It is said that you look back at childhood memories and experiences through the rose- tinted glasses of nostalgia, and that some things are best left behind in the past. This is something that I conveniently and unfortunately forgot, one day at the convenience store.
I see a pouch of Capri-Sun Mango Drink on the shelf, and after many many years of not having any Capri-fun in my life, I instinctively reach for it. When I take that pouch of "juice" drink off the shelf, I am happy. Oh so happy. I tried it as soon as I left the store, because I just could not wait. As you can guess, it tasted like a shot of pure sugar with some approximation of the flavor of a mango thrown in. When I say I finally realised the meaning of crestfallen that fateful day. That was the day that cemented in my mind that childhood taste buds are not to be trusted in adulthood. What we thought of as absolutely delicious back then often ends up feeling mediocre now. Oreos are an exception (obviously), but otherwise most things are best left in the past. Well, at least we enjoyed it as children. After all, children probably do need some sugary, junky snacks growing up. No? It’s essentially a rite of passage. For most of us anyway. We had a good few years.
It was with this thought in mind, that a few years later, I said ‘yes’ when I came across vanilla Dunkaroos Cookies & Rainbow Sprinkles Frosting, on a shopping trip with L, a 2.5 yo toddler. We chance upon this bright turquoise-y blue box, with bright yellow DunkAroos in large letters. It featured lightly browned cookies with ‘D’ embossed on them, one of which was resting in a container of vanilla frosting with round rainbow sprinkles. Appealing to a toddler, for sure.
L immediately asked the name of the cookie, said, ‘I want that one Dunkawoos’, and I dutifully took a box off the shelf, purchased it, and brought it home. As I shut the door behind us, L turns around immediately and says, ‘Gimme the Dunkawoos’, and I do.
We open the box, and I take out a tray, our excitement escalating with every step it took to get to the final treat. I peel back the label, and set it in front of her curious, yet eager, face. She inspected it doubtfully - the cookies were a pale, almost sickly white, and the frosting was not as cute as the box, but congealed-looking. To her credit, she went ahead, dipped a cookie in as lightly as possible, and tried an exceedingly small bite, before disappointment kicked in, resulting in her saying, "Want to try?."
This usually happens when she’s trying to palm things off to me, so I asked if she liked it, knowing she likely hadn’t. "Yeah! Want to try?", she said, actively shoving the tray in my hand.
As she handed me the tray, I immediately thought of how I felt trying Capri-Sun Mango Drink years ago. While the intensity may differ, the feeling was the same. She didn’t even get to like it for a little bit. Why? Has late stage capitalism managed to destroy this too? Can they not be bothered to make their chemical laden ultra processed snacks look appealing? What’s the point of all those additives then? At least make it worth our time.
I had hoped she would enjoy it, a childhood rite of passage, these types of snacks. I wondered if this generation would have much loved snack foods? What will their food nostalgia be? Will they have a favourite comfort snack that accompanies these babies to adulthood? I was pulled out of my reverie by L, insistent.
‘Gimme Oyeo.’ And so we ate the Oreos together, maybe a nostalgic snack in the making.
~~xx~~
I was inspired to write this because I really like reading Reviews of New Food, one of my favourite columns on McSweeney's.
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