Chocolate fish
Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Infobox prepared food
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").[1][2][3][4][5]
Chocolate fish have a conventional fish-shape and a length of Script error: No such module "convert".. 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.[6] 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,[7] though early varieties may not have included marshmallow. Marshmallow-based chocolate fish were being produced in Dunedin in 1937.[8] For a short period in the late 1990s to early 2000s, Tip Top sold a chocolate fish ice-cream.[9] In 2019, the chocolate fish was added to the Cadbury Favourites box.[10]
In 1970, Ron Barclay, Member of Parliament for New Plymouth, asked a question in Parliament about the price of chocolate fish.[11][12]
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.[13] As of 2024, local company Queen Anne produces a 50g fish[13] and 14g fish that it calls 'fish bites',[14] and other companies also sell variations.
References
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- ↑ "...each presented with a large chocolate fish", 1933, Evening Post
- ↑ "I'll Buy You A Chocolate Fish If...", 1973
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- ↑ "...for many years a brand of chocolate fish was known as “Pelorus Jack”.", 1966, Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
- ↑ "...Sir Geoffrey Palmer offered the audience a chocolate fish for anyone who could define privacy.", Privacy Commissioner
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- ↑ "Marshmallow ice-cream conquered", 04/06/2010, stuff.co.nz
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