Southafricanisms: Top Ten SA sweets to try and love.

For some reason, and I assure you that I am not biased on this point.. South African convenience store confectioneries are far superior to those found elsewhere in the world. I used to think it was due to conditioned taste buds or childhood memories, but I have since found proof.

In London I worked next door to the cocoa bean grading house for the London Commodities exchange (one of only 2 in the world) The guys who grade the beans are obviously experts in the field and I befriended one who was a South African. He told me that Different countries had varying standards on cocoa, the most important being the amount of mould permitted. In the United States it seems the standard is low as most of the lower end chocolate has a distinctly mouldy taste. The next issue is the introduction of wax, to prevent blooming (discolouration due to temperature change). Ok, so the chocolate doesn’t change colour, but it tastes like death and doesn’t melt in your mouth, giving you the feeling of chewing on a lipstick.

So in my mind the chocolate issue is sorted, but SA has many other treats that are just fantastic and I find myself eating far more sweets here than anywhere else. Here is my top ten. Feel free to purchase these during your stay and take them home for Mr Hershey.

1: Kit Kat (Crispy with real chocolate)
2: Jelly Tots (Addictive little gems of sugar and fairy dust)
3:Sweetie Pies (sickly sweet you can only have one, but wash it down with a Pine Nut, Damn)
4:Nik Nak’s (Bright orange, cheesy corn chip, leaves orange residue forever, fantastic)
5:Peppermint Crisp (Bite of both ends and use as a straw to drink a glass of miraculously minty milk)
6:Cadbury’s Chocolate (All of them, best choc this side of the Switzers)
7: Top deck (milk and white chocolate, made by Cadbury’s , but deserves it’s own place)
8:Bar One (like a Mars bar, but better, fresher tasting and more caramel, less fluffy nougat)
9:Bubbles (toxic yellow puffed corn chip, will stain your insides for ever like a barium meal)
10:Pine Nut (who, knows what this is meant to be, but it sounds exotic and tastes like sweetened Tartrazine)

Those are, but a few and there are many notable exclusions, sorry Ghost pops, maybe next time.