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Well, my dissertation has taken an interesting turn, going from youth to adults with eating disorders (irony, thy name is academe).  Now I need to learn a lot more about them, developing some level of expertise in the next… week or two.  Oh, dear.

Welp, let’s talk candy.  Rolos, to be precise.  Rolo is one of those oddball candies that are made by different companies depending on where you are in the world.  In the U.S., they’re made by Hershey, while they’re made by Nestle everywhere else.  When I last went by Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati, I found both English and South African versions, so I grabbed those and one of the American packages and set about to compare.

American Rolos are a semi-soft, but still chewy, caramel covered with milk chocolate.  The candies are molded, and fit neatly into roll-type packaging, which makes them good for snacking – unlike a caramel-filled candy bar, you can set Rolos aside or forget about them in your purse without having everything covered in sticky goo.  They’re one of my favorites.  I like eating the chocolate first, then savoring the pleasantly caramelized, slightly grainy center.  They’re also good refrigerated.

South African: The piece is about 3/4 the size, but there are two more per package, making it longer but narrower.  There is much more chocolate than the American type, with a thicker base.  It is also much sweeter, with a strong dairy taste.  There’s a tart/sour flavor, which is not unpleasant, but it is unexpected.  There really isn’t enough caramel to do my usual chocolate-followed-by-caramel method, and the caramel is a little too soft to hold together for long, but it’s all right.

English: The same size as the South African.  Interestingly, these are packaged with all the pieces going the same direction, while South Africa and America enjoy their Rolos packed with alternating directions, top-bottom, bottom-top.  English Rolos are darker and less sweet.  They are also chewier, and can be eaten following my typical approach.  It’s enough that, if you are one of those Philistines who chew the whole thing at once, you’ll have a very nice caramel finish.

Baking tip – refrigerate Rolos, then cut them into 1/4 pieces while still cold (they cut clean that way), or even smaller.  Eat the excess.  Add them to a recipe for fudge brownies.  Yum!  Make sure you add enough that you can cut the brownies into small squares.  Pecans work well with them as well.  You can also make chocolate thumbprint cookies with Rolos – roll them in finely chopped pecans before baking, then squish a Rolo in place right after they come out of the oven.

SCORE: Overall, 7 out of 10

Purchased at: Various spots

Price: 1.29 for English & South American, 0.69 for American