I am both delighted and skeptical and sad about this: Pepperidge Farm has licensed Tim Tams. Generally a good thing, right? No more special trip to Cost Plus or begging people who live in/visit Australia to pony up the goods.
Except I am not completely sure they're identical, and it's the end of April and according to the link above, they are only available October through March. I found my first package last night. The plain chocolate was sold out (s'fine, I like the caramel even if Cap'n prefers the plain), and there was no sign of shelf space for the dark chocolate. Which means I either ignore them until my birthday month when I will quite possibly be inundated with them as gifts, or run all over town searching out more packages. Since I'm used to only having them after, say, helping out some grateful Ozzies I shared a deadly armed robbery in the jungle with, driving to a few shops doesn't seem like too big a deal. (True story. Another true story: a single Tim Tam was once secreted in a small box, passed to me, and I was shushed upon opening it; it was Not Meant for Sharing with the Tim-Tam loving child nearby, which made it feel like a deadly weapon rather than a cookie. ) At any rate, the rareness contributes to the fun. They're not a regular household item, and possibly not worth the effort.
I'm not utterly convinced the chocolate coating is the same. It probably is, why would it be different, but it's hard to be certain without side-by-side comparison. Aside from that righteous mistrust of global food practices, the sadness is because this sort of brand licensing makes me feel like all the actually creative products are done. Pep Farms can buy successful cookie recipes, so why would they want to invent a new Brussels or Chessmen or those delicious Bordeaux? Or, bleh, even add new versions of those damned (and inescapable) Milanos. Stupid Pep Farm has already discontinued my childhood favorite (apple squares, like the turnovers but smaller and free of raisins). Pep, I don't think you're going to rock this party until the party ends, friend.
And if they're going to be all lazy and license other people's brilliant products, it'd be great to bring back some of the obscure short-lived flavors (chile chocolate!) that might do better here than down under. Like my brother once said: If you're going to be a tool, at least be a power tool.
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