Phagomania: A Chocolate Revolution

Strange rumblings have been afoot in one corner of the internet, with a website so baffling initially we felt that we had to get in touch with one of its reps to explain further. It's a site that goes by the name of T&J Gourmet, and it promises to change the way you see common confectionery forever.

Sometimes something is so everyday and ubiquitous that we never consider the alternatives or options it presents. Which is how T&J Gourmet came into being, when they dared combine Cadbury Dairy Milk and Galaxy chocolate. This mighty clash of the two UK chocolate titans gave rise to, they claim, a superior chocolate sensation. As usual for T&J, this unlikely pairing came about “through some late night creativity in a budget hotel room. One quick trip down to the vending machine later and we had all the answers we needed.” So… what’s it all about then?

“What we do is take individual chocolate bars and combine them with others to make something unique and special,” explain T&J. “We want to change the way you think about chocolate and make people realise the potential of combination.” Each new creation is thoroughly reviewed, analysed, rated and documented by a team to produce the final evaluation on their website. “This is a massively collaborative project with up to eight people fully engaged in each individual project,” say T&J. “Having a massively inspiring team of creative people on board has definitely helped it become what it is now.”

Not every combination is a winner, as they freely admitted when reviewing Turkish Delight & White Kinder Bueno. “The texture was pretty disgusting to say the least,” they admit. “But when we strike gold – the results are incredible.”

Incredible indeed: where else can you find a Kinder egg boat afloat upon a sea of Irn-Bru with marshmallow icebergs? “It's quite often the display part that is the most challenging. There have been times we have spent quite literally hours getting the right shot – on our famous SS Kinder Surprise project we tried using a couple of figurines as ‘captains of the ship’. It's safe to say this simply couldn’t work; it capsized on many occasions.”

But where can reviewing combinations possibly go from here? T&J Gourmet have lofty ambitions: “We feel that the possibilities are endless.” The list includes a cookbook, a TV show (potential title: T&J’s Kitchen Dreams), global combinations and an Ann Summers Party-style format with a rep bringing their finest samples to your house – ‘T&J To You’.

And if all you want to do now is rush to try a T&J combination, then their work has been a success. “We have had great feedback from fans online about the combinations they have tried,” exclaims T&J's rep. “It's very humbling to know we are making small waves in the chocolate world. We want to continue what we are doing and continue our quest to find the definitive chocolate combination.” Will they ever beat the simplicity of the first time? Only time will tell...