Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Raisinets.

Had some of these not too long ago.


Raisinets, originally made by Blumenthal Brothers of Philly and now by Nestle, are delicious chocolate-covered raisins. Some prefer the other Blumenthal-created candy, Goobers, but I preferred the Raisinets. The two candies always seemed to be mentioned together, like Abbot & Costello or Penn & Teller.


Blumenthal also originated Sno-Caps. All these candies are well-known for being sold in movie theaters; in fact, they were rarely seen outside movie theaters, at least when I was a kid. Some candies are like that; Junior Mints (made by Tootsie), for example, were often seen only at the movies, which is why it's funny that Kramer took some to view a splenectomy on Seinfeld. The same can be said for Jujyfruits (made by Ferrara), which Elaine cannot resist buying when in a movie theater, leading to a breakup with her boyfriend.

Perhaps the blockbuster candy companies, Hershey's, Mars, and Nestle, managed to prevent the smaller companies from getting shelf space, leading them to make deals with theater chains to sell their wares. I don't know anything about the candy business; I just know what I like.

And what I like are Raisinets. Chocolate and raisins go together beautifully, better than any other fruit-chocolate combo, I think, and I've tried them all. Candy butchers have been combining chocolate with various fruits, like pomegranate and cranberries and cherries and tomatoes (you know someone's tried it), but raisins and chocolate rock the house.

If you do get a box of Raisinets at the movies, you know that even if the movie stinks, you'll enjoy something in the experience.

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