Sugar Savvy

While I like to believe I am a strong, independent person, make me wait at a checkout and I cannot support this theory, I find it hard to resist those impulse buys. At the local greengrocer, which stocks many imported products, my eyes glaze while staring at the rows of pastilles and while the lady is weighing my tomatoes I reach back and grab a random packet from the rainbow of chocolate. My attraction to this tubular packaging is more than its location; a certain paramour presented me with a box of Droste Cacao when we were first courting (Roses? Can you eat them?), which has led me to a love for this Dutch company.

Blindly walking out of the store while reading the packaging I realize I’ve bought the milk/white variety. As I usually avoid white chocolate, after all it isn’t really chocolate, I wouldn’t have normally picked this up. From the fact it is sold in Australia and the Japanese writing on the packet I understand that Droste is no small company, I later find out they are distributed in 60 countries. I had always associated them with their distinctive cocoa boxes, the ones with a wholesome nurse offering up a remedy of hot chocolate, this is a health regime that I can get behind. These boxes are more than iconic; they are the namesake for the Droste Effect, the artistic technique of having a picture show a depiction of itself within the picture, which continues supposedly to infinity. This technique is most notably used by M.C. Escher, but is also apparent when placing two mirrors facing each other. But the only Droste Effect that I was interested in was the effect of these pastilles on my taste buds.

The pastilles are sweet, as to be expected by the milk/white combination, and they have a firm, not brittle texture. I usually find white chocolate a little buttery, with not much depth, so I appreciate the mix of chocolates, it gives the sweetness and smoothness of white chocolate with the stronger cocoa hit of real chocolate. The packaging is a delight as well, a long foil wrapped roll of pastilles resembling Berocca for a sweet tooth.

So my experimentation with this random checkout purchase has not dissuaded me from trying it again. Impulse buying is bad for health and the budget, but spontaneity is the spice of life.