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 |
Jim Urpeth
 Bahlsen Orange Choco Leibniz Review |
For some years my colleagues and I have relied exclusively on 'Choco-Leibniz' biscuits for prizes in our 'induction week' philosophy quiz - often accompanied by the rash claim that they are the 'only biscuit to be named after a philosopher'. As a professional philosopher I wouldn't want to make a false claim if it could possible be avoided and so, if anyone knows of any other biscuit explicitly named in honour of a philosopher I'd be very grateful to hear about it. It would also enable us to introduce some variety into our portfolio of quiz prizes. By the way, I'm interested in this respect in genuine, long-standing brands made by established biscuit manufacturers rather than 'gimmicks' produced by various philosophy and
other web sites (e.g. the 'Will to Power' candy bar bearing Nietzsche's portrait). Can we read any cultural significance into the fact that, if it is the case, only 'continental' biscuit companies name their products after philosophers?
Best wishes,
Jim Urpeth |
Nicey replies: Jim,
That's quite a profound question, which is to be expected given your line of work. A quick check of the list of leading philosophers didn't bring up any, although you never know McVities may be working on a nice chocolate Schopenhauer. Mostly we get asked 'Are there any other biscuits named after revolutionaries, apart from the malted milk.. sorry Garibaldi?', or 'Are there any other biscuits named after European Royal dynasties apart from the Bourbon?'.
Perhaps we should be asking are there any biscuits named after famous newsreaders such as Anna's Swedish Thins, possibly named after Anna Ford. Also Gordon Honeycombe, who was very bald, should have had a biscuit named after him just because his name lends itself to it. I think I could quite easily see off 3 or 4 Gordon Honeycombes with a mug of tea, lovely. |
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Mark Daszkiewicz
 ToffyPops Review |
Hello once again Nicey,
At last the Toffypop has taken it's rightful place on your site, for which I congratulate you. As m'colleague Siobhan has attested, the furious debate of Toffypop vs. Malted Milk began anew as a result of this topic, though being a little older (and I like to think more cultured), I believe I now have room in my heart and cupboard for both biscuits. The Toffypop is still a delicious, if rarely found treat (I have to make a 30 mile pilgrimage to the nearest Safeway to get mine), though the malted milk is one of the sturdy biscuit foundations on which the giants of the biscuit world have been able to evolve these more intricate comestibles.
This being the case, I must admit that the radical in me has been overtaken by a hint of traditionalism - I firmly believe that for dunking and general purposes the malted milk should remain untarnished by chocolate - I feel it's rather like trying to play an lovely old Bing Crosby record with a phat jungle remix - an unnecessary variation on a soothing classic.
Thank you for your time and well honed biscuit acumen.
Chin chin,
Your humble servant,
Mark Daszkiewicz
PS. On a side note, two years on and I still haven't seen an Iced Shortie in the shops. I find this both distressing and deeply moving.
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Mary Cannon
 Abernethy Review |
Hello Nicey
I've just discovered your website, which is great. I was particularly pleased to see the Abernethy reviews and discussion.
Does anyone remember Abernethys being larger than they are now? Although I was born and brought up in London, my parents were from Glasgow and I remember that one of the treats of my youth was the packet of Abernethys brought by visiting relatives, or even better the packets we could eat when we visited Glasgow.
I discovered Simmers Abernethys in Waitrose a couple of years ago, but my mum and I agreed that they weren't quite like the Abernethys we remembered from years back.
Can any Scottish correspondents throw any light on this?
Best wishes
Mary Cannon |
Nicey replies: Perhaps it could simply be the WagonWheel effect at work.
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Siobhan Williams
 ToffyPops Review |
Hey Nicey,
It has been brought to my attention that you currently have the Toffeypop as biscuit of the week. This has now brought a debate from over a year ago (which took place on your site between Mr Mark Daszkiewicz and I) back to the forefront, and feel it would only be fair for the malted milk, or my personal preference, the chocolate malted milk, to take centre stage as not only biscuit of the week, but the biscuit of the new generation of bic-aholics.
I remember when you joined in my malted crusade Nicey. Don't let me down in my hour of need.
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Nicey replies: Yes I remember it well. I probably would still give it to the chocolate malted milk in a fair fight as its such good value very tasty and has pictures of cows. I also noticed that Asda are now stocking Toffypops which is good. Maybe we'll do |
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Gerald Carnelly
 Happy Faces Review |
I have recently noticed a correlation in the biscuit universe with a brand of reformed and shaped potato type thing known as Smiley Potato. While superficially similar, the potato variety is no good for dunking, and has no jam.
But the real truth comes to light once you actually cook Smiley Potato. Before they go under the grill, they are innocent and as the name suggests, smiley.
Once cooked, the awful reality is that they resemble evil grinning burnt demon faces, and thus become difficult to consume, if not impossible.
I think it's a safe assumption that once dunked, Smiley Face biscuits do not distort and turn to evil, but remain good natured even when mashed into a slurry and sent stomachward.
Is this a conspiracy to ruin the image of Smiley Faces?
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Nicey replies: Actually on reflection most of the Happy Faces look a lot like gargoyles.
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