A Kinder Egg on top of a canister of Pero
If you’ve been keeping up with my museum of snack foods, you’ll know that my friend Myself from the IHMMB forums sent me a loaf of S’More Bread and a jar of homemade prickly pear jelly as part of a regional foods exchange we had on the boards. This canister of Pero was also part of that package. My mother sent the Kinder Egg.
As a huge lover of caffeine in all its forms and packaging, I was hesitant to try the Pero, but curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it a try. The Kinder Egg was to get the taste out of my mouth in case I didn’t like it. One Step Ahead Tracy, that’s what they call me, because I always think one step…ahead.
Pero Ingredients and Nutrition Information
As you see, Pero is made from malted barley, barley and chicory and is not safe for people allergic to gluten or peanuts. I knew there was a reason I didn’t trust it, it’s potential death in a can! (If I were allergic to those things, which I might very well be, what the heck is chicory anyway?) I guess it’s purpose is to be a substitute for coffee for people who for whatever reason can’t or won’t drink it.
There are two different ways people tend to react when told they can’t have something. Some, like me, choose to just stop cold turkey and go without. Fat free diet? Fine, I’ll eat rutabagas and apricots and say to hell with butter, and just spit in the face of margarine. Then there are others like my sister, who is dear person but is convinced that adding a can of diet soda to cake mix makes cake. No ma’am, that is fizzy flour loaf and you can’t tell me different. Pero would be for people like my sister, I think.
Perhaps it’s a possibility that some people prefer grain based hot beverages to a steaming mug of coffee or black tea but that goes beyond the limits of my imagination.
A Cup of Pero-Joe
That said, I had a job to do, so I made myself a nice cuppa and had a sip. You might notice on the picture that there is a line that looks like a hair on the cup. I did not notice it until I uploaded the pictures to my computer and saw it there. Of course I ran to make sure it was still there, fearing I might have ingested one of my eyelashes but to my relief it was there in the cup just hanging out. To my horror it just sort of dissolved on my fingertips and I can only conclude it was some sort of “artifact of the manufacturing process” as they say in the grain based hot beverage biz.
Back to the Pero, it wasn’t awful but it wasn’t good, either. If insipid had a flavor it would be Pero. It did, however smell an awful lot like Korean barley water which I don’t actually like but sometimes get a craving for since it reminds me of my mom.
Iced Pero
So, I put some on ice and sure enough it did taste like barley water, only slightly bitter. That must be the chicory coming through! I will probably never drink Pero again, but I am glad I had the opportunity to try it. Thanks Myself! (hehe, I told you, that never gets old!)
Kinder Egg
I’ve already reviewed Kinder Joy but since the weather got cold enough to ship Kinder Eggs, I thought I should give them their day, too. In Germany, where this one came from, they are called Kinder Überraschung and Kinder Surprise in the English speaking countries where they are sold. We just always called them Kinder Eggs for obvious reasons.
Open Kinder Egg
They have a hollow milk chocolate shell with a milk cream lining and contain a plastic capsule with a toy inside. The reason they are not commonly sold in the US is because you are not allowed to place that which is not food on the inside of that which is a confection (see wikipedia). This makes me sad, but luckily I have my sources.
Contents of capsule
Sometimes the toy is in one piece, but more often than not it comes in pieces that you have to put together with is part of the fun unless there are two children fighting right next to you over whose toy you will put together next and whining about how slow and clumsy your fingers are. I tend to push them aside with my leg and remind them that the reason my hands don’t work so good is because of all the hours spent nursing them with their big old heads pressing right up against some vital nerve in my arm, causing my hands to forever spasm and cramp up. This doesn’t make them shut up but at least they are farther away.
Smiling Computer Guy
Oh look, it’s a smiling computer guy. I really dislike most smilies but since this one is mine, I will have to love him and make a nice home for him and tell him all about my day.
Sad computer guy
Oh no, the Pero story made him sad and my husband ate the chocolate while I was taking pictures so he wants me to have this delicious Utah Espresso Truffle Bar that Myself was nice enough to sent.
Ahh, happy again!
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Judging by your preliminary description of Pero has effectively lead me to believe that the only reason I would ever drink it is if there is vodka involved. Before, after, and during.
