The Lowdown: Bubblewrap
What, the plastic stuff that you just can’t resist popping?
Err, no. We’re talking about the Hong Kong/European mash up egg waffles that have got Instagram all a flutter - and the place in London’s Chinatown that serves them. They do resemble the stuff that comes packed into cardboard boxes, but it would be a folly to try and pop them.
So not Birds Eye potato waffles then?
Don’t be silly. These batter-based, bubbling beauties are made and then wrapped into a cone before being laced with various sweet fillings - strawberry cheesecake gelato, Oreo and salted caramel; and dark chocolate gelato with banana and condensed milk being just two examples.
They sound good...
They are. In fact, people can’t get enough of them. There’s practically a permanent queue that snakes from the Chinatown shop and it’s hard to skim social media before a pic of one crops up on your screen. According to the PR blurb, shots of the waffles being made was Time Out London’s highest performing video, with 21 million views, while BuzzFeed UK’s Facebook post of the creations have had 12 million views. The shop celebrates its first birthday this March, by which time it is estimated that 175,000 Bubblewraps will have been sold.
Impressive stuff. But why are we talking about them now?
Rather than having a sweet start to the year, the company is going savoury. It has just created its first new flavour since its launch last year - ‘The Winter Flame’, so called because of its black, yellow and red appearance.
Let me guess, made with squid ink, cheese and ketchup.
Close (ish). The black is actually organic charcoal from G Baldwin & Co, said to be London’s oldest herbalist, while the red is paprika and the yellow is cheese - a mature cheddar from Snowdonia. As the waffle cooks on the iron more cheese is added and it is then topped with molten cheese sauce, a dusting of paprika and an option to add avocado.
It looks a bit scary.
It does. Expect it to be haunting your Instagram feed any day now.
