Fall, Candy, Ducks

In Swedish autumn, the days grow short, the sun setting noticeably earlier by the week. When the sun is up, it's beautiful and clear and bright. When it gets dark, now before 6:00pm, there's little reason to go outside at all. So, I've furthered my investigations into Swedish candy.

Daim is one of my new favorites. It's milk chocolate with bits of toffee crunch inside it. 

Basically, it's the Swedish version of what in Canada is called Skor, and in the US is known as a Heath bar. It's tasty but not revolutionary (Not in a Marxist way at least.) 

Pigall is more interesting, different enough not to warrant any direct comparison. The inside is a light, airy, yet crispy chocolate flavored filling that is reminiscent of a 3 Musketeers in taste but not in texture. The texture is unusual and not uniform, some areas are crispier than others. 

This is known as a "Japp". It is a rather thick chocolate coating with caramel and a fine chocolate flavored nougat. It is essentially a Mars bar/Milky Way (which are essentially the same themselves.) More confusing is that Japp copies the same font and packaging as Mars, and both are sold widely in Sweden. I love Mars bars, but I fail to understand the existence of Milky Way and Japp imposters. 

Now this is a weird one, and lives up to Sweden's international reputation as a producer of disgusting food. Plopp (with three 'p's) is a milk chocolate bar with a salted licorice filling. Imagine if someone replaced the caramel in a Caramilk bar with a salty black tar. That is what this is. It is at once offensive, but intriguing. The licorice filling is strong tasting, but is perhaps balanced by the milk chocolate? I don't know. I once ate salted chocolate chip cookies that were very interesting. This is also interesting, but harsh. Salt and chocolate is a strange flavor, but not destined to failure. The addition of the rather herbal tasting licorice is very typical of the Swedish palate, and I doubt this is sold anywhere that wasn't settled by Vikings. 

But Sweden is more than objectionable chocolate. Sweden is also known for the deep respect they pay to nature.

Here a duck enjoys a bottle of wine and some snus in its natural habitat. 

Ducks have an eclectic taste in beer. Here they enjoy Red Stripe and Carlsberg, domestic brands are not sufficient. 

Here a duck rejects a proffered Abro. Discount brands are frowned upon. 

So that is all I have to say this week on the subjects of fall (pretty), candy (varying in quality), or ducks (silly).