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Turns Out Herman Cain's 'Black Walnut' Flavor Had A Limited Run

You remember how Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain defended himself after Sarah Palin called him the "flavor of the week?"

Like his rolls-off-the tongue 9-9-9 tax overhaul plan, Cain came back with a zinger of a comeback during an interview with Jay Leno:

"I happen to believe that there's ice milk and there's Häagen-Dazs Black Walnut. Substance. That's the difference," Cain said. "I got some substance here. Okay? I'm Häagen-Dazs Black Walnut. It lasts longer than a week."

Well, it turns out Cain's metaphor needs a little help. Häagen-Dazs's Black Walnut was a limited edition flavor that's no longer around.

ABC broke the news to Cain, yesterday, and here's what he had to say:

"Well I was very disappointed to find out that it's a limited edition and they don't make Haagen Dazs the way they used to, so I'm heartbroken over that," said Cain. "I now have my people calling Haagen Dazs, finding out why they don't make Haagen Dazs ice cream, when they're going to bring it back, because it has always been my all time favorite."

This development follows news that Cain's 9-9-9 plan is a lot like the default setting on the game SimCity.

We've reached out to Häagen-Dazs to see if there are any plans to bring back Black Walnut. We'll update when we hear back.

Update at 1:50 p.m. ET. Black Walnuts Live On:

NPR's Amy Morgan reminds us that fall is the time for black walnuts and back in 2008, Kitchen Window, a feature she edits, shared how to let black walnuts live on in "in pasta, shortbread and more!"

Update at 4:29 p.m. ET. 'A Four-Year Term':

Diane McIntyre, a Häagen-Dazs spokesperson, says that Black Walnut was actually much more than a flavor of the week.

"Black Walnut was in our flavor line from 2005 to 2009, ironically enjoying a four year term," she told us. "We have no plans at the moment to return it to the flavor line unless we hear from enough consumers requesting its return."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.