Tonic season

Posted by noelbynature under Food, Lifestyle
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It’s that time of the year folks, where hundreds (or maybe thousands?) of anxious parents force-feed their exam-going children with a special tonic originally invented to prop the health of an overweight drunk. That tonic is of course, Essence of Chicken, which is given to children with the intent  of boosting their mental capacity and intelligence for the end-of-year exams. Laokokok (who has a couple of kids going through the exams now) takes us through the history of Essence of Chicken in Singapore, particularly on one ubiquitous, ahem, brand.

Essence of Chicken comes in a pretty distinctive bottle, but can you remember a time when it looked like this?

What was this tonic drink originally invented for? Laokokok discovers:

But I’m really surprised when I tried to find out more about this Brand’s Essence of Chicken – it really was a tonic soup even fit for a King! Here is a little facts on the tonic drink Brand’s Essence of Chicken which has about 189 years of history;

不说您不知 (Don’t say, you don’t know), the late King George IV of United Kingdom was known to be extravagant and obese. His heavy drinking and indulgent lifestyle had affected his helath by the late 1820s. Thus his royal chef Mr.H W Brand (this tonic drink was named after him) developed an essence of chicken beverage to boost His Majesty’s health.

It turns out that Singapore was one of the first Asian markets to be introduced with Essence of Chicken. But I wonder how it got its popularity with schoolkids (and their parents). Anecdotal evidence or just good marketing? Read about the history of this tonic drink in Times of My Life.

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