South Africa may be the land of biltong, but my snack of choice lately is the King Cone. The frozen treat, commonly known as a drumstick, consists of ice cream in a waffle cone topped with a chocolate shell. It seems drumsticks are for sale in every grocery and convenience store here in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
Maybe it’s the summertime or that there seem to be fewer ice cream shops per capita here compared with the U.S., but it’s all I can do to avoid consuming a King Cone daily. The treat delivers about 360 calories and half a day’s ration of saturated fat, according to Nestle, the conglomerate that sells these things. My current tactic: buy one King Cone every fourth day. I devoured one on Wednesday and now look forward to Sunday.
The drumstick elicits memories of visiting the convenience store in the neighborhood where we lived as kids. That was years before frozen yogurt and Ben & Jerry’s. Back then if you wanted something frozen you sprang for a drumstick, a Popsicle, a Creamsicle, a Cap’n Crunch bar, a Heath bar or one of those ice bars that come in long plastic sleeves. (My favorite flavors: grape, lime or blue.)
Nestle cultivates the nostalgia. Even if you’re an adult it’s okay to like Saturday morning cartoons, grilled cheese for dinner and, of course, drumsticks, the company assured consumers last April in a sponsored post on BuzzFeed. Like many products nowadays, the drumstick has its own Facebook page. Nestle commissioned a musical tribute when the page notched its millionth fan.
Despite the hype – or maybe because of it – the drumstick has become my summer delight here in the Southern Hemisphere. The nostalgia has me on the lookout for other treats that brightened, or benighted, my childhood. Would anyone like a Tic Tac?