“Cottage cheese is nice,” said nobody ever. But then again they haven’t heard of a Turo Rudi. “Turo” means curd, “rudi” means rod. In the same way Australians hold Tim Tams close to our hearts, Hungarians treat Turo Rudi with near religious like status. Unlike the cottage cheese in Australia which health fanatics pile atop a Salada, this has been delumped, (heaps of) sugar added and wrapped in a coating of chocolate. Delicious. If you are looking for a reference point I am scratching my head but it does have a yoghurt tang. They hide out in the cold goods section of the stores, hence nobody will be getting samples on my return. Don’t be alarmed, the Hungarians do portion control of chocolate very sensibly. Every chocolate is about half the size of an Australian equivalent. They haven’t followed their example with beer and other foods, they are still an unchecked free for all.
Second up on the confectionery hit parade is Balaton, named after Hungary’s biggest lake. I can’t see Australia following suit and launching a Lake Eyre bar anytime soon. Balaton rolls off the tongue if spoken with a Hungarian accent. For something that is named after a body of water it is a bit dry. Layers of wafer with chocolate grouting the whole thing together in the shape of a brick. Basically a Kit Kat with less chocolate. Easy to eat but not in the Turo Rudi class.
Sport was the third bar I tried and by now I could feel early onset diabetes kicking in. Unless you are into competitive eating I can’t work out the connection between the name and any athletic endeavours. It may be the same reason marketing gurus plaster a picture of a cricketer on a tin of Milo? But if they were aiming this at the impressionable youth why has it got enough rum flavouring to keep a wino happy for a week?
The Lotto chocolate bar is another big seller up this way. Taking the lead of the Sports bar it is doused in rum flavouring. It’s called Lotto because the odds of surviving more than one of these is akin to jagging the Powerball jackpot on a Thursday night.
And in the anchor leg of the “Only Sometimes Foods” relay is Kapuciner. If you guessed that this may be a chocolatier’s take on a cappuccino you win. It had two layers, unsurprisingly brown and white and had a strong coffee flavour. It tasted yummy but if you are one of those who adds a couple of teaspoons of sugar to your morning brew, rest easy they have thought of you already.
There was another which I didn’t buy, for fear of giving the wrong impression. It was called Negro and they are marketed as “the chimney sweep for your throat.” Now before you get offended they were named after their inventor Pietro Negro. Apparently they have an aniseed taste and I imagine they would be similar to a Fisherman’s Friend.
Turo Rudi wins the gold medal for best on show in Hungary! It nearly has displaced Chokito as my all time chocolate bar.
