On Vanishing Foods

Nora Ephron (who I may have linked to before, so there you are) has a post on vanishing food.

FOOD vanishes.

I don't mean food as habit, food as memory, food as biography, food as metaphor, food as regret, food as love, or food as in those famous madeleines people like me are constantly referring to as if they've read Proust, which in most cases they haven't. I mean food as food. Food vanishes.

I, too, have lost some favorite foods. Most notable for me is something that the Herman Goelitz Candy Co. calls (or called) Snowballs, and I used to know as Cream Filberts. They look a little like mothballs, and consist of a hazelnut with a creamy sugar coating about 3/16" thick.

I used to be able to get them easily when I was much younger, but they disappeared from view. About 1980 I remember being delighted to find them in a store in Hanover, NH, then we moved away.

A local candy distributor here in Buffalo would have been willing to order a case for me about twelve or thirteen years ago, but that would have set me back forty dollars, and I could not bring myself to spring for that much at the time.

I once stopped in at a big candy store way south of Buffalo, it may have been in Irving, NY. After I described what I was after, the proprietor explained to me that the reason the candy is not sold much anymore is that it is very time consuming to make. The process, he told me, involves rolling the nut around on a sheet of liquid sugar, and thereby building up the thick coating. So it's expensive to make, and not a big seller, and has a limited shelf life to boot.

I found them once in a big candy store south of Cleveland. There was a sign visible from the highway announcing the presence of the store, and after passing it a few times visiting my daughter at Oberlin, I finally stopped in. They had them, and for a few years after I would try to schedule my trips so I would pass when they were open. But they had them only seasonally for a time, then not at all.

Goelitz (now Jelly Belly) made them as a specialty item, and so I wrote to them asking about local suppliers. I probably still have the letter they sent back, but it was not very helpful. They did send me a couple of packages, though. That was a nice treat.

A store in the Maine Mall had them one year when I was up for a visit, so I bought a pound there. That may have been the last time I had them.

Now, I have not seen my Cream Filberts in a few years. Perhaps if I poke around on the Jelly Belly web site I'll find them, but I'm not sure I would order them. There is some fun in the chase, and the finding. I still stop in nearly every candy store I pass, just to see if they have them.


Did I mention my Ginger Altoid quest? You see, said daughter once brought home a tin of Ginger Altoids from said Oberlin. They verily explode in the mouth - and ginger is by far my favorite spice ...

Update: Alas, "Snowballs" are nowhere to be found on the Jelly Belly web site. Although they have a specialty confection group, they don't provide a product list. A quick Google search also found nothing helpful. I'm not even sure what to call them, anymore! I'll have to see if I can find another confection purveyor who can help.

Further Update: I found a recipe in a candy cookbook on my own shelf that may come close. They call them Snowballs, and it's a nut wrapped in fondant candy, which is basically sugar and cream of tartar. Maybe I'll try making them sometime.

Yet another update: I have kept looking, and have found they seem to be gone for good.

See also:
Cream Filberts Forever
No Cream Filberts To Be Found

Late Update:
Cream Filberts found at Vermont Country Store and Stevers Candy
Cream Filberts are Indeed Back
Better Price for Cream Filberts