Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Italian Cookies

      I titled this post "Two Italian Cookies," because the bags I bought were clearly stamped, "Made in Italy."  However, there's been some dispute about where the company's products are actually made, which went all the way to a court case.  I'll get into that at the end of this post.  Meanwhile, I tried the Baiocchi and Cuoricini cookies from the Mulino Bianco brand.

     Mulino Bianco dates back to October of 1975.  The Barilla company decided to make a biscuit (or "cookies" to some) line, beginning with five selections, called Tarallucci, Molinetti, Pale, Campagnole, and Galletti.  The rest of the history of this brand on the official company website consists of mostly the various types of advertising of their products.  Who created the ad campaign, what characters were used, all of that.  Two items caught my interest.  One, the bags used to contain the cookies/biscuits are colored yellow, as this is supposed to remind people of the tenderness sought during childhood.*  Two, one of the characters in the ads/commercials was Piemmebi, a rather pathetic baker, who was constantly, and futilely, trying to woo the lovely Clementina.  It sounded like a Pepe Le Pew-like situation, only hopefully a lot less rape-y.

     In turn, the parent company, Barilla, dates back to 1877.  A man named Pietro Barilla opened a bakery in Parma, Italy.  In 1910 the business expanded into a pasta making factory.  Since, Barilla has flourished.  And how.  It's reported to be the world's leading pasta maker, and produces nearly a quarter of the Italian pasta market.  Barilla has manufacturing plants in Italy (of course), Greece, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.  Along the way it's also bought up some other companies, such as the Greek MISKO pasta company, the Turkish Filiz Makarna pasta company, and the Swedish crispbread maker Wasabrod.  Barilla has also sponsored the Italian national basketball team, the race car driver Alex Zanardi, and had tennis players Roger Federer and Coco Gauff as spokespeople.

Mulino Bianco Baiocchi cookies:  These were round sandwich cookies, like an Oreo, about 4 cm. (about 1.5 inches) in diameter.  They looked like a wheel, with 5 holes and the name embossed on them.  The sandwich pieces were light brownish-yellow, and the hazelnut and cocoa cream filling layer was dark brown.  The texture was dry and crunchy.  The taste was alright.  The filling was okay, but not great. Overall, the cookies were not as sweet as I'd like.  So, like many Euro cookies/biscuits, they were blander, and not as sweet as I prefer.  But not as bland as some Euro biscuits that I've had.  Or, one step up, good but not great.

Mulino Bianco Cuoricini cookies:  These were heart shaped, about 4.5 cm. by 4.25 cm. (or about 1.75 inches by 1.65 inches), with a light brownish-yellow color with visible chocolate chips.  The texture was dry and crunchy.  The taste was like a lot of chocolate chip cookies.  Or solid.  My favorite chocolate chip cookies are moist, and chewier, but these were alright.  A tad less sweet than the typical American cookie, but still okay overall.  I would slightly recommend both of these, especially to people who prefer European-style biscuits/cookies.

     Now on to the dirt!  First off, in 2013, owner Guido Barilla expressed some anti-gay sentiments, including opinions about adoption.  However, after the resulting uproar, and threatened boycott, he apologized, and the company overall is now apparently an LBGTQ ally.  Then, in 2022, two Americans, Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost, bought some Barilla pasta because it was made in Italy.  But, they later learned that most Barilla pasta marketed in the U.S. is actually made in America, often from American ingredients.  Enraged, they instituted a class action lawsuit.  Barilla tried to have the case thrown out, but a judge ruled against that, claiming that the plaintiffs had suffered economic injury.  I wasn't able to learn the results of this earth-shattering case.  If it seems like I'm making light of this lawsuit, it's because I am.  The two customers spent a total of $6.  It seems like it's about the principle, and not the amount.  Anyway, I guess it's debatable whether the cookies I had were actually made in Italy, as noted on the label, or in the U.S.  It you're curious, it the event that I was duped, my reaction would be something like, "Huh, okay," and not a lawsuit.

 *  As a horror fan, I'm a little puzzled.  Because there is a famous (or infamous) Italian murder mystery movie and book subgenre known as "giallo," which translates to "yellow" in Italian.  This was the color of the pulp fiction novels that these types of stories were based on.  I'll just say that the giallos I've seen are sleazy, brutal, gory, and gratuitous in nearly every manner possible. (In a good way, I highly recommend this subgenre to adult horror fans.)  They didn't seem to evoke the search of tenderness of childhood at all.  I guess, to paraphrase Simpsons' character Mayor Quimby, to Italians the color yellow "can be two things!"

