Tell Me, Was Nutella Also Part Of Your Childhood?

Nutella has just turned 50; where does the time go?

When I was little, it must have been the newest craze and my Mum made sure we had some too. Growing up I remember how nice it was to have this lovely dark chocolate & nut flavoured goo on our bread. Yummy. From what my Mum told me a while ago, she left out the bread and only had spoonfuls of it!

It's funny how certain foods can transport you right back to the days of Kindergarten, glaringly obvious tooth gaps and sandpits. Even writing about Nutella now, I can taste it. The decadence of putting a blanket of butter on the bread first ( only the best surface would do ). If it is spread too thin, you might as well not have any. There had to be those little crests of brown on the bread. A sign of plenty!

For some reason, Germany ( still ) consumes almost the most of this spread, although now that they are opening Nutella - Bars / Coffee shops in America, this might change soon. Let's assume that nobody knew how addictive and bad it was for you. Nutritionally speaking. Even the local bakery sold fresh bread rolls that could be adorned with a filling of it. Oh my, memories come flooding back of when I was about 7 and buying those delectable rolls for 50 Pfennig. The bakeries were inventive because they also did a bread roll with a marshmallow & chocolate concoction between it. No wonder I have fillings...

Nutella wasn't as well known in South Africa and rather expensive to boot, so when we finally moved here to Austria, we had quite a few jars of it. With butter of course. The bread to have it with was a bit of a problem as I couldn't find the right one. Eventually I did the same as my Mum used to do...only have it with a spoon and nothing else.

Bob thought he had gone to heaven and ate it with great gusto. At some stage ( before we knew about his diabetes & no surprise after all ) I got to hiding the jar, if I wanted any left for breakfast. Of course once I had a bit of Nutella, it was enough. As a child this sweetness was fabulous but as an adult it is a tad too sweet.

Bob told me that he remembers his best friend's Mum always buying a jar of it. He was in heaven when he could have a sleepover at his friends place because he knew he would be able to have a few slices of toasts with those delectable chocolate & hazelnut crests for breakfast...

Anyway, Happy Birthday Nutella...

Biggi