When I travel to Green Bay in a couple of weeks for work, I thought it would be nice to arrive bearing gifts, namely British biscuits or chocolates. I figure it would be better to take something not readily available in the US.
Most candy made by Cadbury is rare or, if it is available, it doesn’t taste the same in US.
Anything flavored with blackcurrant (a virtually unknown flavoring in American products) is exotic and British. (50/50 whether they find it disgusting, though).
Well, you do know that what you refer to as a biscuit and what the people in Green Bay think of as a biscuit are two entirely different things, right?
The Cheese Heads in Green Bay are going to call what you bring a cracker. A Wisconsin biscuit is a fluffy thing that you might put gravy or jam on. And Cheese Head is a term of endearment regarding Green Bay football fans. And no it’s not what you would refer to as football either.
My British boss just brought me back some Cadbury candy from her vacation back home. This time she brought me something called Allure which was flaky and incredibly delicious, and a pack of chocolate called Buttons.
Yeah, I just came in this thread to mention Cadbury.
As a Brit who lived for 20 years in America, the following were the things I most craved, and paid a premium to get:
[ul]
[li]Marmite (although this a taste that few Americans will have acquired).[/li]
[li]Golden syrup (quite unknown)[/li]
[li]Custard, especially the instant custard mix. (My American nephews fell in love with British custard when they visited England, and my American born daughters love it too. You can sometimes find the old fashioned custard powder in American stores - the stuff that you had to boil with milk and stir for several minutes - but the instant stuff in not available except as imported.)[/li]
[li]McVities chocolate digestive biscuits.[/li]
[li]Crunchie bars (The American Butterfinger is vaguely similar, but not as good, and it contains, and tastes faintly of, peanuts.)[/li]
[li]Refreshers[/li]
[li]Rowntrees Fruit Gums and/or Pastilles[/li]
[li]Mint sauce (concentrated or ready mixed - if you find mint sauce, as opposed to jelly, at all in the U.S., it is very weak and watery stuff.)[/li]
[li]Bisto instant gravy granules (American gravy mixes taste fine, but are not nearly so easy to make. You have to boil and stir.)[/li][/ul]
Many types of Cadbury’s chocolate are, in fact, readily available in the U.S. It is true that it is really made by Hershey’s (under license, I guess) and is not the same as the home grown product, but there may be good reasons for this. Certainly in the hotter regions of the U.S., where I lived, actual British chocolate melts very readily, and all chocolate needs to be kept in the fridge, and is made to eaten fridge cold. (Though I guess that may not be an issue in Green Bay.) Anyway, I always found American made Cadbury’s quite acceptable. The standard, cheap American chocolate (notably actual Hershey Bars) is crap, but if you pay just a little more for American Cadbury’s, or, come to that, brands such as Hershey’s Symphony or Dove, it is just as good as you will get in Britain. (I find Dove quite similar to British Galaxy.)
Most British candy would probably be interesting as a novelty if nothing else. I swear that the Cadbury you get in the UK is better than what you get here, but I could be making that up since I haven’t really done a side by side taste test.
If you are able to get beer through customs, British ales would probably go over well. Fancy tea would probably go over very well.