Misplaced Pages

Chocolate fish

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Confectionery popular in New Zealand

Chocolate fish
Two chocolate fish
TypeConfectionery
Place of originNew Zealand
Main ingredientsPink or white marshmallow, milk chocolate

A chocolate fish or choccy fish is a traditional confectionery item in New Zealand. In New Zealand culture, it is a common reward for a job done well ("Give that kid a chocolate fish").

Chocolate fish have a conventional fish-shape and a length of 5 to 8 centimetres (2.0 to 3.1 in). They are made of pink or white marshmallow covered in a thin layer of milk chocolate. The ripples or "scales" on the fish are created simply by the fish moving under a blower; this slides the unset chocolate back, creating the illusion of scales on the fish.

Several manufacturers make the fish; the most well-recognised is Cadbury. Smaller, or "fun-sized" variants of the chocolate fish are colloquially referred to as "sprats". Variants of the traditional item exist; a common version is made of solid orange-flavoured milk chocolate.

History

Chocolate fish have been made since at least 1903, though early varieties may not have included marshmallow. Marshmallow-based chocolate fish were being produced in Dunedin in 1937. For a short period in the late 1990s to early 2000s, Tip Top sold a chocolate fish ice-cream. In 2019, the chocolate fish was added to the Cadbury Favourites box.

In 1970, Ron Barclay, Member of Parliament for New Plymouth, asked a question in Parliament about the price of chocolate fish.

Cadbury stopped producing 20g chocolate fish in 2023, stating that they had become less popular with consumers. They continued to include 'sprats' in Favourites boxes. As of 2024, local company Queen Anne produces a 50g fish and 14g fish that it calls 'fish bites', and other companies also sell variations.

References

  1. "...each presented with a large chocolate fish", 1933, Evening Post
  2. "I'll Buy You A Chocolate Fish If...", 1973
  3. "The food we love – the tastes of New Zealanders". my.christchurchcitylibraries.com. October 13, 2014.
  4. "...for many years a brand of chocolate fish was known as “Pelorus Jack”.", 1966, A Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
  5. "...Sir Geoffrey Palmer offered the audience a chocolate fish for anyone who could define privacy.", Privacy Commissioner
  6. "Chocfishtory". The Chocolate Fish Company. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  7. "The latest novelty [advertisement]". Auckland Star. 7 April 1903. p. 2.
  8. Booth, Peggy (18 September 1937). "The postie's bag". Evening Star. Upstairs I saw the pink mixture of the chocolate fish. In big boxes there was French chalk, with the shapes of the fish in them.
  9. "Marshmallow ice-cream conquered", 04/06/2010, stuff.co.nz
  10. Ramsey, Teresa (October 11, 2019). "Chocolate fish added to Cadbury Favourites - how does it rate?". Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  11. "The price of chocolate fish". Press. 7 November 1970. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. "Chocolate fish prices". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).House of Representatives: v. 1970.
  13. ^ "Cadbury stops making chocolate fish, supplies almost gone". RNZ. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  14. "Chocolate Fish". Queen Anne Chocolates. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
Categories: