Today, March 6, is the 100th anniversary of the Oreo cookie, now sold in 100 countries throughout the world. You can celebrate at the Nabisco page, read about it at The New York Times, and get a coupon for a free Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard. The first version of these cream-filled chocolate cookies rolled off the factory line on March 6, 1912, at the Nabisco factory in New York City (Nabisco is now part of Kraft Foods). On that very day, the doomed Scott expedition was slogging towards its tragic demise in Antarctica.
I happen to love these cookies (biscuits to you Brits), though I almost never buy them.
Fun Oreo facts:
- Half the people who eat them separate the cookies and eat the cream filling separately (I am not one of these miscreants)
- 491 billion Oreos have been sold in the century since their introduction
- Oreos are the best-selling cookie of the 20th century
- According to Wikipedia, “The Oreo was originally called the Oreo Biscuit. The name was later changed to the Oreo Sandwich in 1921. In 1948, the name was changed again to the Oreo Creme Sandwich. It was then changed to the Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie in 1974.”
- We have no idea where the name “Oreo” came from
- Oreos are the best-selling cookie in China, which is the second largest national market after the U.S.
- And. . . much to my chagrin, other countries have cool Oreo flavors unavailable in the US. Here are some:
Orange and mango flavor from China:
And one I’d dearly love to try: dulce de leche and banana flavor from Argentina:
Treat yourself to a package today—eschewing the grotesquely overladen “Double Stuf®” version—and don’t forget the milk.
BTW, black and white cats are sometimes called “oreo cats” and are often named Oreo.
Planet money, a NPR economic podcast, recently had a segment on Oreo PR in china that was pretty good.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/27/145918343/rethinking-the-oreo-for-chinese-consumers
I had thought them to be a favorite of the Winkies.
LOL at the perfect caption on the kitteh!
Why aren’t different flavored Oreos available in the US? I’d love to try some of those mentioned.
There are a few varieties available here in the U.S.
Off the top of my head, there’s chocolate-filled, chocolate-filled w vanilla cookies, vanilla-filled w vanilla cookies, mint-filled, chocolate-enrobed, and I’m fairly sure I’ve seen a peanut-butter version.
There’s also a reduced-fat version. Do not bother.
If they had ones with orange filling (do they anywhere?), they might be like a counterpart (NB: not equivalent!!) to Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
Oh, OK, if anyone’s reading this from Indonesia, could you please send a packet of them to jac for his evaluation?
I would like some Oreos filled with peanut butter, please.
I eat spread a nice dollop of peanut butter on top and wash them down with a glass of milk. It’s better to use your own PB instead of relying on Nabisco’s peanutesque filling.
Heck, we could design whatever kind of Oreo we want. Just scrape out the original filling and put your own in. Peanut butter, raspberry, orange, strawberry, almond, chocolate… It could be a new food fad.
I normally can’t stand prepackaged, preservative-laden baked goods, but for some reason, Oreos are a favorite cookie of mine.
A few comments:
1) Why, oh, why do people separate the halves and eat the filling separately?! The wonderfulness comes from the combination of textures and favors!
2) Those orange and mango ones seem to me to be genius! Orange and chocolate are flavors meant for each other!
3) Jerry, Doublestuff are objectively superior. The appropriate balance between textures and flavors is not achieved with the original variety. Thus spake JS1685.
I salute your reference to J.S.B.
RE 3): Hear, hear!!
Ha! Bourbon biscuits (that’s cookies to you Yanks) are nicer and a better shape for dipping in tea.
Snitched from Wikipedia:
Never like Garibaldis though.
Wrong! Jaffa Cakes are the queen of biscuits/cakes.
(There was a legal case over the correct nature of Jaffa Cakes which revolved about the payment of VAT)
Hob nobs are the terminator of biscuits. Now that’s a robust biscuit for dipping. I just prefer chocolate kimberly, if I’m going for the binge factor
at last a biscuit post I can relate to
I believe the judgement was that biscuits soften as they age, whereas cakes harden; and that’s how you can tell whether to pay VAT or not.
