Tuesday 21 September 2010

Eating (a) Head

If I learned anything from TV when I was little (besides developing a crush on the CBC's anchorman Nolton Nash) it was that there was a proper order for eating things.



I mean, I've never really been a fan of Smarties, but I feel the need to save red-coloured candies for last, even now more than twenty years after that commercial ran in Canada!

So when presented with a rather cute frog-shaped souvenir sweet by a coworker today, I knew there had to be a proper order for eating said adorable bug-eyed little guy.

I debated the issue with my bemused coworkers (they are used to odd conversations at lunch with me by now), first coming up with the example of chocolate Easter bunnies - I would unwrap the top and nibble off the ears slowly before chomping the head and gradually moving down the body. The head had to be eaten first - it was the only humane thing to do for the poor bunny (never mind that it may have taken me a while to get past the ears).

Not used to chocolate rabbits, my Japanese coworker countered with the example of tai-yaki, a fish-shaped sweet filled with red bean paste. One of the two women breaks her fish in half and then eats it, while the other woman admitted to eating from the tail - leaving the face for last.

What about you? Are you a head first or tail/toes first person?



More to the point, perhaps, when the sweet in question, however, is ALL head, with especially cute bug-eyes, how do you go about eating it? (and no, shoving it all in your mouth at once is NOT an option!)

8 comments:

  1. I definitely agree about a proper order for things! With an easter bunny I would probably go ears ->feet-> head -> body.

    Jelly Babies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_baby) are the same - arms, legs, head, body.

    Twix - bite the chocolate and caramel off the top, then nibble all the chocolate off the biscuit before eating the biscuit last. Kitkats - all the chocolate off the sides, then the chocolate and wafer from the top in as thin layers as possible.

    Yes, I am strange.

    That's interesting that Smarties in Canada are the same as UK Smarties as I heard that in the US they're something completely different! Is there any reason that the red ones should be saved for last? Are they a different flavour? I'm sure you compared and contrasted on your trips to the UK - do you have the orange flavour in Canada? Definitely my favourite and most likely to saved for last. When I was younger though I used to like putting them on a plate and sorting them into groups of colour. Then I would take one from each group and eat them all together!

    See? Strange.

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  2. Yeh there is definetly an order!

    I too am a red smarties last girl and it is because they are the brighest...or maybe it was the ad. I always eat brown and black first because they're 'not pretty'. So childish for a near 40 year old :(
    As kids we always licked half of a red smartie and then put it on our lips as lipstick. I showed my daughter how to do this with Japanese Marble chocolate and it didn't work very well :(

    Chocolate bars are always chocolate first then layer by layer (when I am at home that is) but in the big world people don't like this so I just munch slowly from end to end :( My all time favourite is frozen Mars Bars!

    I don't ever eat Easter bunnies, in Oz they are always made of the worst tasting chocolate so I'd rather go without. That little frog however is very cute. He looks like he is a manju frog so I would eat the 'cakey' bit of the back of his head, then his mouth and finally his eyes-poor little fella.

    ... and cookies are always eaten in a circular motion....

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  3. I think I'd start by taking out the eyes first - that way, nothing is staring at you while you eat the smile... Looks yummy!
    love, C

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  4. Umebossy & Achan - I LOVE your sweet eating orders! So glad I'm not the only one with odd habits - I used to try the chocolate of a cadbury creme egg and saving the creme... a very messy prospect!

    Umebossy - I think Canadian smarties are probably the same as American ones, actually, but there are a couple of British sweets that we get in Canada that I couldn't find in the US - most importantly my grandpa's favourite mars bars! And crunchie, which were my mum's favourite and we couldn't get in Canada when I was little...

    No clue why the red were saved for last! I never really liked Smarties anyways, but still when one of my friends was telling me they've come out with all sorts of new flavours recently... I felt like some country bumpkin not knowing about them!

    Achan - I love the idea of using Smarties as lipstick - sounds like you're passing all the right traditions to your daughter!!

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  5. Hey Sarah, did you see the new smarties commercial? It's kinda scary in it's own way!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGht7pj9Z44&p=B29CE65048E3B290&playnext=1&index=11

    Hugs, Liz

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  6. Liz - Ummm... thanks??? (what is with the freaky cat's accent?!?)

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  7. Nope, those are the smarties we have too - hard coloured shell with chocolate on the inside, right? American smarties are just coloured sugary discs which I think were based on the British sweets called Fizzers.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties_(Ce_De_Candy)

    My mum told me about a magazine article from when she was young advising girls to use the colour from smarties as makeup if they couldn't afford proper stuff. Awh!

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  8. Umebossy - yup the Canadian smarties are the chocolate ones. I didn't realize they were British. Thanks! I remember my hands turning funny colours when I ate them too slowly (which candy was it that used the "melts in your mouth not in your hand" slogan?) so it makes sense you could use the colour for make-up!

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