Who doesn’t love a good snack! Snacks are the best way to kill the cravings experienced late at night or the hunger trips that one experiences during study sessions. Everyone usually has a favorite snack but sadly sometimes a snack suddenly faces extinction for no apparent reason at all. Here are 9 snacks from the average ’90s childhood, which we all rushed to get from our canteens or khoka’s with that Rs.10 allowance we got for the day:
1. Pizza jelly
Combine sugar and gelatin and you will have the best snack ever a.k.a pizza jelly. This snack was sweet, delicious and it looked like a pizza! Really, what else is left there? It used to be every kid’s first choice as it gave the sugar rush everyone craved, at a cheap cost. Nowadays it can be purchased in bulk through online services like Alibaba.
2. Chocki
Creamy liquid chocolate in a tube-like packaging, Chocki was the delightful snack that came at a mere price of two rupees only. Yes, this is not a joke, it was and is still the most price-worthy product by Cadbury. It was also our favorite go-to snack that we snuck into our classrooms after break time. However, this childhood classic is not very common these days and is only found at small-scale corner shops around Pakistan.
3. Super Crisp
Did someone say potato chips? Super Crisp was the brand that made everyone fall in love with potato chips. This snack came in a wide variety of flavors and was everyone’s first choice for small parties and late-night movie sessions at home theaters. Not entirely uncommon these days, Super Crisp today can be found in limited flavors at superstores like Al-Fateh. The Lays takeover in grocery stores was welcome for a while, but we would certainly like Super Crisp’s complete range to make a comeback soon.
4. Pakola
Not exactly a snack, but Pakola is a local Pakistani drink and takes this locality very seriously. The drink’s green color is reflective of the flag and the Pak in its name indicates the pride it takes in being a local product (Can this drink be anymore Pakistani?). This drink was and is still loved due to its sweet taste and it used to be everyone’s favorite cool relief in the hot summer afternoons. Unfortunately, it is quite a rarity nowadays and can be found in some shops in Karachi. Interestingly, it is also the Pakistani diaspora’s favorite drink in Canada. Reverse export business, anyone?
5. Top Pops
Top Pops must be the cheapest snack in this list. It came only at a cost of one rupee but was the most popular savory snack of all times. Cornballs covered with a spicy and tangy seasoning, Top Pops was a great ‘pick me up’ after a long school day. Nowadays, if you are lucky, you can find them at small shops including LUMS Khoka.
6. Rainbow Ice cream
Wall’s did several experiments with this one. Revamped its exterior with a crisp blue coating, changed the wrapper time and again. But, the rich creamy texture remained the same through the year. A sugary rainbow in a packet, this ice cream was every kid’s fantasy in a packet. Where can you find this childhood classic today? Two words: street hawkers.
7. BP Cream Chocolate
Another two rupees wonder this chocolate bar was the most delicious chocolate product of its time. Thin wafer covered with chocolate, this snack could give KitKat a run for its money when it came to price worthiness. This chocolate is rarely seen these days, but can sometimes be found lying in a corner at the candy section of big grocery store.
8. Bubble Your Name
Quite possibly the most aged member of this list, this bubble gum was symbolic of our innocent childhood hopes. No matter how complicated our name, we still invested a great deal in this bubble gum to see if our name was on it. The citrusy taste, however, was enough to overcome our disappointment when we found common angrezi names on our bubbles gums. This is the rarest find of them all, and can barely be seen in both large or small scale stores.
9. Dino Munchies
No ’90s snacks list is complete without this honorable mention. We all popped open the packet of this wafery snack with hopes that our dinos were intact. Didn’t matter that we would devour them limb by limb in the next few minutes. This canteen favorite saw its packaging change from a translucent plastic wrapper to foil-lined one. But somehow, with this fancy packing, the taste changed and ironically, the freshness was lost. You can still purchase this snack at select stores, but the taste isn’t the same, which only makes us more nostalgic for the original. Did we include your snack on the list? Or do you have other’s in mind and know where to find them? Go ahead and share the invaluable information in the comments below!