Liquorice Lovers

Finnish Christmas Market!

2011-11-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

Here's one for peeps in London: the Finnish Church is holding its annual Christmas Market this week (It's been on this weekend too, but I've only just heard).

Remaining days are:
Wed 23.11. 12-20
Thu 24.11. 12-20
Fri 25.11. 12-20
Sat 26.11. 10-17

Ringing the Changes

2011-11-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

I would like to add a 'Facebook like' or share button to this blog, but the existing template dates back to a time before widgets were invented and there is just no way :(

I'm a little loath to update the template at the moment because it involves extensive customisation and I've never progressed much beyond good old-fashioned HTML (the version that was in vogue in 1997!), so I'm undecided. What do you think?

Opal gem of Iceland

2011-09-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

So we're house-sitting for my in-laws and of course get to poking around their cupboards for treats. Lo and behold, this bold little box presents itself. It's from Iceland!

I shake it and hear the muffled rattle of pastilles in cardboard. My mouth starts watering. I tear into it, see the black Opal buttons inside and promptly pop one in my mouth. OMG! It's the real deal! What is it doing here? Who cares!

They were mild yet distinctly salty candies. Great texture, neither too hard nor too soft. And such an unlikely find, which I think made them taste even better.

Over half the box was gone before I managed to stop myself and stash it back where we found it. Lord knows I wanted to take them all and pretend we'd never seen them, but manners prevailed.

Found out later they were a gift from an Icelandic friend and not much loved by my in-laws. I should have taken them; they probably threw the rest out. It breaks my heart to think about it.

But isn't the packaging great? Here's a bit more on the design and company motto, which apparently translates as "make things better, livelier and happier." That day, it certainly did.

The Finnish Haul: Early Impressions

2011-05-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

Forget the Black Shots, they're risible (I had to throw the rest of the package away!).

An early winner is Must 'Taste of the Sea'. My sister scoffed the entire bag in one sitting. These are Dutch though.

Super Salmiakki are good (8/10), but Salmiakki Mix will probably be perfection, as the diamonds got 10/10 last time. Saving it up for a special occasion.

If you want to take it easy, Tyrkisk Peber Firewood are the ticket. No nasty surprises and good balance & texture. Not really saltyliqs though.

[EDIT]: Oh, and as far as the Leijona are concerned, John called them 'wolves in sheep's clothing' (they're sugar-coated). Yes, he had some! I'll give them 7/10 but only because of the sugar. Otherwise they'd be 8/10, too.

Easter Delight

2011-04-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

I have written previously about liquorice/flavour combinations but never got round to the planned series, probably because I only think about these things once the craving returns and I no longer have material at hand for reference ;) For the record, liquorice pairs well with honey, chilli, sour fruit and chocolate (but not the way Fazer do it!)

One combination I'd almost forgotten about is liquorice icecream, which I last had in Greenland. I did not expect to encounter this flavour again any time soon.

Before trying this delight I already knew that sweet liquorice pairs well with vanilla icecream, but it took a little bracing to imagine a lightning bolt of salty liquorice at the centre of a glazed vanilla cone. Well, I braced myself and it was worth it. I thought this was pure heaven, although when I told John about it he thought that this is the kind of foodstuff they serve up in hell.

Unfortunately he didn't get to try it this time around. He was at home with a cold—for which I'm sure this would have been the perfect remedy—while, at the other side of London, the temperature soared into the mid-twenties and the sun was blazing from a blue sky. Given the heat, I could not buy more than one of these delectable delicacies (and had to eat it quickly!), but it was the blazing sunshine which made me look in the icecream freezer in the first place.

The occasion was the Easter fair at London's lovely Finnish Church & community centre (it even has a sauna!). When I arrived there mid-morning on the 17th of April I was amazed at the crowds. People had been piling on and off the tube as if it was the Tokyo rush-hour. Surely they were not all on the way to the Easter fair?

They weren't. I was lucky not to be cut off by the tens of thousands of mad, sporty, fun-loving runners who streamed through Rotherhithe hour after hour, like a human river. This, apparently, was Mile 11 of the London Marathon.

I had been to the Finnish Church once before but it was at a very quiet time, a few weeks before the Christmas shipment. The container ship arrives with frozen and dried Finnish groceries twice a year, just before Christmas and Easter. This time around I made up for it, although I feel guilty about buying up most of the supplies... This haul cost me nearly 50 quid!

Of course it's not just for me. I've promised to share some of it with my friends.

Erm...

Ten out of Ten!

