Thought Process

All my creativity leaked out of my ears last night and now I have none left. Ergo, I will be putting you both (yes, I still firmly believe there are never more than 2 people who read this blog) through the following painful ordeal. Resistance is futile. Resign to your fate and read on please.

One of the most entertaining part of my work-day is the coffee routine in the evening. Not because the coffee is good (it never is, FYI), just because 1) I need something hot to drink at that time and 2) believe it or not, I badly need that eensy weensy bit of exercise (approximately 25 steps from my desk to the pantry, go figure.). Now, one cannot drink a coffee/tea without something to munch. The thoughtful people that they are, the office guys keep a whole variety of biscuits next to the abomination of a dispenser. (Some day I'll blog about how much I 'adore' that dispenser.)

Right, so about the biscuits. When I say wide variety, I mean really wide variety. We have the usual Marie, Krackjack, Goodday and cream biscuits (orange, milk aka yuck, etc) but then we also have *start drumbeats* Britannia Milk Bikkis *end drumbeats* Remember those biscuits? The first ones we probably had (if you're as old as me, chances are this was the first biscuit you had with your two tiny milk teeth) and maybe the only ones in the grocery store of yore! Like I was telling my colleague, these Bikkis always remind me of little babies leaving half eaten, soggy biscuits on the floor. Don't ask me why.

But the point of this post is not Britannia Milk Bikkis. It's about which biscuits are best soggy. Yep, yours truly will now reveal the findings of this top secret project to determine which biscuits..er..soggy biscuits go well with coffee/tea. All my opinions, which I will definitely try to impose on you. Escape it if you can.

1. Britannia Marie - Typical chai biscuit, isn't it? A full 95 marks on 100.
2. Britannia Milk Bikkis - They're ok. Just that they taste a wee bit too sweet when soggy with coffee/tea. If your coffee or tea doesn't have sugar, you might enjoy this. But if your coffee/tea does not have sugar, you probably shouldn't be having biscuits, no? 75 on 100.
3. Britannia Chocolate chip biscuits - I used to like them at one time. But then I had it so often that now I can't stand them. The chocolate chips kinda melt when they're soggy. But it's ok if you want a change in your usual soggy biscuit routine. 70 on 100.
4. Britannia Goodday - Ditto above. Like some Spice Girl said, too much of something is bad enough. I wouldn't suggest a soggy Goodday. It soaks up the liquid too soon and more often than not, breaks in the cup. And then you have fish around in the cup to take it out or even worse, leave it in till the beverage is over. Messy matter. 20 on 100.
5. Cream biscuits - Wrong choice again. The cream makes it too sweet. They have a new flavor called Milk cream (which if Im not mistaken is also used in soaps!! enough said.) - 'yuck' is an understatement. 20 on 100.
6. Krackjack/Salt biscuits - Not exactly good when soggy, mainly 'coz it's a bit salty. Salty biscuit dipped in sweet coffee tastes like salty biscuit dipped in...coffee! I lost what I wanted to write, so excuse please! Also, it takes longer to soak up the coffee. 30 on 100.
7. Britannia Bourbon - Woe to ye if you dip this in coffee or tea. Thou shalt never insult chocolate by mixing it with other things. Putting chocolate between two biscuits is bad enough. 0 on 100, because this is not acceptable behavior for a normal person. I mean a normal chocolate loving person.
8. Britannia True Coconut biscuits - Surprisingly good when soggy with coffee! Try it to know it. 85 on 100.

Note: I'm not paid by Britannia to do this research (although I wish they would!). It's just out of goodwill towards the general public that I indulge in such activities.

Bored? I understand. I'm bored too. Time for coffee! And...a soggy biscuit!

BTW, picture above has nothing much to do with the post. It just looked so yummy that I had to put it up and drool a bit.

P.S: I write too much in brackets, don't I? Shows what sort of a chatterbox I am, no? :-) Too late, you already know me/my blog.

Maggi Noodles. Synonymous with a lot of memories, mostly from times when one was too lazy to cook but too hungry not to eat? Those childhood times when Maggi was the THE snack of all times? How your mother scolds you that you serve Maggi for breakfast? Umm, no? Ok, maybe the last one is just me. Nevertheless, would be hard to find an Indian (or as Wiki tells me, a Singaporean, Malayasian, New Zealander or Aussie) who hasn't had Maggi in their lives. If you're below 60 years of age, that is. Somehow, old people and noodles just don't get along. And that's a brilliant idea for a next blog post. Oh, did I just say that aloud?

Why talk about Maggi now? Because I'm hugely hugely impressed by how innovative the blokes at Nestle are! They've just introduced Maggi Rice noodles!! After the regular noodles, the wheat flour (atta) noodles, now rice! Natural progression, one could say. And something that makes a lot of sense.

I'm a big fan of Maggi noodles. I still remember fighting for one extra strand of noodles with my brother (who, after punching me, would graciously offer me two, thereby making me look like the bad person in front of my mother, not to mention a complete glutton for noodles). How I used to cycle the 400m to the nearby shop to buy noodles and pester mom to make it for me before my brother comes. Ok, my brother is always a part of the noodle story 'coz, seriously, I HAVE fought that many times. Yes, I make a lousy sister. And no, I'm not so now. Happy? Those were times when I had just learnt cycling, so no matter what the distance, it was always my trusted BSA SLR. Even if it was to my friend's who lived, hold your breath, two doors away! I mean, two whole doors! Can you believe that?

Ok, umm, back to noodles. Back then, there was just veggie, chicken and tomato flavors, and we used to be such devoted fans of the veggie flavor. If my mother had the patience and the time, she would make it extra special by adding real veggies and it would look like the picture on top of the cover! Ah, those were good times. Then came a lot of flavors that didnt quite click (Chatpata, if I remember correctly), and I think there was one which was supposed to be like noodles in soup.

The marketing for Maggi has always been very sensible. Their '2 minute' tag line was very appealing for mothers and kids alike - mothers needn't spend precious time in the kitchen again and kids can make an entire project out of it! Let's face it, for a lot of us, the first dish we ever made in the kitchen (and for some, the only dish we can make in the kitchen even now) is Maggi noodles. If you were exceptionally talented, you would've made an omlette already, but hey, for regular people like me, it was noodles. Ok, I'm sorry my mind is so tangential, this post is still about noodles, noodles and just noodles.

The popularity of Maggi stems from the fact that it made noodles easy and non-messy. Though it neither tastes nor looks like the authentic chinese noodles, it is very much an accepted type of 'noodles'. So much so, I've seen restaurants serve 'Maggi noodles' next to the other regular Chinese/Conti dishes.

As to the catalyst of this post, Maggi Rice Noodles - available in 3 flavors: Shahi Pulao, Chilly Chow and Lemon. Take my advice, the last two suck big time - even more than Maggi Dal Atta noodles (which was banned from my kitchen after I couldn't finish even half a plate of it, even when I hadn't eaten all day). Shahi Pulao is just about palatable. Which made me realize that nothing compares to the original no-nonsense, no frills, regular good ol' Maggi Vegetable Noodles.

P.S: What's the big deal?