I think the pioneering spirit of the middle class (all races) is going to give birth to a new way of life in terms of junk food. Come to think of it, I think gourmet junk is already here.
Junk food hasn’t really changed much since the days we were kids. You simply progress up the quality ladder as your financial situation gets better. You start of with Chomp, graduate to Kitkat and then you make it to the Top Deck and Mint Crisp. Tax payer status affords you the luxury of buying Lindt and company trips overseas are incomplete without a trip to the duty free shop.
Gourmet junk can be classified into two categories: upgrade junk and nouvelle junk.
An example of upgrade junk is the chocolate analogy I have mentioned above. Local chocolates are no longer good enough; it will has to be Lindt and Toblerone. It has already become company etiquette to bring a bar of chocolate for your colleagues when you go on one of those ‘benchmarking’ trips overseas.
Pringles used to be the gourmet crisp of choice, but the tonsil scrapers from Woolies seem to have taken over. This must have something to do with the Pringles packaging. I can’t imagine a boerseun being able to stick his hand in that container to grab the last five or so crisps. The Woolies ones are very innovative in flavour, and are cut from potatoes and simply fried, not like the others that are probably ground into a paste, moulded and dried into corrugated crisps.
On the cooldrink side, its no longer classy to buy two-litre bottles. That is student fare. You buy the sexy, 200 ml cans. Ideally Coke Light, Lemonade or Ginger Ale. The brightly coloured, tongue staining soda is for your country cousins.
Sweets have also had some form of revolution. When was the last time you had chocolate éclairs? These days its about sour this (still called sweets though), snake this, worm that. Truly speaking, the change here has been the packaging. You no longer have to buy a packet of 144 sweets that takes a month to get through.
Nouvelle junk is something altogether. It is delicacies that we can now afford to buy and eat en masse. Take dried fruit for example, it used to be a treat a couple of days ago but these days you find people snacking on dried mango everyday. Biltong has also undergone a facelift, it no longer hangs above the counter at your local butcher; you now get it nicely packaged in convenience stores. In a few years time, I am sure we will see free range beef biltong.
Cheese platters are also migrating towards nouvelle junk. Cheese used to be something you only ate on special occasions, skewered with polony at kiddies parties or Melrose spread. Apartheid deprived blacks of gourmet cheese like Brie, Gruyere, Gorgonzola, etc. Nowadays we even know the deli guy on a first name basis.
Junk is undergoing an evolution and with every evolution there are those that sadly do not make it.
I miss those fish flavoured Kreols, the ones that looked like Niknaks. I also miss Fruit Chews.
Maybe we should petition to get Kreols back.
Junk food hasn’t really changed much since the days we were kids. You simply progress up the quality ladder as your financial situation gets better. You start of with Chomp, graduate to Kitkat and then you make it to the Top Deck and Mint Crisp. Tax payer status affords you the luxury of buying Lindt and company trips overseas are incomplete without a trip to the duty free shop.
Gourmet junk can be classified into two categories: upgrade junk and nouvelle junk.
An example of upgrade junk is the chocolate analogy I have mentioned above. Local chocolates are no longer good enough; it will has to be Lindt and Toblerone. It has already become company etiquette to bring a bar of chocolate for your colleagues when you go on one of those ‘benchmarking’ trips overseas.
Pringles used to be the gourmet crisp of choice, but the tonsil scrapers from Woolies seem to have taken over. This must have something to do with the Pringles packaging. I can’t imagine a boerseun being able to stick his hand in that container to grab the last five or so crisps. The Woolies ones are very innovative in flavour, and are cut from potatoes and simply fried, not like the others that are probably ground into a paste, moulded and dried into corrugated crisps.
On the cooldrink side, its no longer classy to buy two-litre bottles. That is student fare. You buy the sexy, 200 ml cans. Ideally Coke Light, Lemonade or Ginger Ale. The brightly coloured, tongue staining soda is for your country cousins.
Sweets have also had some form of revolution. When was the last time you had chocolate éclairs? These days its about sour this (still called sweets though), snake this, worm that. Truly speaking, the change here has been the packaging. You no longer have to buy a packet of 144 sweets that takes a month to get through.
Nouvelle junk is something altogether. It is delicacies that we can now afford to buy and eat en masse. Take dried fruit for example, it used to be a treat a couple of days ago but these days you find people snacking on dried mango everyday. Biltong has also undergone a facelift, it no longer hangs above the counter at your local butcher; you now get it nicely packaged in convenience stores. In a few years time, I am sure we will see free range beef biltong.
Cheese platters are also migrating towards nouvelle junk. Cheese used to be something you only ate on special occasions, skewered with polony at kiddies parties or Melrose spread. Apartheid deprived blacks of gourmet cheese like Brie, Gruyere, Gorgonzola, etc. Nowadays we even know the deli guy on a first name basis.
Junk is undergoing an evolution and with every evolution there are those that sadly do not make it.
I miss those fish flavoured Kreols, the ones that looked like Niknaks. I also miss Fruit Chews.
Maybe we should petition to get Kreols back.
2 comments:
Kreols and shooters.
Thanks for coming up with the topic WM :)
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