There is nothing average about the more than 3 billion Oreos consumed every year. They are The Lady Gaga of cookies. What lurks beneath the crunch and creamy filling is more than just the “Yum Factor” but have the billions of fans taken the time to notice they are in fact licking something of a legend as they scoop the icing from the alter of the Knight Templar? The Oreo just got very complicated.
Nabisco’s well established branding is in fact a European symbol of quality. While some might explain this as mere coincidence, others speculate it has connections to the Cross of Lorraine, which was carried by the Knights Templar during the First Crusade in the 11th century. These knights made the long journey to Jerusalem, with the mission of saving it from the hearts and hands of the “heathen” Turks who in all their “heatheness” had been peacefully getting on with life as only pagans know how to do. In retaliation for this horrific peaceful existence, the Knights kindly slaughtered all of them upon their arrival to the city. A dark and crunchy history; just like Oreo.
Photo: flickr.com
Does the odyssey of the Oreo end here? Certainly not, as the geometric pattern of a dot with four triangles emitting outward is yet another symbolic reference forever joining Oreos with a rich and tasty history within history. The First Crusade, a blood bath in the name of peace is often connected to a Cross Pattee, a symbol the Knights Temples used in the form of red or black crosses on their white robes as a means of characterizing themselves as soldiers of god slaughtering in the name of religion.
What is in a name? It has been speculated that the cookie’s name came from the French word “gold” (doré) based on the original golden packaging. The more imaginative have sufficed that the naming process was a carefully manufactured idea that was the result of combining the “re” from “cream” and placing it strategically between the two “o”s in “chocolate.” The result, a delicious “o-re-o.”
Photo: flickr.com
What does this all mean for the Oreo? Surely some recognize the early symbolic nature but most probably just see a four-leaf clover if they even have enough time to look between bites. Clearly something is working and luck is on the side of this hugely successful cookie.
Photo: flickr.com
In the end, all this marginally important information is to be tucked away and probably never used leaving one with a single option; grab a handful of these treats, get to know a cold glass of milk very well and let the two do what they do best. Make the taste buds sing.