Is York The Candy Bar Capital Of The World?

 In this episode of Junk Fud and You I argue that York is the candy bar capital of the world. If any other city wants to disagree I'd be happy to visit and be proven wrong.

Do you know other candy cities, let me know on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

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This Is Cool

This commercial is brilliant because it's weird and not very weird at the same time.

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Kit Kat Week Part 1 - A Quick Look At The History Of Kit Kat Flavours

Over the last decade or so Kit Kat has gone through a renaissance of sorts. Kit Kat has been a staple in the candy bar world since its creation in the 1930s in the city of York. Created by the Rowntree company the brand has since changed hands several times and is now manufactured by two different companies, Hershey’s in the USA and Nestle everywhere else in the world. Some would argue that Nestle has the superior product, and that the bar improves depending on where you buy it.

For most of the life of this bar, the Kit Kat has remained unchanged. 4 fingers featuring wafers, milk chocolate and a subtle filling between the wafers. The format can differ depending on where you get it, and a few places have offered variations in the number of fingers, however the basics of the bar never really changed much at all.

It wasn't until 1996 when the first variety of Kit Kat was introduced, orange. It was first released in the UK, and then spread around the world fairly quickly. Other flavours followed including dark chocolate and mint. These early flavours are considered to be fairly safe. Early on the Kit Kat bar varieties used flavours that are well known to work with chocolate.

It wasn't until around the  turn of the millennium that things started to go a little extreme. In the 1990s Kit Kat Japan started to introduce special flavours of Kit Kats to represent certain regions  of Japan. This is a common tradition in Japanese foods, each region has great pride in locally made products, and will often sell these products in local shops dedicated  to the region. Kit Kat Japan wanted to sell their bars to people that had pride in their local products and decided to cross over this Japanese tradition with their bar.

As time  went on, more and more flavours started to come out of these local areas, and soon Kit Kat was producing a new flavour to celebrate particular traditions or areas of Japan every month. With strange flavours like wasabi and soya sauce, it didn't take long for the internet to catch up to this trend, and Japanese Kit Kat bars became things of legend in Western Countries.

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A Smelly Candy Thing

When I first discovered this t-shirt, I thought it looked pretty neat.  Then I discovered that it's scratch and sniff, and I was blown away.  I love the idea of people scratching my chest and getting to smell their favorite candy treat.  I imagine that some people might not "be cool" with me scratching their chests all the time, but really that's the risk you take with such a cool shirt.

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York, The Chocolate City

When you hear the words "chocolate city", you instantly think about Hershey, Pennsylvania, Brussels in Belgium, and maybe even Cologne, Germany.  While there's not doubt that these cities played a big role in the evolution of chocolate as a confectionery, York in northern England is often overlooked.  I can tell you myself that I didn't even think about York that much when I planned my trip through northern England and Scotland, but that quickly changed.

The main company that really made its mark in York is Rowntree; outside of the UK (with the exception of Australia and Canada) most people may not be aware of this company.  Started around 1862 in York, Rowntree was once one of the most powerful and creative candy companies in the western world.  To this day their legacy lives on, Kit Kat, Aero, and Yorkies are but a few examples of their creative genius.  The candy bar, and chocolate world would not be the same without the Rowntree family.  While many of these treats have now been sold to different companies, the Rowntree name is still very important to any candy historian.

Not only did the Rowntree family create some of the most famous candies in the world, they also helped train some of the legends of the industry.  John Cadbury and Joseph Fry, two very fmaous candy makers were apprenticed under the Rowntrees.  These two men went from working with the Rowntree family in York, to go on to creating candy history themselves.  We also can't forget that the Terry's family got their start in York, makers of the Terry's Chocolate Orange (originally an apple).

Today York has a great deal of competing history, from their Roman past, their latest Viking discoveries, and of course their medieval wall.  There's only so much room left to celebrate this glorious chocolate past.  Rowntree and Terry's still manufacture treats in York, including the UK Kit Kat bar (the best Kit Kat bar that there is by the way).  There is also a great deal of evidence left from the Rowntree family; many parks, walkways, and buildings still bear the name Rowntree.  These places were donated to the city from this wealthy family because of their beliefs about giving back to the community.

Unfortunately if you plan a trip to York, two of the most important buildings in Rowntree history are no longer what they used to be.  The original chocolate shop on Pavement has been turned into a Pizza Hut, and their original factory along the River Ouse is gone.  While there is no hope of getting the factory back, there is still a little history left of their Pavement Street location.

