Brownie Basics
So far, no sign of brownies in Milan. But there was a brownie available on the plane! How could I possibly pass up this opportunity?
Brownie Backstory
Intriguing. For the longest time I more-or-less swore off plane food. This was for a few reasons, but chief among them: plane food is overpriced, (usually) terrible quality, and not strictly necessary because you can just buy some sandwiches in the airport and then at least you’ll overcome the quality issue, if not the price.
Earlier this year, however, I undertook the longest-haul (if that’s a word) set of flights I’ve probably ever done. I’ve flown west before, to both Americas on various occasions, but never long-haul east. On a trip like this you prioritise some amount of comfort and luxury, so there’s no way a budget airline would cut it: instead I got a good deal with Emirates, which included a hefty amount of free airline food. And it was surprisingly alright! Not exactly high cuisine but then I do understand the limitations imposed by the realities of flight.
Since that experience I’ve been more open to it, especially if I’m feeling sufficiently flush to not care so much about the price. So on my flight to Milan today I actually opened up the brochure for once, and what I saw greatly surprised me. It won’t surprise you, though, because this whole post makes it quite clear that it was a brownie. It was a Belgian Chocolate Brownie from (checks notes) ‘Goduto’.
I have never heard of this brownie supplier before. And a quick Google once I got internet access back told me very little! It wasn’t even till I got the brownie that I realised that it wasn’t technically going to be called ‘the EasyJet brownie’. The package didn’t leave me with a huge amount of confidence either – a fully opaque cardboard box which extols the virtues of Belgian chocolate but not of…this brownie, or this specific use of Belgian chocolate? But I bought it, and ate it, and reviewed it thusly.
Brownie Points
Taste: I’m not going to pretend that this is a great taste, but I was actually pleasantly surprised, enough to start to believe that there’s real Belgian chocolate in it! 6/10
Texture: I appreciate that you’re unlikely to get perfect brownie texture in something you put in a bag in a box in a bag on a plane. And… you don’t! 4/10
Presentation: Not a huge amount to report, but eh, it looks ok and actually despite my complaint about the packaging I thought it was a stronger decision to have it come in a cardboard box rather than just get dumped on me in a plastic wrapper. 2/5
Value: At £1.99 this seemed quite cheap, but then when it came it was also significantly smaller than I expected. Not very good value, all told. 4/10
Fudge Factor: Maybe unless you fly first class all the time, you can’t expect a brownie to be any better than this. Maybe. I’ll allow two fudging points of that sort of benefit-of-the-doubt. 2/5
Brownie Lands At: 18
Should I Buy And Eat This Brownie?
It’s an okay brownie, but I don’t really see anyone being desperate enough for a brownie while on a short flight that they should need to go for this. And if I encountered it off an aeroplane I feel that I’d be much less kindly inclined to its shortcomings. Overall, I do not recommend it.
Closing Thought
I got nothing really. This has been a difficult year and it’s barely two-thirds done.
BROWNIE POINTS 