Tim Tams have been

"trending" on X. Really?

If you live Elsewhere you might even be asking, "What is a Tim Tam?"  

Upoverites will understand if I say they are much the same as Penguins - the biscuits, not the bird.  They are a Downunder institution. They may not be quite as popular as Vegemite (the Downunder salty spread which is similar to Marmite but definitely not the same thing) but Tim Tams are definitely a Downunder "thing".

I buy one packet a year - for my cousin. He likes to tell you they are named after him...not that they are. Tim Tams cannot be considered "food". They are thick rectangles of two layers of chocolate biscuit filled with something very sweet and very gooey. These layers are them covered in thick chocolate - all over, even the base. The chocolate has something waxy in it to try and stop it melting too much in the summer. They now come in a variety of "flavours" in the filling but they were originally simply chocolate. They are sugar and fat and the worst sort of carbohydrate.  They are not food.

Tim Tams seem to take up a lot of space in the biscuit aisle of the supermarket.  I have noticed this in a vague sort of way as I prowl past to the things I need. My cousin will shortly arrive from Upover and I will buy the required packet for him but, until then, they are of no interest to me or...wait! Why are they trending on "X"? 

I looked. They have doubled in price since I last bought them? How could they possibly double in price? 

I know the price of everything has risen so much this year that even the most basic things must now seem out of reach to some people. In recent weeks it seems that some things have suddenly risen dramatically in price. I am not too worried about things like Tim Tams or other chocolate biscuits or chocolate itself. I am more concerned about better bread and bananas or broccoli. Last year my preferred brand of bread was $3.90 but now it is $5.70. Will it be $7.60 this time next year? I can make a loaf last a week but I know families where one loaf is gone at breakfast time...and then another for lunch and after school snacks. 

How long would a packet of Tim Tams last such a family? Research suggests there are just nine biscuits in the packet and that would be just one and a half biscuits each. Could they afford it as weekly treat? 

No, we probably do not want people eating too many Tim Tams in place of actual food but people must like them or they would not sell. I am still not sure why they sell. The Senior Cat preferred Mint Slice but even then it could take him weeks to actually eat the entire packet.

And me? Well I still say Tim Tams are not a patch on Penguins and I was not that keen on Penguins...the biscuit sort of course. I have yet to meet the real thing.