 

  

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Swiss Cherry Juice

      So today I'll be discussing a cherry juice drink from Switzerland.  There's not much else to say about its acquisition.  It was from the Biotta brand.

     The Biotta story dates back to 1931.  Kind of.  It's a little vague and confusing.  Anyway, in that year the Gemuseban AG Tagerwilen company was formed, reportedly by a man named Dr. Hugo Brandenburger.  This was originally an organic beverage company.  However, it wasn't until 1957 that this business started marketing their first juice, made from carrots.  So I'm not sure what the firm was doing in the 26 years in between this, other than presumably some sort of organic farming.  Moving on, in 1961 the company changed its name to Biotta.  "Bio" signifies organic in Switzerland, and the "ta" was from the town where the business was located, Tagerwilen.  Biotta is incredibly involved with, and a proponent of organic agriculture and environmentally friendly practices.  In 1951 Biotta committed to organic farming, following the methods developed by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in the 1920's, called anthroposophy.  Another man, Hans Muller, further refined organic farming in the 1940's, and Biotta also utilized his directives.  Biotta's juice collecting methods are also a bit unusual.  Instead of the typical pressing of the fruit and vegetables, they instead decant the juice using centrifugation.  This is supposedly more nutritious.  The resulting juices are then pasteurized at a lower-than-normal temperature, which again allegedly creates juices that have better tastes, nutritional values, and shelf lives.  (Although since the point of pasteurization is to kill harmful bacteria, I hope the temperatures are high enough to accomplish this!)  Other company production methods are similarly eco and nutrition-friendly.  Biotta only uses glass bottles, and sells the fruit and vegetable waste products back to farmers for use as animal feed.  Biotta also maintain their own bees, 300,000 to be exact, in five colonies.  Additionally, the business is carbon neutral, as their energy is all from renewable sources.  Alternate flavors of their juices include apple beet ginger, beet, a beet ginger blend, a carrot orange ginger blend, carrot, celery root, elderberry, and even sauerkraut.  In 2005 Dr. Hugo Brandenburger sold Biotta to the Thurella Group.  (I know this seems off--was this the same guy who founded the company back in 1931?  If so, he'd have to be like over 100 years old.  Maybe someone else founded the company in 1931, or else this was a son or grandson with the same name and credentials.)  And the U.S. distributer for Biotta is CAJ Food Products, Inc., out of Indiana.  Readers with astounding memories might recall that I discussed another CAJ product over 5 years ago, in my February 16, 2019 post about odd drinks like beet juice.  That drink was made by another company, in Austria.  Finally, a business website reported that Biotta's workforce is 35 people, which given its size and reach seems a bit low.

Biotta tart cherry juice:  This had a deep red color, and no real odor to speak of.  It was as tart as advertised.  Almost overwhelmingly so.  There was only cherry juice in this, and no added sweeteners such as sugar.  Maybe a dash or two of sugar would have improved the taste?  (I know that Biotta will never do this, but in my opinion this would probably improve the taste.)  It was still pretty good, but it was a very strong flavor.  In general, I like cherries okay, although I don't eat them much, since I find the de-pitting process tiresome.  Overall, this juice was good, and I would recommend it to those that like cherries.

     One final tidbit--I noticed that the Biotta company is really big on juice cleanses.  If you're unaware, this is the practice of drinking only fruit and vegetable juices for a time, and consuming no solid food, usually for between 1 to 7 days.  It's supposed to clean out the toxins in your body.  Well, once again I have to put on my science hat, and report that juice cleanses are nonsense.  If your liver and kidneys are working properly, they're already removing toxins daily--that's one of their functions.  And there's no evidence that fruit and veggie juices remove toxins.  Plus, only drinking juices, without any other food, is a bad idea nutritionally.  A human needs carbs, protein, and fat.  Also other nutrients and electrolytes.  Doing a juice "cleanse" can be potentially dangerous for diabetics and those with hypoglycemia.  Dizziness, fainting, and diarrhea can occur in those folks, or even those without these conditions.  So don't do juice "cleanses."  At best it's a nonsensical waste of time, and at worst it's potentially harmful.  The whole thing is mostly a cynical marketing ploy to see more juices.  (To be clear, to stave off any angry messages--I'm clearly not saying drinking fruit and vegetable juices is a bad idea.  I'm saying that ONLY drinking fruit and vegetable juices, and having no solid foods, is a bad idea.)