jammy Dodger man, because the reward for the hard slog of eating your way through the outer biscuit is the jam in the middle (metaphor for struggling through life before reaching heaven)? Might he favour a Penguin, as an ironic reference to nuns?
I'd be interested to hear what the biscuit experts think.
Regards
Brendan |
Nicey replies: Well as the supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church, and given the amount of suffering he has already endured, I hope at the very least they offered him some decent biscuits. Being an old Polish fella who had a tube inserted in his neck last night, then I'm thinking he would probably give the biscotti a miss and go for something a bit easier on the throat. I would have thought something light, devoid of tricky to swallow bits an bobs and not too sweet, I think a nice shortbread finger or two.
Maybe in a day or two if his physicians think he's up for it, he might want to see off a whole pack of Jaffa Cakes, which are a popular tea sort of thing in Poland.
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Nancy Bea Miller |
Dear Nicey (and Wifey);
I loved your book. It was my favorite Christmas present.
If you lived in the U.S. I am sure the title would have been: "Nice Cup of Coffee and a Rush Off" I am a painter who often paints cups of tea, coffee, doughnuts and biscuits (only I call them cookies, being American).
Here is my most recent cup of coffeee painting:

Best,
Nancy
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Nicey replies: Nancy,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the book. Your paintings are very nice too. I suppose if you painted a mug of proper tea and some Jammie Dodgers or Custard Creams it would be a bit like when Monet painted scenes of the Thames, or Turner of the Grand Canal. |
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