We all have little holiday things that we look forward to. And even though many of those things – stuffing, cranberry sauce, ornaments, strings of lights, fruitcake – are available to us year-round, they just feel so intrinsically tied to the holidays that we pretty much ignore their existence all year to keep them so special.
The Terry’s Chocolate Orange is one of those for me.
For those deprived of fun, deliciousness and joy in their lives, the Terry’s Chocolate Orange is made of chocolate flavored with orange oil. Twenty slices of chocolate are molded to look like orange segments, then arranged into a sphere; warm chocolate is dripped into the center to hold the slices ever-so-slightly-together in the shape of an orange. You give the whole thing a very satisfying WHACK on a hard surface to break the segments apart.
Chemist Joseph Terry joined a confectionery company in 1823 for which he developed lines of candied fruit peels, marmalades and chocolates. He went on to own the whole company, opening Terry’s Chocolate Works in 1926.
Of the new products made there, the Terry’s Dessert Chocolate Apple was actually first. Marketed as an upscale treat, the apple was actually in production until 1954.
But it was the chocolate orange – rolled out in 1932 – that really took off for the company. A large part of that had to do with stockings. It’s a long-standing tradition that people tuck satsumas or oranges into stockings.
Some attribute this to the legend of St. Nicholas, who gave gold to a father who couldn’t afford dowries for his daughters. It’s said that he put balls or sacks (ey-ohhh) of gold into their stockings – or tossed them through the window, or chucked them down the chimney.
But the truth is that satsumas and navel oranges are often harvested from October to January, depending where they’re grown. They’re seasonal! Yet importing them from those coastal climes was an expensive process, so the gift of an orange was truly special in places like England – where so many of our Christmas traditions hail from.
By the time that the Terry’s Chocolate Orange hit the scene, oranges were more plentiful and less special as a gift. So the novelty of the chocolate orange, especially with its beautiful packaging, would’ve been a welcome replacement for the old tradition.
I don’t remember the first Terry’s Chocolate Orange I had, but I remember being absolutely delighted by them as a kid. Digging the box out of my stocking, thwacking the orange on the table, pulling the little segments apart, clacking the tempered chocolate against my teeth. They were the best and most delicious chocolate I probably had in my entire childhood. And I maybe remember more clearly the years when the Terry’s Oranges didn’t appear, usually because my mom couldn’t find the darn things – they’ve moved around among producers all over Europe over the years, sometimes making them more scarce (they’re currently produced by Carambar & Co. in Strasbourg, France.)
Spoiler alert for acouplayouse? I LOVE to give these bad boys out as gifts during the holiday season. The novelty of the little slices (so detailed!), the delicious orange-flavored chocolate, but most importantly? The WHACK!
Ey-ohhhh!
I fucking love Terry's chocolate oranges. One year they also had chocolate raspberries and those were the bomb, too. Thank you for this history on Terry's that I didn't know I needed!