Twiglets are a wheat-based

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

marketed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that have a "distinctive knobbly shape" similar to that of twigs and a speckled-brown-over-pale-colour appearance. The taste of Twiglets, which has been compared to that of

Marmite Marmite ( ) is a British savoury food spread based on yeast extract, invented by the German scientist Justus von Liebig. It is made from by-products of beer brewing ( lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vegan ...

, primarily derives from the

yeast extract Yeast extracts consist of the cell contents of yeast without the cell walls; they are used as food additives or flavorings, or as nutrients for bacterial culture Growing media, media. They are often used to create savoury flavors and umami tast ...

used in the coating. Twiglets are packaged in 24 g, 45 g, 105 g, 150 g bags, and in 200 g cylindrical containers. __TOC__

History

Twiglets were invented in 1929 by a French biscuit maker J. Rondalin, a technical manager at Peek Freans'

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

factory, who added

brewer's yeast ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

to a leftover batch of Vitawheat dough. They were first launched onto the consumer market in 1932 by Peek Freans. Today, Twiglets are manufactured in

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a p ...

United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...

subsidiary

Jacob's Jacob's is an Irish Brand, brand name for several lines of biscuits and Cracker (food), crackers in Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The brand name is owned by the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, part of Valeo Foods, which prod ...

. During the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

season, Twiglets were traditionally sold in drum-shaped tin boxes as a high-class

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

accompaniment from the 1930s until the 1970s. In modern times, the tin boxes have been substituted with large cardboard tubes decorated with seasonal themes. In the early 1990s, a range of tangy

Worcester Sauce Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...

Twiglets were introduced. Jacobs also released a curry flavoured edition from 1999 to 2001, in collaboration with several

Indian restaurant Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally av ...

chains in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

. From 2010 until 2012, Tangy Twiglets were briefly re-released as a limited edition to commemorate Twiglets' 80th anniversary. Twiglets used to be manufactured partly from grain prepared using hammer milling machinery located at the Parker Brothers Lark Roller Mills in Mildenhall. The machinery was powered by water turbines fed by water from the river Lark and this process created the broken grains that give Twiglets their crunchy irregular shape and texture. This water-powered mill operated until the last decade of the 20th century in this capacity. To celebrate the 85th anniversary of Twiglets in August 2014, United Biscuits hosted an event known as Camp Twiglet on the Cotswolds farm of Blur's Alex James. This included three

wigwam A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

s made from Twiglets which were attributed to a local artist named Mrs Cakehead.

References

{{Reflist Brand name snack foods United Biscuits brands British brands British snack foods Products introduced in 1932

History

See also

References