After a burst of Malted Milks, I have turned to another common type of biscuit in the UK - the Garibaldi. Aside from Bourbon biscuits, named after the Bourbon dynasty that ruled France (1820-48), Navarre (1820-30), Parma (1854-59) and Two Sicilies (1859-61), Garibaldis are the only ones named after a historical figure, i.e. Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82) after he visited northern England in 1854, though manufacture did not begin until 1861, the year Italy was largely unified. Italian unification had been central to Garibaldi's political work.
They are flat reasonably plain biscuit filled with raisins. Unlike any other biscuit I can think of they come in strips and have to be broken apart along predefined lines. The biscuit should be glazed and they should have some sweetness. However, even ahead of the general trend to reducing sugar manufacturers seem to have been making them less sweet than they once were. In a good Garibaldi biscuit this is made up for by the sweetness of the raisins.
These trends explain the problem with these Garibaldis from Tesco. The biscuits have no real flavour, they would be plain even if they were biscuits for cheese. There is a bit of a crunch, whereas you expect chewiness in Garibaldis, and this just re-emphasises the lack of flavour. I only got something like a hint of bicarbonate of soda in the after-taste. The raisins which can save a Garibaldi, fail with this particular example and themselves taste rather stale, imbuing no sweetness to the biscuit. There is no moreishness in these biscuits and overall they were very disappointing. Yes, Garibaldis, despite the name are not ostentatious biscuits demanding attention, but neither should it taste as if you are simply eating packaging. I hope to find a better variety of Garibaldis elsewhere.
Rating:
*****
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