Their time has come. This is the moment that all the true, righteous lovers of Savoy Crackers should emerge from their closets and pantries holding that bright orange box high. If the last year has taught us anything, it is the value of a good snack.
‘Baked, not fried’. That’s the secret. That, and the fact that it’s not a Jatz, or a Ritz, or heaven forbid, a Clix, which actually tastes fried, not baked.
Ben Shewry of Melbourne’s Attica is a fan of the Savoy, going so far as to SPECIFY Savoy for his fancy-schmancy Avocado and Miso on Crackers, devised for Melbourne Food & Wine’s Party for Melbourne in 2020 (Mr Shewry’s pic shown above).
“Savoy = fancy,” he says. “Growing up, the fancy party foods were always on crackers.” He cites cheese, hummus, and when things get extra fancy, pate on crackers, before urging the populace to spread avocado on a cracker. See his genius recipe here. Talk about putting the avo in the Savoy, even though it’s already there between the S and the Y.
All this fuss about borders opening and closing between Victoria and NSW is just a physical manifestation of a vast, gaping cultural divergence. New South Wales is for the Jatz, you see. The noble Savoy was first made by the Brockhoff biscuit company in Victoria, which was taken over by Arnott’s in the 1960s. It’s deeply entrenched in the Victorian psyche; like ‘togs’ instead of ‘swimmers’.
Creatively contrarian Sydney chef Mitch Orr built his career on a Jatz, sending it out on a paper doily at the former Acme in Kings Cross with whipped cod roe (this generation’s French onion dip).
Me, I’m a Victorian living in NSW and must get my Savoys shipped to me across the border for special occasions such as opening a pack of smoked salmon, or going into lockdown for weeks on end. Mr Durack, also Victorian by birth, prefers to top them with Scandinavian toothpaste ( as I call it), a strange puree-in-a-tube called Viking cod roe spread or Kalles Kaviar that smells vaguely fishy.
Here are five more ways to top a Savoy that you have probably thought of already:
1/ Hard-boiled egg and pickled gherkin.
2/ Manchego and jalapeno.
3/ Smoked oysters or pickled mussels with taramasalata
4/ Smoked salmon and pickled beetroot.
5/ The Devonshire – ricotta cheese and raspberry jam
Those of us who grew up with Savoys are aware that they are not what they used to be. But they still have that extra strength to the snap, a mollified hint of sweetness ( molasses, apparently) balanced by salty, savoury notes, and a clean finish. Nor do they dissolve into a puddle within seconds of being spread. Savoys will never let you down. They get the job done. And so we cling on regardless, buttering them with sentiment and nostalgia.
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Copyright © 2020 Jill Dupleix. All rights reserved. I live and work on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respect to elders past, present and emerging.