Nutella (by request)

Nutella.

Nutella is sold as a spreadable condiment, but it's closer to a confectionery. Based on Hazelnuts, it appears as a dark brown paste in a transparent plastic or glass container. Sizes vary from 15g travel packs all the way up to 625g special value edition packaging. There may be larger sizes but I haven't seen them. Available in the supermarket and some department stores such as K-mart and BigW, it can be found in the spreadables section and competes with the like of Peanut butter and the various conserves like Jam and Marmalade, and is targeted to young families with schoolchildren.

As a spread, it's just as versatile as a jam but comes into it's own when baking. Whereas jams are quite tart in their flavour, they lend themselves to accenting rather than being the base of a recipe. Mixing in Nutella with a large amount of base ingredients lends the entire mixture a pleasant hazelnut backing, but by increasing the proportions, you can create a very strong overtone. Companion products for Nutella in baking are liqueurs like Frangelico.


The good:
- Taste. Nutella tastes great, as long as you are a fan of nutty tastes. Even if you aren't a fan of nuts, the cocoa aspect is very good too. This will appeal to chocolate lovers, except perhaps fans of dark chocolates or chocolates that come with an acquired taste.

- Versatility. The fact that you can spread it over a slice of toast, plain bread, or use it in or on a cake or biscuits means that Nutella can find a use in almost any kitchen.

- Health. Compared with the likes of (regular) peanut butter, Nutella contains less fats both saturated and unsaturated. It's also around the same or less sugar then a comparable conserve.

The Bad:
- Hazelnut. It's a nut. Nutella is made from it. It may contain traces of nut and is produced on a machine that may also process nuts or nut derivative products. If you are allergic to nuts, then this is not the spread for you. If you are allergic to nuts, I pity you. I have to conclude that's it's god's way of saying, "You are not allowed to live an exciting culinary life, because of something you did in a former life. Here, have some tofu."

- The price. Unless you can get it on special, Nutella is in the 'Nicety' range, rather than the 'Necessity' range. If you have kids though, sometimes it's worth it just to shut them up.

- Health. Although it may appear to have the edge over other similar products in terms of healthiness, due to it being so more-ish it ends up being an indulgence item, and you may find it not being consumed in moderation. This applies to both kids and adults. Uni students and flatmates are especially at risk. It should be kept on the top shelf out of reach of young ones, or in a place that takes a bit of effort to reach so they are at least getting a bit of exercise.

- Jar. The distinctive Nutella jar is retarded to the consumer. To the producer, it's brilliant marketing. The opening of the jar is round, but tapers into a flat tube with rounded edges. This leaves crevices where a spoon or knife cannot reach. While this may cost the manufacturer a small amount of product, it induces a need in the consumer to get more. If the jar allowed you to get to all of the contents, what you would be left with would be an empty jar and a lack of need for more Nutella. If there a little bits left in the jar, your mind subtly encourages you to get it. When you try but can't succeed, the brain switches to path-of-least-resistance mode and soon you think about heading back to the supermarket, or at least putting it on the shopping list. Also, because the jar isn't completely empty, there is an urge to put it back on the shelf, just in case someone else is able to get the last bits out, where it will weave it's magic on the next unsuspecting victim.

- Spoons. It's very easy to get a spoon into the opening. I'll leave this for you to think about.

- Sizes. While there are a large number of recipes that incorporate Nutella, they usually ask for strange amounts, none of which seem to coincide with the sizes of Nutella jars available. This means you may have to buy multiple jars or a larger jar which just leaves near empty-jars lying around that can be too tempting to some people.

- Greasy. If you get some on your fingers, it transfers very readily to porous products such as cloth and also to shiny surfaces such as media tablet screens and counter tops.

- Ads. All Nutella ads are lame. They usually feature young mothers with kids. The mothers are usually hot, but they have kids so you end up going, "Wow she's hot, maybe I should buy some Nutel...oh but she has kids, maybe I shouldn't after al...OMG what an ugly kid."

Conclusion:
A sweet, nutty, versatile spread that can be used for many things but is quite addictive and the work of the devil.

Score: 6/10...7/10...8/10...I want some NOOOOOWW!!!