What's Up, Scots? Sweeties and Biscuits!

Tunnock's Biscuits: Scottish and delicious

After the surprising success of my Facebook post of a scone with butter and jam, I've decided to move straight into sweeties and biscuits for my next post.  For the American audience, a sweetie is any kind of candy (chocolate or hard candy) although when our kids say "Can I have a sweetie?" they usually mean the chocolate kind.  Biscuits are what Americans call cookies, so I guess the Tunnocks tea cakes above aren't strictly "biscuits."  I started my sweeties and biscuits "research project" almost on arrival in Scotland.  I was helped on the biscuit end by a link my mother sent me, something along the lines of "Best British Biscuits" which of course I now cannot locate on Facebook.  It was this document that led to me buying and trying some common British biscuits like Bourbon Cremes (not really bourbon at all, but a chocolate biscuit with a chocolate centre), Custard Cremes (again, not custard, just a vanilla - or maybe lemon, it's been a while since I tried them - version of a Bourbon Creme).  I also tried Jammy Dodgers, which also come under different names - a vanilla cookie with raspberry jelly in the middle.  Although friend Amanda on Facebook was enthusiastic about Wine Gums, I have not yet tried them, although they are available as a movie-theatre candy at our local art house theatre (Dundee Contemporary Arts).  All the above-mentioned biscuits are available at local markets like Tesco or even Nisa (which is halfway between a supermarket and a convenience store in terms of size and selection).  I have also become a fan of chocolate digestive biscuits, sometimes called Hobnobs, but more properly made by McVities.

McVities's dark chocolate digestives

The dark chocolate digestives are best - a bit like a graham cracker with a chocolate side. I tried serving them to my interviewees, but didn't get any takers; a few people later told me they are more like "granny biscuits" (ie, what your granny would serve to you, not what you would choose yourself).  But I still like them, and they serve them at church, much to Claire's delight - we walk into the church hall and she starts saying, "Can I have a chocolate biscuit?"  Plain shortbread is also tasty too, and Paul's favorite thus far of the biscuits I have brought home for the family to try. I'm also partial to the Cadbury Fingers, which are thin shortbread "fingers" coated in chocolate. Okay, running out of time...More Sweeties will have to be the next post!