Ysenda Maxtone Graham

Will the word ‘Continental’ make a comeback after Brexit?

Feasting on the remnants of my edible Christmas presents during the otherwise frugal month of January, I experienced a frisson when I opened the box of Thorntons ‘Continental’ chocolates.

For anyone who grew up in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the word ‘Continental’ carries with it a waft of balmy air from the Mediterranean, a sense of longed-for glamour, pleasure and breakfast on a balcony, unavailable on this rainy, cut-off island. I’m wondering whether, as we leave the EU and return to being a small country across the water from a many-countried, warmer landmass, the word ‘Continental’, and the concept, will come back into use. Do other small countries across bodies of water from large continents have this concept? Do Madagascans speak of glamorous items from mainland Africa as ‘Continental’? Do Sri Lankans call Indian things ‘Continental’, or perhaps ‘sub-Continental’?

Of all the Thorntons ranges, the ‘Continental’ selection was always the most enticing. It has (and still has) silhouettes of Milan Cathedral, St Peter’s and the Acropolis round the edge. ‘Inspired by travelling across Europe in search of rich and delicate taste experiences’, Thorntons dreamed up the dark Italian Panforte, the cupcake-like Dutch Speculoos, and the Spanish Turron that comes in squishy white slices. The flavours, I admit, seem rather brash and over-sweet in this age of Rococo and Prestat, but the air of glamour clings on.

Remember the Continental quilt? The Continental breakfast? The Continental tent? How we fantasised! The Continental quilt introduced a whole new way of life in bed: carefree abandon and downy flinging, after centuries of lying rigid under tucked-in sheets and itchy blankets. The Continental breakfast made you imagine you were on honeymoon in Antibes. As for the Continental tent, it had rooms. What a breakthrough from one-bedroom-only tents! Suddenly you could sit in the living-room of your tent and look out of the window while playing Monopoly.

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