It's cookie time again! Or, to some readers, mostly Europeans, biscuit time once more. Today's selection comes from the Lago Group S.p.A., specifically, two from their Poker line--the cacao one, and the vaniglia kind. Or, to English speakers, their chocolate wafers, and their vanilla wafers.
From what little I could glean from online sources, including the official company website, our story begins in 1968. Gastone Lago, aided by "his friend and brother Di Dato," started a biscuit laboratory called Elledi in the Italian community of Galliera Veneta. (Incidentally, "biscuit laboratory" sounds much more elaborate and scientific than just a "bakery factory," so I approve.) The company first started making wafers in about 1970, and the specific Poker line in about 1980. Overall, Lago makes the following products: Wafers, sugar-free cookies/biscuits, covered biscuits/cookies, pastries, shortbread, Italian specialties, snacks, and cakes. Also, although the official business name became Lago Group S.p.A. at some point, Elledi is still apparently an accepted alternate title. As far as more business details go, online sources note that the company became public in 1981, which I guess refers to being publicly traded, for stocks and such. I was interested to learn that Lago is strictly traditional in some ways, and doesn't chase recent health and alternative diet trends. Their FAQ section notes that while their products are appropriate for vegetarians, they are not vegan--eggs and dairy are used in pretty much everything they make. They're also not gluten-free--everything they bake uses gluten in the form of wheat. Which, for me, is becoming so rare to see in a product. Both for things I write about for this blog, and in general.
Lago Group Pokers, vanilla flavor: These looked like a typical wafer cookie--outer cookie sections enclosing cream fillings, with the cookie having the traditional wafer cross-hatched pattern. There were three cookies enclosing 2 cream filling sections, but otherwise, they looked like regular wafers. About 9 cm. by 2 cm. (about 3.5 inches by .75 inches), with light yellow cookies, and white cream layers. Texture-wise they were crunchy on the outside, and soft inside. The taste was like a regular vanilla wafer. Which is a good thing. Wafer cookies are hard to mess up, and this one fortunately didn't.
Lago Group Pokers, chocolate flavor: Same size, shape, and makeup as the previous. The only difference was that the creamy layers were dark brown instead of white. The texture was the same, too. The taste was, once again, pretty similar to other chocolate wafers I've had over the years. Or, in other words, good. I liked the vanilla ones a bit more, but these were still more than decent. I'd recommend both kinds to those that like wafers in general.
I realize that food science is a real thing, and that scientists often research different food additives, flavors, preservatives, manufacturing methods, etc. But part of me still can't get past the "biscuit laboratory" description. I'm picturing a stereotypical 1950's low budget sci-fi movie, wherein a mad scientist invents a biscuit/cookie that is tasty, super-intelligent, and of course, profoundly evil. I know "The Gingerdead Man" movie series already exists, but surely there is room for more than one "killer pastry" type of flick. A guy can dream, can't he?
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