Meiji Takenoko no Sato Strawberry & Chocolat 61g

The strawberry version of Japan's bamboo-shoot cookie: the same crumbly Takenoko no Sato cookie under a two-layer coat of sweet-tart strawberry chocolate and a mellower chocolate. The strawberry is bright and a little sharp, not lolly-sweet; there's real strawberry powder in the recipe. Buy it if you like strawberry chocolate; if you'd rather have the plain chocolate original, this is the wrong box. Takenoko no Sato is the one.

On the pack: たけのこの里いちご＆ショコラ. "Ichigo" is strawberry.

What you're getting

• If you know Meiji's Apollo, the little strawberry-and-milk-chocolate cones, this is that flavour idea wearing a cookie. We stock Apollo too.
• A recurring flavour, not a permanent one: it comes and goes in runs, and is in an active run now. If you like it, don't assume it'll be here next season.
• The sharp edge is deliberate: there's a food acid in the recipe (an acidulant), so it finishes tart rather than sugary.
• The cookie underneath is the same crumbly one as the plain box, and it stays crisp under the double coat.
• The box is 61 g, a touch smaller than the plain box's 63 g.
• Allergens: egg, milk and wheat, plus almond, soy and macadamia: the same six as the plain Takenoko no Sato, with almond paste in the cookie. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.

Two boxes are easy to confuse: Meiji also sells a kinoko (mushroom) strawberry version, a different product on a cracker stem. This is the bamboo-shoot cookie one. Like the whole family it travels soft in an Australian summer; keep it below 28 °C and out of hot cars and sunny parcel boxes, and some fridge time firms it back up.