By now some readers of Midnight Snack have come to think of me as the food blogger who cried weird. But I'm pretty sure the product whose package you see here is one of the stranger things I've eaten at midnight or any other time. Sure It looks like a candy bar, but according to the incredibly tiny print on the back, it's actually a "Biologically Active Food Supplement <<Hematogenka Vitamin>>. The fact that it was "biologically active," came as a relief; the last few Russian food supplements I bought have been biologically inert. Actually that's a lie, I've never had a Russian food supplement before this one, and after tasting it, I don't think I'll be buying another one any time soon.

When I tore open the festive packaging, which featured an image of a mutant man-alligator, I saw five individually wrapped morsels. I unwrapped one of the dark brown chunks and popped it in my mouth. It had a slightly granular texture and supersweet taste that reminded me of my dear mother's oatmeal cookie dough before she added the oats. It all makes sense given that the bizarre bar's ingredients are: sugar, molasses, complete condensed milk with sugar, fat lecithin, salt, hemoglobin, mixture of vitamins (E-10 mg.,B11.4 mg., B6-2 mg., PP -18 mg., C-60mg.). Reading a little further I learned that "Hematogenka provides a reserve for feeding with iron." Against my better judgment I popped another chunk of the brown mystery bar into my mouth. Shortly thereafter I brushed my teeth and threw the rest of the nasty thing out.

When I read that my mystery bar contained hemoglobin, I began to think of it as a PowerBar for vampires who've awoken feeling peckish. However a quick web search revealed that such bizarre supplement-snacks are eaten by Russians. Has anyone out there ever heard of hemoglobin bars or had the pleasure of eating one?