Maltesers

I am teaching a new class at BYU-Idaho called American Foundations. It is a revised version of American Heritage, for anyone who had that class. I have at least two students who are related to old friends from the 69th ward--the Cunninghams and the Burks. Mary Cunningham drove to Connecticut (yes, drove) for Thanksgiving, where John and Gemma and kids would be visiting his family. Imagine my delight when school reconvened to be presented with several bags of Maltesers, which John and Gemma had brought from the candy capital of the world (Britain). I spent years in York, England, where Rowntree-Mackintosh had a candy factory, and I retain my taste for British chocolate and other confections. Maltesers are at the top of the list. For anyone committed to American candy, Whoppers are the poor imitation of Maltesers (the candy, not the hamburger). Don't get me wrong; I will eat Whoppers in a pinch, and they can make a decent malt milkshake. But they really pale in comparison to Maltesers, for two or three key reasons.

First, British chocolate is much better--richer and smoother and milkier--than American chocolate. The finest Hershey offering is like wax compared to something from Cadbury or Mars or Rowntree. (Actually, I think Nestle bought one or more of those companies, but they retain their British tastiness, possibly improved with Swiss engineering.) Anyway, British chocolate wins. Second, the malted ball center has a finer texture and a maltier flavor than the American version. Third (an important issue that my daughter helped me appreciate), you can actually eat the Malteser in two courses. First you bite the chocolate, which usually breaks away from the malted ball pretty cleanly (something rare or nonexistent with Whoppers), allowing a nice milk chocolate moment. Then you put the unveiled center in your mouth and have a better-than-Ovaltine moment of malted goodness. For more information on Maltesers, feel free to visit their official website: http://www.maltesers.com/

So there you have it. A gastronomical delight (actually several moments of delight in the last week), courtesy of the Cunninghams, two of whom flew it across the Atlantic, and another who drove it across the American continent. Many thanks and Merry Christmas. No doubt Dickens wrote under the influence of fine English candy, which makes for happy endings.