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, and in New Zealand culture 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 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 with the ripples or "scales" on the fish 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 RM Barclay, Member of Parliament for New Plymouth, asked a question in Parliament about the price of chocolate fish.[11][12]

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. ↑ "AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME XXXIV, ISSUE 83, 7 APRIL 1903, PAGE 2". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  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.
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