#AnipalMovieClub, Rick Stein and a travelling Australian teddy bear

Started by my esteemed colleague and lord of the film review, Doctor Red Bear; and continued by my other esteemed colleague and lord of the travel, Mister Tourguide Ted; #AnipalMovieClub sees a rag tag bunch of stuffies, anipals and honorary humans gather on twitter to watch a chosen movie each month, giving a running commentary filled with wit and charm* along the way. This month’s chosen movie is The Ladykillers, the original 1955 version, not that travesty of a remake from the (usually brilliant) Coen Brothers.

So please grab yourself a copy of the movie and join us if you can on Saturday September 19th at 10pm BST. Further details are available here. 

Now before we begin with the good stuff (the chocolate reviews), let’s see who the latest celebratory is to confess their love of chocolate…..

*Drum roll*

It’s none other than Padstow’s finest, Mr. Rick Stein!!!

1. Cadbury Dairy Milk Vegemite

Over on anipal social network canbesocial.com (like facebook but without the nut jobs) I’ve just read an update from my Australian friends Benaud, Hicks and Chloe that their travelling brofur Ozzie Quirkybear is about to return home after visiting Minnesota, the Galapagos Islands and Peru! How cool is that?

Before he left he kindly sent me a family sized bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk Vegemite, which was a limited edition released Down Under only. You can see his take on it here.

In this bar, Cadbury Australia very cleverly mixed the Vegemite (the Aussie version of Marmite and the subject of constant “which one tastes better” debates) with a smooth caramel centre. The result? Something almost akin to salted caramel but with that added yeasty kick from the Vegemite. And my word it is good. SO good. Much like Vegemite itself, I can see how this chocolate might divide opinion, but I must say I absolutely adored it. Damn you Cadbury Australia- make this a permanent fixture on your shelves, not just a limited edition!! 7 paws out of 5

2. Tayto Cheese and Onion Chocolate Bar

My lovely friend Duffy was adopted in Hong Kong and lives with his mam in Ireland. A bigger Disneyland fan you’d be hard pushed to find! Tayto is a famous crisps manufacturer in N. Ireland, and when Duffy’s mam saw that they had released a limited edition Cheese and Onion Chocolate Bar, she had to send me bar!

Biting into this chocolate almost reminds me of putting crisps in the middle of your sandwich- normal smooth milk chocolate on the outside, suddenly little crispy bits in the centre. But the crisps are so tiny, you just can’t taste the cheese and onion in there. Nothing wrong with this chocolate bar per se, but I think they needed to be braver with the flavouring. As it is, it’s just a milk chocolate bar with a tiny bit of crispiness in the centre. (Not necessarily a bad thing). 3 paws out of 5

3. Curry and Chips Milk Chocolate

Speaking of being bolder with the flavours, this is more like it! Sent to me by Boo Boo Bear, who’s rapidly becoming a great source of locally manufactured chocolate bars, this is a very unusual flavour I am sure you will agree. This is manufactured by Mighty Fine chocolates and even the packaging is of high quality. Now check out the bar itself:

That’s right! There’s ACTUAL salted crisps on top! This is the way to do it Tayto.

The chocolate itself has been blended with Madras style Indian spices and definitely has a bit of a kick. As crazy tasting as you’d imagine a Curry and Chips flavoured chocolate bar would taste, I give this 4 paws out of 5. I wonder what it tastes like after several pints of lager?

*wit and charm in its loosest sense

COMING SOON: choccies from Appledore in Devon via Lucky and family, choccies from Belgium via Arpad & Jezza, and lots more besides!!