The Banány
The Banány was part of a candy package from the Czech Republic, courtesy of Ryan. The package had an ominous yellow Quarantine inspection sticker slapped across it, so I was conscious of the fact that someone had rifled through my candy before it got to me, looking for, hard boiled eggs, rawhide, feathers, teeth, and ornaments made from rice (some of the items listed in the pamphlet they inserted into my package before stapling it back together again).
I was hoping there would be no English on the Banány packet, but candy is international. The three languages represented on the ingredients list were Czech, Slovakian and English. Amongst the list, I saw that the Banány contained 1% banana juice. Most times I use a juicer I give thought to the concept of banana juice, in particular how spectacularly how ineffective it would be. Banana juice would be nothing but runny mush.
In the Banány, however, the banana juice gives it a strangely authentic taste. The bar is bow shaped like a banana, soft like a banana, yet much sweeter than an actual banana. Sweets made to resemble fruit are perplexing, because they take something already sweet and attempt to make a sugary replica. Why? The Banány tasted like someone had mashed up a banana, added heaps of sugar to it, moulded this mixture back into a banana shape, then coated it in chocolate. Its international jetsetting had resulting in the chocolate coating cracking, giving it the look of a worn leather armchair. Whilst this description sounds fairly unappealing, I enjoyed the Banány, mostly for its texture.
As the packaging says: Uchovejte v chladu a suchu.