Posted on 05/18/2008 6:01:21 AM PDT by Daffynition
LONDON -- "It's very dark. It's almost black." May Woodward, an office worker in central London, is holding an Oreo cookie in her hands. It's the first time she has ever seen one "in the flesh as opposed to on an American TV show," and she's not sure she likes what she sees. "It's the color of wet mud!" she complains. "And the bit ... looks like toothpaste rather than cream."
She twists and turns the cookie in her fingers, staring at it from every angle with a screwed-up look on her face that seems to say, "Gross!" not "Mmm, cookie time." You could be forgiven for thinking she's handling some dangerous alien element, Cookie Kryptonite, say, rather than one of the best-known biscuits in the Western hemisphere.
She bites, chews, raises an eyebrow, chews some more.
"OK, I get it," she says, finally. "I can see the attraction. It's very sweet." Suddenly she seems to change her mind. "Actually it's too sweet ... it's becoming mushy," she says, alarmed as tentative chewing becomes frantic munching to wolf the cookie down.
My impromptu taste test in Leicester Square is now attracting the attention of puzzled passersby giving us weird looks.
Ms. Woodward's verdict is that the Oreo is "too ... damp."
I tell her that, according to the ads, it should be "dunked" before eaten.
"In tea?" she asks. (Dipping biscuits we Brits call all cookies "biscuits' in a steaming hot cup of tea is an almost sacred ritual here.)
"No, in milk," I reply.
"Milk?! A biscuit dipped in milk? Who does that?"
"Apparently Americans do," I explain.
"Well, let them," she say dismissively. "I won't be doing it anytime soon." And with that, she disappears into a throng of pedestrians, nonplussed by what has been labeled here as "America's Favorite Cookie."
" " "
The Oreo has landed in Britain. And it is giving rise to a furious Battle of the Biscuits.
The classic sandwich cookie may be as familiar and nostalgia-inducing as, well, Mom's apple pie for Americans, but the majority of us here have never seen or tasted one. Until now.
Now, Kraft, the makers of what some Brits refer to as "the black-and-white biscuit" is launching it across the United Kingdom in an advertising campaign that makes it hard for anyone who lives and breathes to avoid the Oreo message. Big blue-and-white posters on the sides of our iconic red buses implore us to "Twist Lick Dunk." A new TV commercial shows a young boy teaching his scruffy dog how to eat an Oreo: "First you twist it. Then you lick it. Mmm. Then you dunk it," he says, sploshing his Oreo into a glass of milk. This will be the first time that many Brits have seen a biscuit dipped in milk.
[snip]
ROTFL!!
I know you'll take a lot of flak for saying that, but IMNSHO you're 100% correct. Oreos are a cheap imitation of Hydrox, which were a truly great cookie appreciated by all with taste and discernment. There's only one thing for which Oreos are suited: at our county fair we had piglet races, and the lucky oinker that crossed the finish line first got to the through for his reward, an Oreo.
My Mom used to bake cookies and tell me that they came from Nabisco.
You, on the other hand, manage to do it without ever leaving your computer.
HAHAHA! All I’m going to say is one word ... Marmite, K?
We and the Brits have some definitely different tastes. I had some of their sausages (bangers) while in London about a month ago. They tasted like American pork sausages that had been stretched with sawdust.
OK, ok. I forgot about the time I ordered a "taco" at a pub in Oxford. When I got my food, it was just "taco" meat (ground beef with tomato sauce and paprika) on a piece of lettuce. Obviously, the tortilla part of the taco didn't make the transit from the new world.
I kind of liked kippers and baked beans for breakfast, though.
[b]When I did eat Oreos, I didn’t dunk them. I don’t dunk anything. Now that I’m diabetic, when I do choose to have a cookie, it’s sugar-free only.
[/b][p]I’m diabetic too. They make an sugar-free Oreo. It is smaller than the original cookie and more expensive. But you have to live while you are alive is my theory. Enjoy.
I've never had the courage to try marmite. Apparently Brits and Aussies eat it like we eat peanut butter.
Listen boss - we have to eat stodgy food to soak up the beer. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get up for work in the morning .
Re these Oreo things , well theyre nice , and go well with golden syrup .
I know what you mean about the difference between HFCS and real sugar. Last time I went to NYC, my friends and I would stop in the little hispanic-run convenience stores to get Coke bottled in Mexico, cause it was made with real sugar and still came in glass bottles, and it was SO much better than the kind we were used to. I also like the Jones sodas, especially their cream soda... mmmm...
Thanks for the info on the sugar-free Oreos. I’m surprised I haven’t run across them during my shopping. The stores I frequent have all the sugar-free cookies in one spot and I haven’t seen any Oreos among them. It’s possible they don’t carry them. No great loss since most sugar-free desserts are loaded with carbohydrates and fats anyway.
***...nonplussed by what has been labeled here as “America’s Favorite Cookie.”***
WHO SAYS? Any American will take an oath that chocolate chip cookies are the favorite.
Have you ever eaten one of those? I am a junk food queen but couldn’t stomach the deep fried oreos at Kennywood last summer. Blech!
I dont think that boiled beef and mashy peas are nice at all. Although, if you talk about MUSHY peas, well thats a different matter.
Anyway, we have bad food, you have bad beer!
;)
Good point! We’ve certainly got the recipe for fermented piss down to a science!
New Castle is mothers milk.
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