The downstairs has been totally remodeled into the modern Pizza Hut, but upstairs (on the way to the bathroom) you'll find a few of the original windows.  Also, when I asked my waiter about the history of the building, he informed me that the upstairs hasn't been touched at all.  He asked me if I wanted to run up there and take a look, and I couldn't say no.  The upstairs literally hasn't been touched at all, and it's totally falling apart.  But there's still evidence of what was once a beautiful building, and in these rooms the greats, Fry, Cadbury, and Rowntrees learned their craft.

While some of the history is gone from this great chocolate town, there have been some new additions.  Most notably is the York's Chocolate Story attraction.  While many might look at this as a cheesy attraction, it's actually one of the best chocolate information centres I've ever visited.

They don't have much in the way of actual museum pieces, a few packages and a few advertising props are all.  But what they offer is a really great look into the history of chocolate in the Western world, and in particular in York.

Best of all, this museum offers samples, and I'm not just talking about a piece of chocolate here or there.  As you learn about how chocolate has evolved around the world, you get to sample chocolate.  Each sample is made in the way described at each stage of history, from early French chocolate, to the chocolate drink consumed by the Mayans.  The last part of the tour looks at modern chocolate manufacturing techniques, and samples here abound.

You can't even leave without a great chocolate treat, during the tour you're asked to design a chocolate treat, and when it's ready to go, you get to take it home.  I was so full of chocolate by this point I was able to save it for later.

These are just a few examples of why York, might be one of the best chocolate cities in the world.  Don't forget that there are many candy companies still in operation here.  Rowntree, and Terry's are the big ones, but there are other smaller companies still making sweets.  Someday one of these smaller companies may join the Rowntree's as future legends to come out of this chocolate city.

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Fudge Kitchen, A New Kind Of Fudge

I am by no means a fudge expert, I have tasted hundreds of different varieties of fudge in my life, but for the most part they all seem pretty similar.  From the little knowledge I have on the subject, fudge is pretty much butter, sugar, some milk, and flavorings melted together into a lump.  I'm not putting down fudge makers by any stretch.  It takes a great deal of skill to blend these simple ingredients perfectly, and a great deal of knowledge to know how to work with these ingredients to get this wonderful treat.  The thing is, for years now I've never really heard about people making any kind of deviation from this recipe.

That was until my trip to York, there I found a place that's changed the ingredients a little in order to make a different kind of fudge.  The main difference the Fudge Kitchen has in their recipe is the use of whipped cream.  They also seem to use a little more sugar than other fudge places I've seen.  According to them it creates a slightly healthier fudge, but frankly I can't really see that.  While there may be a little less fat in the whipped cream, the fudge is still loaded with sugar.  I can tell you however that their recipe doesn't take away any of the flavour or texture at all.

I was lucky enough to be visiting the Fudge Kitchen in York just as they where starting off a demonstration on how they mixed their fudge.  It seemed to need a bit more work then regular fudge, and after setting for a while it had to be folded and kneaded into a tasty log.  The great thing about this demonstration was the free sample you got after watching, warm fudge is about as good as it gets.

While I might argue that their fudge isn't healthier than regular fudge, I will say that it is unique.  Best of all they've capitalized on their unique fudge and created something that probably wouldn't work with regular fudge.  They've created something called drinking fudge.  Making a few changes to their fudge recipe, they are able to make a chocolate like sauce that you can add to hot milk.  They call it drinking fudge, and what you get is a warm cup of fudge, instead of just plain old hot chocolate.

It's really great to see a company not simply changing a recipe for the sake of changing it, but also innovating something new out of this special recipe.  Fudge is a classic treat that I love, but I didn't feel for one second that the Fudge Kitchen was ruining it.  Instead I felt like the Fudge Kitchen was branching out into something new.  While I don't want to see every fudge maker go this direction exactly, it would be nice to see them explore something other than adding different nuts or flavours to the classic recipe.

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It's Peppermint Patty Day!!!

When I first heard that today was Peppermint Patty day I wasn't sure if they meant the yummy chocolate covered mint disk, or the slightly annoying friend of Charlie Brown.  Then I wondered, is she named after the treat?  After a little research it appears that there may be a connection.  As it turns out Charles Schulz named the character after a bowl of "mint candies" he had on his desk.  I'm guessing he changed the last word from "Pattie" to "Patty" because her first name is Patricia.  It might have also helped with any legal issues at the time.

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