The BFG’s ‘snozzcumbers’ are 12ft long, covered in warts and taste like frogskin and rotten fish according to the book's heroine Sophie.
Fortunately for consumers, Morrison’s Dutch growers have adapted the fictional fruit to make it a bit more palatable.
On Sunday (11 September) a real-life reincarnation of Roald Dahl’s creation hit the retailer’s shelves in a bid to get more children to eat healthily.
The supermarket’s giant wonky cucumbers are longer, thicker and heavier than normal cucumbers, measuring around 16in and weighing 21oz (as opposed to the normal 12oz), the Mail on Sunday reported.
But, although the snozzcumber will be wonkier and knobblier than a normal cucumber, it will retain the same taste.
At 41p each, Morrisons’ misshapen cucumbers have been described as ‘ridiculously cheap’ by the British Cucumber Growers’ Association. But the body praised the retailer for ‘promoting cucumbers to the younger generation’, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Morrisons is selling snozzcumbers for a trial period that will coincide with Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday on Tuesday as well as the recent release of Steven Spielberg’s on-screen adaptation of The BFG.
The supermarket chain, which sells around 115,000 cucumbers a day, is also donating to the author’s The Marvellous Children’s Charity for seriously ill children.
Morrisons cucumber buyer Rebecca Burns said: “We’re bringing a bit of the magic of Road Dahl’s story into our stores and celebrating this humble cucumber in all its knobbly, wonky glory.
“Unlike Snozzcumbers, children will find this variety delicious – not a hint of cockroaches or slime wanglers! We’re anticipating they will become a lunchbox staple for kids going back to school this September and will excite a new generation about wonky veg at the same time.’’
If the trial is a success, the supermarket will consider selling snozzcumbers year-round, but the British Cucumber Growers’ Association told the newspaper that there is litlle money to be made in snozzcumbers, stressing that cucumbers should be retailed at 80p to cover production costs and profit.
Normal cucumbers are currently sold for around 50p in most supermarkets.
