Bourbon Cowboy

The adventures of an urbane bar-hopping transplant to New York.

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Location: New York, New York, United States

I'm a storyteller in the New York area who is a regular on NPR's "This American Life" and at shows around the city. Moved to New York in 2006 and am working on selling a memoir of my years as a greeting card writer, and (as a personal, noncommercial obsession) a nonfiction book called "How to Love God Without Being a Jerk." My agent is Adam Chromy at Artists and Artisans. If you came here after hearing about my book on "This American Life" and Googling my name, the "How to Love God" book itself isn't in print yet, and may not even see print in its current form (I'm focusing on humorous memoir), but here's a sample I've posted in case you're curious anyway: Sample How To Love God Introduction, Pt. 1 of 3. Or just look through the archives for September 18, 2007.) The book you should be expecting is the greeting card book, about which more information is pending. Keep checking back!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Allergy Help Request

As many of you know, I discovered two or three years ago that I have an anaphylactic-shock reaction to...something. All I really know is, I went into the hospital with my tongue and throat swelling, and the last thing I ate was some almond candy my Dad had brought home from Spain.

I've just been to an allergist and---surprise!---I apparently don't react to almonds. So there was something else in the candy (assuming the candy was the problem) that, owing to Spain not having an FDA, probably wasn't labelled. My allergist would like to know what it is, and has asked for the specific candy in question. (Apparently there are allergy databases that can pinpoint recorded allergens, if only he knows where to look.)

My Dad doesn't remember, except to say it was "The Spanish equivalent of Hershey's." So it was the product of some candy-maker in Spain whose work is available everywhere. What I recall is that it was an almond-brittle type of plank that was rather tiny---it would have just covered the length of my thumb and was pretty thin. (Which is why I'd downed six by the time the shock started.) The package ingredients said, in toto, "Ingredients: Almonds, Almond Paste."

Does anyone have experience with Spain, or know of sites that display pictures of Spanish candy? I'd like to nail this down so it never happens again. Even the name would help. Thanks ---much thanks!---in advance for any help any of you can offer.

(UPDATE:) The maker would seem to be Turron, and I've put in a request at a candy-obsessed website to see if anyone can confirm the ingredients list. Thanks to everyone who commented and e-mailed! You're wonderful, and you don't need to search anymore!

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd write to this blog: http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/

11/29/2006 9:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I tried the usual yahoo search, even tried Spanish variatons "almendra" "dulce", but all paths lead me back to what look like some kind of "Turron".

Try these: http://www.laelisa.com/w_porciones_laelisa.htm

http://www.elartesano.es/en/turrones_choco_e.html

11/29/2006 4:07 PM  

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