It's been more than 15 years ago since I last saw and tasted Mackintosh Quality Street chocolates. The name almost escaped my memory. My aunt used to buy them back from UK when she was back for a visit.
I've only seen her twice (once when my grandpa was still alive, and another time after he passed on). However, it's as if I have known Quality Street for a lifetime. When she stopped coming back to Malaysia, I never saw those chocolates again.
For the longest time, I've been trying to recall the name, but I failed. The only memory I had lingered on my tastebuds. I was only a child then. All that mattered was that the chocolates tasted heavenly.
As the desire to relive the taste of the elusive chocolates grew, I was even more determined to find the name of the chocolates I once so loved. I tried looking for the box with a lady and man on it.
They have changed the design of the tin since year 2000. So, even if I saw the chocolates on the rack, I wouldn't have guessed it was the same Quality Street, because I wouldn't be drawn to the image if it did not fit my memory.
Throughout the years, I've randomly searched through Google. I even tried googling for pictures of the two characters on the box, but to no avail. I've exhausted almost every keyword that could possibly describe the chocolate. I've asked people around me. No one seemed to remember. I've tried googling every fragment of recollection.
Then, fragments of the name kept popping up. Slowly, the missing pieces of memory started to fit. I finally found what I was looking for! Piecing all the information I got from the Internet led me to the name Quality Street.
The sense of jubilation and relief were evident because I kept emailing all my friends about my findings. It's as if I've found my long lost love.
Some bits of information on Wikipedia (edited):
Quality Street was launched in 1936 by Halifax confectioner Mackintosh's, the name being inspired by a play of the same name by J. M. Barrie. 'The Major' and 'Miss', two figures inspired by the play's principal characters, appeared on all Quality Street boxes and tins until 2000. The brand was acquired by Nestlé when they bought Rowntree's in 1988.
In recent years, individual larger versions of the more popular chocolates have been manufactured and sold separately, as an extension to the brand. In particular the Milk Chocolate Brazil Nut has been marketed individually as The Big Purple One, due to its traditional purple wrapper.
Quality Street is often associated with the Christmas period in Britain, Ireland, Canada and Iceland (where it is traditionally known as "Mackintosh"), and are bought as gifts throughout the season. In Western Norway, it is called "Shetlandsgodt" (Shetland Sweets), because it often was brought home by fishermen visiting Shetland.
The sweets within the box have changed and evolved over the years. There are currently 12 flavours of the individually wrapped sweets, all of which are either chocolate or toffee based, as follows:
Current sweets
Milk Chocolate Hazelnut with caramel (the 'Purple One')
Chocolate Noisette Pate (the 'green triangle')
Chocolate Toffee Finger (gold wrapped stick)
Toffee Penny (gold wrapper)
Vanilla Fudge (pink wrapper)
Strawberry Delight (red circular wrapper)
Chocolate Coconut Éclair (blue wrapper)
Caramel swirl (yellow frustum)
Chocolate Toffee Deluxe (orange wrapper)
Milk Choc Block (green wrapper)
Orange Creme (orange circular wrapper)
Toffee Deluxe (Brown wrapper)
Former sweets
Milk Chocolate Brazil Nut (the original 'Purple One', replaced with Hazelnut version)
Chocolate Strawberry Cream (now replaced with Strawberry Delight)
Chocolate Toffee Cup (now replaced with Caramel Swirl)
Hazelnut Cracknell (red wrapper) (since removed)
Hazelnut Eclair (since removed)
Chocolate Nut Toffee Cream (since removed)
Malt Toffee (replaced with toffee deluxe as a "new" flavour)
Milk Chocolate Round (now replaced with Milk Choc Block in green wrapper)
Chocolate Peanut (blue wrapper, since removed)
Coffee Cream (brown wrapper, same size and shape as the strawberry cream)
It makes me appreciate the chocolates more knowing their history.
I still prefer the old vintage chocolate tin. It reminds me of my childhood. Back then, we seldom had imported chocolates. As a child, I treated them like gold, saving up the best piece for last. Of course it wasn't easy. The box carried an assortment and there wasn't the same piece for everyone in the family. It simply brings back sweet memories of how my sister and I would argue who got which piece.
As for the new tin, it's devoid of any emotional connection. Nevertheless, this box of chocolate will be on my next hunt.
I've only seen her twice (once when my grandpa was still alive, and another time after he passed on). However, it's as if I have known Quality Street for a lifetime. When she stopped coming back to Malaysia, I never saw those chocolates again.
For the longest time, I've been trying to recall the name, but I failed. The only memory I had lingered on my tastebuds. I was only a child then. All that mattered was that the chocolates tasted heavenly.
As the desire to relive the taste of the elusive chocolates grew, I was even more determined to find the name of the chocolates I once so loved. I tried looking for the box with a lady and man on it.
They have changed the design of the tin since year 2000. So, even if I saw the chocolates on the rack, I wouldn't have guessed it was the same Quality Street, because I wouldn't be drawn to the image if it did not fit my memory.
Throughout the years, I've randomly searched through Google. I even tried googling for pictures of the two characters on the box, but to no avail. I've exhausted almost every keyword that could possibly describe the chocolate. I've asked people around me. No one seemed to remember. I've tried googling every fragment of recollection.
Then, fragments of the name kept popping up. Slowly, the missing pieces of memory started to fit. I finally found what I was looking for! Piecing all the information I got from the Internet led me to the name Quality Street.
The sense of jubilation and relief were evident because I kept emailing all my friends about my findings. It's as if I've found my long lost love.
Some bits of information on Wikipedia (edited):
Quality Street was launched in 1936 by Halifax confectioner Mackintosh's, the name being inspired by a play of the same name by J. M. Barrie. 'The Major' and 'Miss', two figures inspired by the play's principal characters, appeared on all Quality Street boxes and tins until 2000. The brand was acquired by Nestlé when they bought Rowntree's in 1988.
In recent years, individual larger versions of the more popular chocolates have been manufactured and sold separately, as an extension to the brand. In particular the Milk Chocolate Brazil Nut has been marketed individually as The Big Purple One, due to its traditional purple wrapper.
Quality Street is often associated with the Christmas period in Britain, Ireland, Canada and Iceland (where it is traditionally known as "Mackintosh"), and are bought as gifts throughout the season. In Western Norway, it is called "Shetlandsgodt" (Shetland Sweets), because it often was brought home by fishermen visiting Shetland.
The sweets within the box have changed and evolved over the years. There are currently 12 flavours of the individually wrapped sweets, all of which are either chocolate or toffee based, as follows:
Current sweets
Former sweets
It makes me appreciate the chocolates more knowing their history.
I still prefer the old vintage chocolate tin. It reminds me of my childhood. Back then, we seldom had imported chocolates. As a child, I treated them like gold, saving up the best piece for last. Of course it wasn't easy. The box carried an assortment and there wasn't the same piece for everyone in the family. It simply brings back sweet memories of how my sister and I would argue who got which piece.
As for the new tin, it's devoid of any emotional connection. Nevertheless, this box of chocolate will be on my next hunt.
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1 comment:
same here !
i have sweet memorial from this chocolate box of my childhood
any idea where to buy it here in malaysia?
i wonder where can i find one
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