Where have all the Flavours Gone? (Fry's Chocolate Cream)

Member Name: QueenElf

Product:	Fry's Chocolate Cream
Date:	22/03/08 (180 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rich,dark chocolate at a sensible price.

Disadvantages: None at all.

I went to the shops today, hoping that I might find some offers on the limited range of chocolate that I can eat. I have a milk allergy as many of you may know by now, but for new readers I'll just mention that this isn't something I can risk eating. I can't digest any form of milk sugars, that exist in milk, butter, margarine, pastry, cakes, and even in some meats. Instead it stays in my stomach, fermenting away until it acts as a poison in my body. I can get away with the tiniest trace, but I don't like to worry about being ill when I should be watching the TV and indulging myself in an Easter treat. I can buy dairy-free chocolate from large supermarkets but my nearest Tesco store is three miles away. I do have some treats that I can fall back on though and one of these is Fry's Chocolate Cream.

~~ Origins ~~

Fry's have been around for many years. In fact they were the first company to produce a chocolate bar in 1866. Chocolate is made with cocoa, the product of cocoa beans with added ingredients to make it palatable. Dark chocolate is the purest of chocolate, with over 70% of cocoa mixed with cocoa butter. It also makes the product expensive as cocoa beans don't come cheap. In its pure state the dark chocolate can taste bitter, which does put many people off eating it. This is really a shame as dark chocolate is much healthier than milk chocolate.
It was due to the expense that the large companies started to add milk to their products, making it cheaper and much less bitter.
Fry's first chocolate bar was the one we still know and love. The fondant cream middle of the bar adding a sweetness to the whole. That very first bar spawned a lot of copy-cat products, with Cadbury's copying Fry's own Five varieties, calling it by the name of Five Boys.
The move from one flavour to five different fillings was immensely popular and well into the 1960's in existed in a milk chocolate brand. I can still remember the original bar, with its five squares in orange, lime, pineapple, strawberry and vanilla flavourings. I adored breaking a piece off and trying to guess what the next flavour would be. Oh to be a child again!
By 1919 Cadbury's had acquired the Fry's brand, but kept up the name due to its popularity.

~~ The Product~~

Nowadays the main brand is peppermint crème, with its distinctive white and purple wrapper. Other varieties include orange crème though this is getting harder to find in the nations sweetshops. I'm sure there were a few more varieties some five years ago, but since I can't find any information on these they remain a distant memory.
On opening the wrapper the smell of chocolate wafts out, making your mouth water in anticipation. The shape hasn't changed since the first bars were made. The chocolate may be a little smoother, (I'm judging this on modern techniques that add a smooth surface to the chocolate). The bar is still divided into five squares, just right for breaking off and popping into your mouth.
The taste remains just as good as the ones I ate in my childhood, some forty + years ago.
The difference is that I didn't know about my allergy then but something drew me to this particular chocolate bar. Now it's one of the rare products I can eat, and believe me, if a thing is forbidden then you will do almost anything to get your hands on a substitute.

I break off a square and put it into my mouth. Then I roll it around my mouth until my taste buds have absorbed the different flavours.
It's a bit like that Cadbury's crème egg advert...how do you eat yours? Sucking on the chocolate releases the flavour until the fondant centre is melting in your mouth.
Biting into the bar gives a quick moment of delightful taste, but it doesn't last that long. True connoisseurs will know what I mean.

~~ Allergy Advice ~~

Up until a year ago there was nothing on the wrapper to suggest any allergy precautions. I think that manufacturers have to be a lot more careful now since peanut allergies in particular can cause death. My 15 year-old niece has a peanut allergy and she has to carry around an emergency injection, just in case she eats something that's not properly labelled.
Manufacturers are now realising that there are other allergies, some almost as serious as a nut allergy. So the chocolate labels now carry an extra warning, 'may have traces of milk.'
It annoys me as it can put people off buying a much cheaper alternative to the high-priced health food shop staples. Also these taste awful and cost a fortune.
But it's not all about allergies...its about taste and knowing that in this day and age of making chocolate "bigger, better, new recipe, 50% extra taste etc, that some things stay the same and still taste every bit as good as they did too our great, great grandparents.

~~ Summary~~

To anyone with a milk allergy I can honestly say that this is one of the "safe" products. To anyone else who hasn't tried it before, then why not go back to basics and try a product that's not changed it's basic recipe in over a hundred and forty years.
What's more, you are supporting the continuous growth of cocoa beans that are so vital to the nations that rely on the trade. It isn't a fair trade product, but it does help to support those communities.
Prices vary a lot on this product. I normally pay around 40p a bar. It's excellent value for me. I adore Green & Blacks but I need a second mortgage to buy a few bars.

©Lisa Fuller March 2008.

Summary: A Nation's favourite bar.