Aplets or Cotlets?
Among North Central Washingtonians, it's a debate that has raged for over one hundred years now.
Much like age old arguments such as vanilla or chocolate, Coke or Pepsi, and smooth or chunky dominate the ubiquitous landscape of foodie taste buds everywhere, the question of 'Aplets or Cotlets' is very much a thing if you're from around these parts.
The Turkish-delight style confections were invented back in 1918 by farmers in the Cashmere area as a way of using their surplus crops from the growing season. And although the company that produces this local candy staple, Liberty Orchards, offers a wealth of other flavors today, the debate over which of their original two varieties is more palatable persists into the present.
Now figuring out which side of this fruity divide actually has more popular support among sweeteaters is essentially impossible. But we can at least look at a few clues and break down the nuances of this powdered-sugar-dusted rive just for fun.
Let's start with a little bit of person-to-person anecdotal research from right here at Townsquare Media Wenatchee.
Among the 18 folks I spoke with about which is their favorite - Aplets or Cotlets - it was an even split, with nine saying they like one and the same number saying the other.
Hmmm...so that didn't help us resolve the issue. Alright, how about the results of a little fifty person public survey then.
Much like the producers of Family Feud used to do (or say they did) in the glory days of the program when Richard Dawson was its host, I asked fifty strangers the same question over the past few weeks while out in public at places like the grocery store and the post office.
It was a great deal of fun and quite revealing, with 25 of them saying they preferred Aplets and...25 saying they liked Cotlets better!?
Damn! Well, that also solved absolutely nothing!
So who's to say which one is better? I mean, they both have their upside for sure. Each one is sweet and chock full of nuts (no, not the old coffee brand ;-); they're both coated with just the right amount of confectioners sugar; and each one is plenty colorful to look at too! So how in the world are we supposed to get to the bottom of this argument then anyway?
Perhaps this is truly one of those instances where there needn't be a winner, and maybe we can even take things one step further by suggesting that one just couldn't exist without the other?
With that said, I will say that I personally prefer Cotlets just a little over Aplets and always have, ever since I was a kid. But admittedly, I also can't imagine just eating Cotlets without at least a few of its best and bosom chum Aplets to balance things out.
So then, I guess we've finally reached an accord. Aplets and Cotlets are indeed created 100% equal, and the world of sweet treats wouldn't be the same without both of them to enjoy :-)
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