Liquorice & Libido

The June issue Men's Health Magazine includes a supplement with tips for healthy living for those over 40. Although I'm not male, most of these would serve me well. Not, alas, the news that glycyrrhizic acid lowers libido as it can decrease testosterone levels.

On the other hand, another study has identified the scents of liquorice and cucumbers as potential, if unexpected, turn-ons:

According to the Chicago neurologist Dr Alan Hirsch, wafts of aftershave actually inhibit female sexual arousal. "During experiments, we found that odours thrown in as controls, such as cucumber and liquorice, were more arousing than cologne or perfume," Hirsch says. "The presence of aftershave actually suppressed the blood flow to the vagina."

***
Sorry about not posting for a while, I'm scraping the bottom of my liquorice box and what little is left is soggy or bland by now. Eventually, I will have to go on another liquorice-run. I'll give you the low-down on the flavour then.

Pontefract Festival!

The Pontefract Liquorice Festival, a two day showcase of culinary and artistic delights to do with all things liquorice and Pontefract, is taking place in the Yorkshire town this weekend (16-17 July).

If you have shockwave flash, you can see what it is all about here.

Regretfully, I can't go (we are moving house soon—again!—and in the meantime have to line up visits to several relatives). I'll be sad to miss such highlights as the world's first pork & liquorice pie!

Oldtimers' SHZ

Stomach upset? Headache? Sore throat? Hangover? Of all the liquorice I have tried so far, Oldtimers' SHZ is probably the most medicinal. It also keeps the best. I have four left in a pack I bought over 18 months ago and they taste as good as on the day I opened it.

The oblongs are soft yet slightly brittle and tough to chew, coated with a fine yellow powder of pure liquorice root and the merest hint of ammonium chloride. Liquorice root extract suffuses the candy and lingers on the palate, so eating one at a time is quite sufficient.

Unlike the previously reviewed Oldtimers Äkta which only had descriptions in Swedish, the story behind Oldtimers' SHZ is printed on the pack only in Dutch which I cannot quite decipher at the moment (perhaps later). It makes me wonder who runs the company—apparently the Dutch and Swedish are quite unaware of each other's special editions.

8/10