Tuesday 10 January 2012

The start of a sticky-toothed Canadian adventure

I'm not a big fan of candy/sweets/あめ or whatever you personally call them.
I am a GIANT fan of chocolate bars. I don't often actually eat them but when I do, I always wonder why they aren't a bigger feature of my (weekly if certainly not daily) diet. 

And I'm a pretty big enjoyer of new things in general, and of trying new food specifically. 
For example kitkat - available both here in Canada and in the U.K. - is big news in Japan, especially amongst the country's foreign residents. Why? Because Japanese kitkats come in flavors. Weeeeeeird flavors. 
In my time, I have tried these ones
~ aloe vera flavor 
~ cherry blossom flavor
~ soy sauce flavor
~ wasabi (like Japanese horseradish) flavor 
~ salt caramel flavor
~ green tea flavor
~ custard pudding flavor
~ tiramisu flavor
~ strawberry flavor
~ coffee flavor
~ milk tea flavor
~ fruit yogurt flavor
~ melon flavor
~ cookies and cream flavor
~ roasted barley tea flavor


Needless to say some work better than others. Some just don't work. There are probably even more I have forgotten - the flavoured white chocolate on the outside of about half of them all blends together in time....


So here I am - new country, new year, new little mission.
I keep going into all these stores and spotting previously unplotted chocolate bar territory. And I fully intend to try a whole bunch of them out before I leave here in June(ish) time. 
The best thing about this plan? Loads of the Canadian chocolate bars we don't get in the U.K. seem to have either peanuts or peanut butter or (joy of joys) BOTH contained somewhere within their sweet flesh. Eeeeexcellent. 


Specimen #1: Caramilk 


So this guy is basically very much a version of what would be a Dairy Milk Caramel in the U.K.
That would be fine. HOWEVER - I am one of those total Cadbury chocolate fascists, I admit. Probably because I grew up not only eating the stuff but I also lived super near the original Cadbury factory in Bournville and visited there multiple times on kiddie school trips and days out. 
So, here it is. I don't like Cadbury chocolate which has a different recipe to the stuff I'm used to. I've tried the Canadian and the Australian versions now and, while I totally get that the ingredients and prep facilities are different, I find the taste of them both really cardboard-y and kind of like sawdust.
Which meant a sad day for the Caramilk's ratings - I can only give him a 2/10.

Specimen # 2: Skor


This guy was tasty! Super crunchy, buttery but hard caramel inside a thin choccie shell is a classic, winning combo. Tastes to me very, very much like a Daim Bar - always a good thing!
A solid 6.5/10.

Specimen # 3: Crispy crunch



After the first Canadian Cadbury chocolate fiasco, I decided to give it another chance in a bar with more non-chocolate flavor, too and this was a bit hit. So, I'm a woman of pretty simple tastes - it's almost certainly gonna be a hit with me if some kind of peanut on chocolate action is occurring. So - crunchy and soft, peanut and chocolate, light but tasty = 7/10.

Specimen # 4: Eat more



 

As recommended by my Canadian other half.
FABULOUS. Seriously, this was soooooo good. Ok, so I guess it's not strictly a "chocolate bar" and it might lose a few point on the visual-appeal-ometer but really, really tasty. It's like a kind of soft, dark, peanuty toffee with a hint of chocolate-y-ness, too. WIN. Like, to the extent that it is likely to delay me on my trying-new-things quest in the future. 8/10 for sure. 

Specimen # 5: Oh Henry!

 
Another goodun' - probably swinging in somewhere at 7.5/10. I certainly snaffled it up fast enough. The cross section pic is pretty self explanatory - choc, caramel, peanuts, a fudgey middle. 


Tasty times, and I see more in my future......

1 comment:

  1. I feel that Caramilk deserves an extra point for the efficiency of its name. I love a good portmanteau.
    And Oh Henry! definitely gets extra name points.

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