Today I'll be talking about two kinds of candy from Gustaf's, and a cookie made by Daelmans. All of these came from Wegman's once more.
Alas, I can't give even a brief background about Gustaf's, as I couldn't find anything online. There were several sites which marketed their wares, but I didn't see an actual company website. Therefore, all I can report is that aside from the Foamy Fruity Gummies and the Soft Licorice & Fruit that I ate, they also manufacture black and salted licorices, and candies in lace, sandwich, button, and filled straw shapes (I think these are probably licorice, too).
Daelmans, fortunately, has a website and thus more info. The company was begun in 1909 by Hermanus Daelmans, starting in the town of Vlijmen. From this small beginning Daelmans has blossomed into a large, successful corporation which exports to at least 30 countries. Aside from the Amsterdam short cake cookies I tried, their primary pastry categories are speculaas biscuits, coconut pastries, caramel waffles, puff pastries (turnovers and rolls), and filled pastries (with fruit, etc.). Daelmans is quite the socially conscious company, too, as they are into various causes such as sustainable palm oil, sustainable agriculture (they're UTZ certified), and fair trade.
On to the food itself. From Gustaf's, I had two Freeway-themed candies--the Monster Truck Foamy Fruity Gummies and the Double Decker Soft Licorice & Fruit. The former were about 4 cm. by 2 cm. (about 1.5 inches by .75 inch) candies available in three flavors, shaped like monster trucks. The latter were double decker bus-shaped, and about 2.5 cm. by 1 cm. (or about 1 inch by .5 inch), coming in six varieties. I'll list each kind below.
Monster Truck Foamy Fruit Gummies:
1) Strawberry (pink truck body, with red tires): Okay, distinct strawberry flavor, just average.
2) Banana and licorice (yellow body, with purple tires): Strange flavor pairing. Didn't like, but then I'm not generally into banana flavors.
3) Orange (orange body, with orange tires): Alright, orange-y in flavor, obviously. Was the best of the bunch, but not great.
For all of these the truck body parts were a taffy-like texture, and the tires were gummy-ish.
Double Decker Duos Soft Licorice & Fruit:
1) Raspberry (red color): Reminded me of Twizzlers in texture. Strong raspberry flavor, very good.
2) Orange (orange color): Also decent, but not as flavorful or good as the raspberry.
3) Apple (green color): Green apple flavor. Not very good, but I don't particularly enjoy this flavor usually.
4) Lemon (yellow): Rather "meh." Just okay, not very memorable.
5) Pineapple (white): This one was pretty tasty. Above average.
6) Black Currant (purple): Tart, and again very nice. Probably my second favorite.
All of these had the flavor color at the first third of so of the bus, while the back two thirds were black. In order I liked the raspberry best, then black currant, then pineapple, orange, lemon, and apple.
The Daelmans cookies were about 3 inches by 1 inch (about 7.5 cm. by 2.5 cm.), yellowish-brown, and in the shape of little buildings. They had a sweet odor, and were fairly crunchy. They weren't overly sweet, but still were tasty. I would characterize them as a solid cookie. I learned later that they came in 8 different shapes. The website didn't mention if these are based on 8 different real buildings (and if so, which ones), or just 8 different building styles. All the different shapes tasted the same, though.
I'll end with some brief info about monster trucks. Monster trucks, for the uninitiated, are pickup trucks with modified, larger suspensions and tires. I was curious that Gustaf's chose this shape for their candy, as I thought that these trucks were mostly an American phenomenon. Although they evidently did start in the U.S., other countries, including The Netherlands, apparently, have interest in them as well. Also, there's controversy over whose truck was the first to drive over and crush other cars. Jeff Dane's "King Kong" (aka "Bigger Foot") claims to have done it in the late 1970's. The Dykman Brothers also claim to have been first, using their "Cyclops." as did the owners (unnamed) of "High Roller" (aka "Thunder Beast"). But the earliest verified video shows that Bob Chandler's "Bigfoot" was the first, in April of 1981. Let the argument begin, I suppose. Finally, the longest monster truck ever was 32 feet (9.8 meters) long, owned by Brad and Jen Campbell. And my favorite monster truck name is probably the one which is less obvious and cliche macho, and instead is more honest and mockingly self-aware: "Blown Income," owned by Jeff Champ and Jared Vogle.
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