I seem to recall something about chicory being used as a filler when there wasn’t enough coffee. A sort of poor man’s coffee. Thanks for the warning!
Margaret (Nanny Goats)´s last blog post..The Bigger the Man, the Bigger Their Ego
@Elle, what did the vodka ever do to you?
@Margaret, I think so. In fact I think that Ersazt coffee was very popular after WWII in Germany and that might explain why some Germans still drink it even though they have such rich, delicious real coffee now. Old habits die hard. I will say this, based on my time there, Germans will dry anything out, pour hot water over it and call it a “beverage”.
One day I will have to try the chicory coffee that they enjoy in New Orleans.
Is that true that chicory was used as a filler? Personally, I can’t stand the stuff. Some relatives went to New Orleans and brought back chickory coffee. I love coffee but did not like the chicory at all.
I don’t think I would have liked the Pero – I probably wouldn’t have tried it.
I loved the part where you described pushing the children away
You are really funny Tracy.
Oh – and I learned that the US won’t let you put toys and other fun things (like a file for getting out of jail) inside of food.
Kim Woodbridge | (Anti) Social Development´s last blog post..Stuff This in Your RSS – 12/9/08 – Freelance Folder
“If insipid had a flavor it would be Pero”
What a great line.
You know, I would never have thought posts about snack foods could be interesting or funny (even exotic snack foods) but somehow you manage both.
Thanks Kim and Susanne, trying unusual food products is a passion of mine. It could be worse, my parents have a museum of Beanie Babies and other assorted Ty products in their home!
Tracy´s last blog post..The Paranoid Mom Reviews New Products: Cargo Comforters
Growing up we our family converted to Mormonism and we were not allowed caffeine. This was before decaf anything. Apparently there was some coffee substitute many church members drank, and most others just said no thanks. I wonder if Pero was that stuff?
NDN Humor´s last blog post..We Should Have Been Born Cousins
All right as someone who knows Pero and knows what it is good for. As you might have guessed from the the ingredients other than the chicory, it sounds a lot like what might go into beer. I would likely give up my life before I gave up coffee for Pero, but it does have another use. It makes an ok home brew beer. It dissolves well making the mash easy to work with and the beer easy to filter after fermentation. While it is not nearly as good as the chicory beers I had in New Orleans, it was better than I expected.
For the record chicory laced coffee is pretty good, but it has to be good coffee to start with and most certainly not a grain based substitute. If you ever go to New Orleans and have a memorable cup of coffee it is because it was a blend of coffee and chicory. The memory might not be a pleasant one, but chicory laced coffee do stick in your memory.
Brad Hart´s last blog post..Food Myths
Pero and Postum are and were commonly used as a hot drink, by those who might have adverse or strong reactions to caffeine, yet enjoy a warm beverage. As a kid, I remember them both in our home. Pero or Postum were sweetened with sugar, then milk or cream added, to taste. In my case, lots of milk added!
In the beginning, like coffee, it is an acquired taste. But knowing you were consuming a grain-based drink also had a healthy side benefit…at least that was the thinking.
I want a kinder egg. And the Pero stuff looks like a bad version of ovalteen. I like this blog more and more each day.
The same beverage is sold in Italy, under the name Orzo (Barley). You can buy it in coffee bars too, instead of espresso—they even have a special machine and cups—, though I’ve never actually seen anyone order it. The lady who owned the flat we were renting in Naples had an open packet of it in her kitchen; one sniff was enough to put me off but good. And when I was young, hundreds of years ago, you could buy something called “Camp Chicory Extract”, a liquid coffee substitute; the “Camp”, judging by the picture on the bottle, referred to army camps, not Eddie Izzard, and I suppose indicates that the stuff was originally sold to people going out to quell the latest fuzzy-wuzzy uprising in places where real coffee wasn’t obtainable (I’m English, by the way). Chicory is the same plant as endive and is quite bitter; it goes very well with oranges. You’ve probably eaten it in salads without realising it. How about THAT for horror.
I just want the smiley-faced toy, so now I must go purchase edible goods from other countries, where they don’t care if I choke on the non-edible surprise inside.
RC – Rambling Along…´s last blog ..Simple speckled bowl
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