The title refers to the composer’s experience of growing up in Poland before the political, economic, and social transformation of 1989. Chocolate, oranges, and ham were all in short supply in the 1980s. Polish families’ contact with these goods was frequently limited to Christmas or Easter parcels sent by relatives living abroad. On the level of ideas, the composition deals with the society’s political transformation as experienced by a child who is not fully aware of the meaning of the events it witnesses. The awareness of how crucial these transformations were only comes with time, influencing his later attitudes and faith in the individual’s ability to change the surrounding world. 

The composition was written specially for Talea Ensemble as a commission from the Warsaw Autumn festival and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The electronic part was created in collaboration with the Tempo Reale computer centre in Florence.