I have always wondered what chocolate sandwich cookies had to do with bourbon.My brother and I always fought over who would get the Bourbon Cremes in the Peak Freans assortment (and nobody wanted the digestives – not sure if my mother ate them, or they just got stale and someone eventually threw them out). At the time (in Toronto, Canada, at least) there was no other way to get Bourbons except in the assortment. These days, most commercial chocolate desserts are too sweet and insufficiently chocolate for my taste, but Oreos (or Bourbons) would be OK in a pinch, if only for the nostalgia value.
Started out as Creola and then the name was then changed to BOURBON as a tribute to the French Royal Family or the House of Bourbon, apparently.
Probably just as well – “Creola” for me evokes images of small sticks of coloured wax – very nice in their own right, but not terribly appetizing, with or without being dunked.
And Hydrox are 104! And EXTINCT. Because of the power hegemony of the Oreo.
It’s all politics.
I never really liked either very much, but my grandmother always and mother usually bought Hydrox instead of Oreos.
Actually, I take back the part about not liking them. They’re excellent in cookies n cream ice cream. They’re just not very good on their own.
After browsing through Wikipedia and following a few links to snack food companies, I remembered the ‘creme’ filled sandwich cookie I liked best as a kid – Vienna Fingers. I can’t remember the last time I had one, though.
IIRC, Hydrox were crunchier, or I guess more al dente if you will.
Don’t forget Oreo cows!
I’ve always liked Oreos and I used to separate them to eat the filling first. But then I learned… My daughter does the same thing and I hope one day will come to her senses.
By the way, I love Trader Joes’ version, Joe Joes. I think they taste better than Oreos.
Trader Joe’s has some good stuff. I like the Mint Newman-O’s much better than I like Oreo’s, too.
I don’t twist or eat my Oreos plain. They must be fully submerged in milk and eaten at the right moment – before they start to break down and cannot be handled.
Tip: the Oreo will float, so you will need to make sure it is submerged in the milk for proper saturation. But, don’t just push down on the Oreo to submerge, because it will eventually become too dense and will sink to the bottom.
When submerging, lightly grip the cookie between your index finger and thumb. When you feel it starting to sink or your fingers start to sink into the cookie, you know it’s ready to eat. However, despite any precautions one or two cookies will find their way to the bottom of the glass, so don’t use a tall glass or else you’ll have to drink the cookie (which isn’t so bad either).
When you’re done eating the delicious cookies, wash it all down with the tasty Oreo milk you’ve just made.
This wins the thread. Pity you can’t make a YouTube video of the technique!
I prefer the cookie half dipped in milk, so that it remains crunchy on one side. the same technique works with Nutter Butters. mmmmmmm
Harrumph! I am rather fond of the grotesquely overladen “Double Stuf®” variety, and make no apologies for this.
I definitely agree with JS1685 above, that the low-fat variety should be avoided. Some low-fat versions of more indulgent foods are acceptable to me, with it’s not the case with Oreos.
+but -with
I’m awake. Honest.
John Malkovich [as Teddy KGB] throws his oreos away in Rounders [Teddy’s ‘tell’ or sometimes ‘reverse Tell’]
And of course, don’t forget the contribution Oreo made to the lexicon of social/political/racial discourse
Good point.
They have a special “birthday cake” Oreo to celebrate the occasion, but frankly they smell weird and taste gross. They don’t taste like regular Oreos.
A wonderful contributor to the world wide epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as a host of other lifestyle diseases!
Oh, so I can’t post on any food if, when you eat too much, it becomes unhealthy? Sorry, but I don’t like the food police weighing in when I do a food post. I guess I should just post on brocolli and carrots!
Quoth Ceiling Cat: I happen to love these cookies (biscuits to you Brits), though I almost never buy them.
Or in the words of the immortal Cookie Monster: “A cookie is a sometimes food”
down under here in australia we only have 3 flavours. original vanilla, dark chocolate and rum and raisin.
i’ve been addicted for years
no!!!!!!!! double stuff oreo is my 10,000 pound cats’ name!!!!!!!!! wtc! evolution is for ignorant people.shun the non- believers!
In France I had white-chocolate-coated Oreos. Amazing! Unfortunately I can’t find them over here in the UK*, and not for want of trying.
*Apart from on Amazon who sell everything but want silly money for them
Hey Jerry, doesn’t look like those dulce de leche Oreos are very good:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/dulce-de-leche-oreos-what-they-are-what-they.html
I tried to find some on a few sites, but after reading this review…no thanks.