switching hosts

well i think i've decided to switch to tumblr for this blog. i really enjoy the format there a lot more, and i think i will start just mainly posting pictures and maybe little blurbs. more photos this way - which should make kat happy :) there will also be potential for other foods besides just candy. i mean i love candy but i really love all food, so why discriminate? so here is the new site:

gustatory.tumblr.com

but don't worry, this blog isn't going anywhere. it just won't get updated anymore.

Pops Crunchy

parent co.: Cloetta

net wt.: 48g

quantity: 2-24g bars

country: sweden

description: chocolate covered pops with a salty twist

more crispies! Pops is something akin to a Crunch bar in the states, although much thicker. i actually think i prefer the size/shape of the Crunch bar as the crispies tend to be a bit more evenly distributed, and the ratio of chocolate to crispies is better. this was kind of a lot of chocolate, more than i can usually take, although there are two small bars in here which makes it easier to deal with. there isn't as much crunch as i would have expected in a crispy bar; the more i have bars with crispies in them, the more i think i prefer the cornflakes for their crunch factor. and i'm not sure about the "salty twist" mentioned in the description on the package, i don't really remember there being a distinctive salty flavor although it's been a few days since i ate this. i do tend to remember saltiness in candy though as i am a pretty big fan of it. not a bad bar but i think i still prefer a thinner, crispier crunchy bar. 

rating: 4

ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, corn flour, rice flour, vegetable fat, wheat flour, salt, emulsifier (soya lecithin), flavourings (vanillin).
allergen information: may contain traces of nuts and peanuts.

Kex Choklad

parent co.: Cloetta

net wt.: 55g

quantity: 1 bar

country: sweden

description: filled wafers in milk chocolate

this is a pretty straight-forward wafer bar, more of the large, flat, kriss-krossy wafers than the skinny kit-kat wafers. i like it, although i think i actually prefer the small wafers since their crunch is a little more rambunctious. really this bar is pretty average; if you're craving a wafer it's worth going for but nothing to write home about (do i use that phrase a lot?). something i'm noticing about a lot of the sweets over here is that they are pretty much all made of exactly the same ingredients with a few different flavors or a nut thrown in here and there. i know that's to be said of all goodies in general but i just can't help but laugh every time i'm writing the ingredients and i barely have to change anything.

another good word learned last night: in nederlands, which i was informed is the proper name for the language spoken in the netherlands (not dutch), they call candy snoep. pronounced "snoop." awesome!

i've also been visiting the goodie stores here and they have a lot of pick-a-mix (bulk candy) which is very interesting and generally tasty. i don't really like reviewing bulk candies because i can't ever remember what the candies are called or say what's in them, but maybe i'll start to mention some once in awhile. like today i had blåögon, giant blue gummy eyes. they also had a sour version. i'm assuming they're blueberry-flavored but they were a bit off. a tad tangy, but not bad. i'd give them a 6. just because they're blue. 

rating: 5

ingredients: sugar, wheat flour, vegetable fat, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, whey powder, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), salt, raising agent (sodium bicarbonate), flavorings (vanillin).
allergen information: none

Corny BIG

parent co.: Schwaurtauer Werke

net wt.: 50g

quantity: 1 bar

country: germany

description: peanut-chocolate

this is really more of a granola bar (cereal bar), in my opinion. there is some chocolate on the bottom but the top layer is all oats, peanuts, cornflakes and such. quite good, actually and a wonderful name to boot. there isn't much more i can say about this although i would like to try some of the many other flavors: chocolate-orange, toffee, chocolate-banana, apple crumble, etc. you can see the selection here.

on an interesting side-note, i was talking with some other exchange students here and we were discussing the different terms for candy in the various english-speaking areas of the world; for example the british folk say 'sweets' while the new zealanders say 'lollies.' in the states i'd say the general term for most sugary snacks is simply 'candy', but in sweden they refer to them as 'goodies' (that might be my favorite). so anyways, a german acquaintance told me that in german the term for candy and sweets is 'süßigkeiten.' i suppose that's relevant since this is a german-made bar. and since i am a linguist i guess i find that interesting. perhaps i will post more words for candy in other languages, eh?

rating: 7

ingredients: roasted peanuts, milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, butter fat, emulsifier [sunflower lecithin]), gucose-fructose syrup, roasted cereal flakes (oat-,  wheat-), flour (wheat-, rice-, maize-)glucose syrup, brown sugar, cornflakes (maize, sugar, salt, malted barley), coconut fat, sugar, honey, salt, malted barley, caramelized sugar syrup, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin). 

allergen information: may contain traces of almonds and hazelnuts.

