TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan transforms into a playground for culinary imagination every April Fool’s Day.
This year, the German Institute Taipei joined the fun with a post on Wednesday announcing a “Taiwan-exclusive” chocolate line. It claimed that German chocolate brand Ritter Sport would debut three new flavors inspired by local tastes: bubble tea, bitter melon, and radish cake.
The post teased that if these flavors proved popular, future releases might include betel nut or rice cake. Netizens suggested additions like cilantro, stinky tofu, and Taiwanese fried chicken, according to CNA.
The playful post continues Taiwan’s tradition of food-themed April Fools’ pranks, joining this year's convenience store releases such as a brown sugar-free pudding and “non-matcha pancakes” marked with crying-face warnings.
April Fool’s Day itself has a history as mysterious as it is mischievous. Scholars trace its origins over 600 years, from medieval England to royal calendar reforms in France, and even ancient spring festivals, according to the International Business Times.
One early reference appears in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” where a rooster and a fox try to trick each other on a day “32 days after the beginning of March,” roughly April 1.
