Your Views

Keep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions.

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Your e-Mails

Alan (Fred) Pipes	Hi I was horrified the other day to find that KitKat have abandoned the recyclable foil and paper packaging on their two-finger biscuits in multi-packs in favour of the all-in-one plastic sachet - bad marketing move Nestle, in these days of emerging ecological awareness!!
	Nicey replies: Quite. Same thing goes for the Club biscuit which used to have a foil and paper wrapper, with outer printed paper tube, and now ships in a plastic sack.
James Fussell	Nicey, I don't believe a word of Phil's "Jamais de Guerre" story (despite it's genius).  As I have a spare 40 years I investigated and discovered the following:  "Quite where the name jammie dodger comes from is unclear. One possibility is that 'jammie dodger' is a term given when playing childrens games like tag or hide-and-seek to denote someone who is a particularly lucky player in being undetected or untouched. Some clever biscuit executive may have got hold of the term and invented the biscuit around it. Whatever the reason, it is a fine biscuit and part and parcel of every great afternoon tea break." I prefer Phil's story though.
Phil Tougher Jammie Dodger Review	I read your review of Jammie Dodger but you include no history of the name. The name comes from the French Wars of Religion fought from the middle to late 1500's. So heavy were the losses of men from towns and villages that ceremonial cakes were made to remember those who never returned. Two large rounds of unleavened bread pressed together with a heart shape cut out and filled with fresh or preserved fruit bore the legend "Never shall there be war". It's modern name, corrupted from the Old French 'Jamais de guerre' has become whimsically divorced from it's more sombre origins though it has stood the test of some considerable time. If not to be included in your review I'd recommend that you consider a historical reference somewhere on your site. Yours sincerely, TOWER Philippe
	Nicey replies: Hmmmmmmm. At least I get to use the fruit icon for the first time.
Edward Ward	Hello there, Firstly I would like to express my continuing delight at viewing this excellent and sensible website, and the hearty and well-informed opinions of those who have sent contributions. I hope mine does not seem trite or improper in some way. I have personal experience of a departure from what could be called "the norm" of biscuit tin usage. I was unaware of the curious nature of my parent's method of biscuit storage as I was but a child and knew no different, but have become keenly aware of the eccentricity of their actions as I went through a happy biscuit eating childhood into a more philosophical tea drinking maturity. I should start by saying that when viewed from the exterior all seemed as normal. A stalwart tin was employed depicting scenes from the coronation of George VI, as far as I can tell the tin was contamporaneous with this event (is this a record for biscuit tin age?) and whilst showing signs of rust on the outside is still nice and shiny on the inside, which brings us neatly to the point of my rambling discourse: The biscuits were stored in the tin still in their packets. I didn't realise that this was odd until I saw my friends mum casually tumble a whole packet of custard creams into their biscuit tin (or "barrel" as they laughably referred to it). "How strange" I thought. Then I noticed that EVERYONE seemed to have the biscuits loose in the tin, which shocked me. Looking back on it though there is I think a certain logic to their actions. The tin keeps the biscuits in their opened packets fresh, whilst the packets prevent flavour osmosis occurring. Biscuits in tip top condition at all times. This was thrown into a mockery when my father took to buying "Broken Biscuits" which were a mixture of imperfect biscuits in a bag, 1kg for a quid, in which all the biscuits tasted of the strongest flavoured biscuits anway. Is all this because my father went to art school? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Edward
	Nicey replies: Unless your Dad is in a well known rock band, or somehow still at Art School, then he totally missed the point of Art school.
Richard Smith	Can you settle an ongoing debate within our department, jaffa cakes - is the orangey filling jelly or jam? We contacted McVities who confessed it was an industrial type jam. However, we are not convinced what is an industrial jam, we maintain it's more jelly than jam. Great web site but strangely a lack of tea related stuff, perhaps you could redeem yourselves by joining us in campaigning for the reinstatement of the PGTips monkeys! More Tea! PG Tips Pyramids of course!
	Nicey replies: Richard, I've always thought of it as Jelly but if McVities say its jam then jam it is. I suppose it comes down to what sort of complex macro-molecules give it its jelly like texture. For Jam its pectin a polysaccharide component of plant cell walls, and for jelly its gelatin a protein found in skin, bone and cartilage. I just checked on a packet of Tesco's Jaffa cakes and the gelling agent is Pectin. So Jam it is. Still industrial jam sounds pretty cool, a step up from recreational jam. I suppose military or weapons grade jam is the next level up. As for tea the wife and I regularly enjoy PG. The chimps lost their way since about 1976, but as yet the motives of the plasticene birds are unclear. I think tea is a very personal thing so I don't tend to get drawn into debates on its components or construction.
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