Picture this: It is April of 1998, you are just back from school, Scooby-Doo is playing on the television, and you are served lunch by your mother while you sit in a room in front of a cooler enjoying the gentle breeze coupled with splashes of water flying in high speed towards your direction from the same cooler. Exactly, the relief you sought for after that walk in the sun. You take a nap, only to wake up and go out to play with your friends before ending the evening with ice lollies, vanilla softy or boomer. Did it take you down a memory lane too? Every 90s kid can relate to it. Besides all the landlines, cassettes, pokemon cards and pen refills, there are a number of food stories that the 90s generation can relate to. We tried listing seven of the best.
1. Cotton Candy
Did you too spend a part of your childhood calling it ‘buddhi ke baal’? High five! The sweet pink cotton cloud just melted as soon as it entered your mouth and was mostly sold in melas or fairs.
2. Coffee Bite
Tell me one birthday celebration in school where these were not distributed? And the sheer joy of giving an extra to your best friend, what memories, right? Eclairs or Mango bites were other top contenders, but the coffee flavour coupled with decadent chocolate touch is missed now that we rarely get to see it in the market!
3. Cream Rolls
These conical rolls with flaky exterior with airy light cream stuffed inside is a personal favourite in bakeries even today. Don’t they instantly remind you of those desi bakeries that were brimming with the aroma of baked goods?
4. Chuski
While it is still a popular summer item around and one can find it at many places, it has a special place in our hearts. Orange, cola, narangi were some popular flavours but one of the most favourite of the masses was the kala khatta version that came laced with masala and lemon! How many of you made that slurping sound while having chuski?
5. Ice Cream Sandwich
Can’t forget what a rage it was when introduced for the first time by a top ice cream brands in India. Competitor brands followed suite. Crunchy chocolate biscuits stuffed with rich and decadent vanilla ice cream is something we can’t resist even today. While there’s a whole lot of variety in ice cream sandwiches we have today, nothing beats this classic from the 90s.
6. Fatafat
As kids, didn’t we love the chatpata flavour of these tiny candies? I remember stocking it up in my school bag only to finish it in between classes or on my way back home. We also had Satmola, Rochak and those mind-boggling khatti meethi Imli golis that were sold right outside our school by a vendor on a portable cart. Oh, simpler days!
7. Boomer
Boomer defined what was 'cool' for every kid back in the day. A chewing gum that also came with free stick on tattoos. What was not there to like. Didn’t you all also try blowing the biggest bubble with the chewing gum?
Have more such foods to add to the list? Let us know!