Plopp Kärlek

parent co.: Cloetta

net wt.: 50g

quantity: 1 bar

country: sweden

description: milk chocolate filled with caramel with taste of raspberry jelly and raspberry bits in white truffle

this Plopp is weird. the original Plopp is just chocolate sections filled with gooey caramel, and while this bar claims that is has caramel (toffee) in it i really only taste the raspberry jelly and the white "truffle." the picture also seems to lack any visual indication of caramel, so i'm going to assume that they mean the caramel is raspberry-flavored and therefore it is really more just jelly filling than caramel. that truffle is in quotations up there because i'm not really sure what makes this white stuff truffle-y, it certainly isn't truffle in the traditional sense of ganache, so i guess it's just cream filling. regardless, i don't care for the white part; the raspberry part isn't bad but overall it's just not really my kind of candy. the filling is a little too sweet and the smooth, gooey texture of the jelly contrasts with the gritty texture of the truffle in a strange way so when they combine in your mouth it just feels like there's something chunky in the jelly. not great. and i generally really like raspberry chocolates so this one was a little disappointing. i also noticed that the ingredients include pineapple fibres and while i hate to sound like a crazy person i seriously think i can taste that acidic, tropical taste that they add to the filling. it kind of makes your mouth tingle, not necessarily in a bad way but not in a good way either.

the name simply translates to "plop" and kärlek is "love" so i guess anything pinkish is considered a good gift for your sweetie?

rating: 4

ingredients: sugar, glucose syrup, milk powder, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, vegetable fat, cocoa mass, raspberry purée, apple, emulsifier (soy lecithin), salt, dextrose, flavorings (vanillin), pineapple fibres, citric acid, gelling agent, colour, stabilizer.

allergen information: may contain traces of nuts.

Japp

parent co.: Marabou/Kraft

net wt.: 30g

quantity: 2-15g bars

country: sweden

description: milk chocolate filled with soft chocolate mousse and caramel

this is so similar to a milky way (or maybe a 3 musketeers with caramel) i feel silly even saying anything about it. i will say that it tastes better, but that might just be because i'm in sweden and things are feeling all different-y. and better. the mousse inside is a bit fluffier than the milky way nougat, hence the parenthetical 3 musketeers remark. the caramel is gooey and i enjoy the fact that all of the chocolate over here is real chocolate (no mockolate coating, so far). i guess i don't have much more to say about this one, it's simple and good and the name translates to "yup".

rating: 6

ingredients (translated from swedish): sugar, glucose syrup, milk powder, vegetable fat, cocoa butter, sweetened condensed skim milk, cocoa mass, stabilizer (sorbitol), reduced-fat cocoa, malt extract from corn, invert sugar, egg white, emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavoring.

allergen information: contains milk, gluten, egg, soy. may contain traces of peanuts, almonds, other nuts and wheat.

Dubbel Nougat

parent co.: Marabou/Kraft

net wt.: 50g

quantity: 1 bar

country: sweden

description: hazelnut and almond nougat in two layers

that's a bad photo but i don't feel like taking another one. this bar threw me off, big time! it's really not nougat, the hazelnut layer is basically gianduja (although technically not since it's only 23% hazelnut paste) and the almond layer is like a chocolate-almond paste. there's nothing very nougat-y about it since i expect my nougat to be chewy in some fashion and this is really creamy, but it is so delicious! i took one bite and immediately ate the entire thing. definitely my favorite one so far, the hazelnut flavor pops out and pretty much takes over so you don't even really taste the almond. i would be interested to taste the two layers separately but i somehow doubt that the taste difference would be all that noticeable since the almond layer only has 9% almond in it. such a small amount compared to the hazelnut, no wonder it tastes so hazelnut-y. the common usage of hazelnuts (and crispies) in candy over here is one of the many things i love about sweden so far, since i clearly love hazelnut (check out that sidebar over there). other things include sheep, stray cats, weird birds and fungi, tube foods and ikea.

rating: 9

ingredients (translated from swedish): sugar, hazelnuts, vegetable fat, almonds, cocoa mass, whey powder, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, butterfat, emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavoring.

allergen information: contains milk, almond, hazelnut, soy. may contain traces of peanuts, egg and wheat.