2010-09-16T01:11:00.000-07:00

My search is at an end. And it came to an end rather unexpectedly last Friday night, after three pints of the Old Rosie's, when our downstairs neighbour invited us inside for a bit of wine to round off the evening. That is why I thought I was hallucinating when I remembered it the next morning. But I have the picture to prove it:

And I've just had another taste. The ammonium chloride is already fading slightly after the liquorice had been out of the bag for the past five days (in my jar with the other liqs and silica to keep 'em dry), but it's still there, its gentle heat almost sufficient to form fumes at the back of my throat. It's complemented by the familiar earthiness of sweetroot. And I don't know what else is in there, but it all conspires to make this liquorice perfect. It is not too hard and not too soft, it melts in the mouth just slightly too fast at the thought that it is the last one, but just at the right rate if you know you can grab another one later. The flavour is maintained throughout. I had a coffee just now but it brushes the taste aside without any ado, assuming a quiet and welcome dominance. The aftertaste lingers gently in the background until it is time for another sip.

Disconcertingly it says 'mix' on the pack, but I've only tried the little diamonds with the lattice pattern. I should hope that all the shapes in the pack taste the same, but there's only one way to find out.

Somewhere in this town there must be a Finnish shop.

Salty Liquorice in Unlikely Places

2010-07-04T04:44:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely it is invading our shores. No longer do I have to resort to internet ordering: salty liquorice can now be picked up at Waterloo Station (the 'tripple salt' coins aren't quite as salty, but just right for me. The 'zout' diamonds are, however, 'zoet'!)

And that's not all. In my old alma mater, a sweet shop has appeared on the High Street, and they have salty liquorice. Even sugar free ones!

I'll have to return when the tourist hordes are gone.

delicious and morbid Norwegian skull licorice

2010-06-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

"The more evil-looking, the better," was the guideline I gave S. before she left on her Scandinavian vacation. Of course I needed her to bring me some salt licorice, but I knew that the choices might be overwhelming.

But then I remembered a trick I'd used myself in foreign candy stores for sussing out the strongest salt flavors. I told her look for evil packaging or shapes: bats, vampires, witches, devils, skulls etc... especially skulls. Evil is a good sign that the licorice will be salty, especially in Scandinavia.

And it worked! Don't let the sugary-looking coating fool you, that is a delicious, tongue-watering sal-ammoniac dusting on that over-sized skull S. found in Norway. The licorice part is quite soft and gummy and sweet. Super easy to eat and such a lovely contemplation of mortality. Highly recommended.

Brighton Treasure!

2010-03-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

What a find! The Northern Lights bar in Brighton (where I attended Horrorcon last week) not only sells Salmiakki in liquid but also in solid form!

I had to restrain myself from buying up all the supplies, but it's an excellent reason to return to the Georgian seaside town sooner rather than later :)

Quick tasting note: to my surprise, Salmiakki aren't as strong—or as good—as Super Piratos and there is a little too much menthol in them. They are fantastic throat candies though. Recommended for smokers and those who sing or talk for a living.

Alas, I failed to convince the resident Ghostwalker of their virtues.

a wall of licorice in Albuquerque, NM (mail-order available!)

2010-01-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

If you're ever in Albuquerque, New Mexico (U.S.A.) in need of a black licorice fix, be sure to pay a visit to The Candy Lady.

Their website advertises a "wall of black licorice" and the store does not disappoint. Of course, less than half of this wall (below) is dedicated to SALTY black licorice but I was impressed to find such variety in the southwest U.S.

Here is a closer look at the salt licorice selection:

If you view this photo on Flickr, you will see notes on each type when you mouse over them.

My favorites are at the far ends of the second shelf. On the left, almost cut off in this picture, are deliciously chewy gumball-sized candies with a waxy licorice shell and firm, salty innards. And on the right, the "Heksehyl" which are sugar-covered tubes of licorice with a soft brown/salty filling.

The Candy Lady is located on the outskirts of Albuquerque's historic (and heavily touristed) Old Town. It is definitely worth a visit for any licorice lover in the area but they will do mail-order delivery for those further afield. The cost (in June '09) was $9.95/lb., plus shipping and handling.

Here is the licorice section of the printed menu they gave me, tho it doesn't seem that they have everything properly listed. If you do order, I'd say just ask for a good variety of the salty stuff.

The Candy Lady
524 Romero St NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104-1424
(505) 243-6239

Generally I travel light, but my backpack was 2 lbs heavier when I left here.

:~j

Flavour Pairings: Liquorice and Mint

2009-10-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

This can be a winner, with the fresh blast of mint complemented by the pungent assertiveness of ammonium chloride. In my opinion the ultimate marriage is found in Super Piratos, where the liquorice and mint are faultlessly integrated:

In this relationship the liquorice holds the upper hand, but it can be hard to arrive at a harmonious result. On the next level down we have a duality between liquorice powder and a coating of crunchy mint, but already the mint has been mellowed. The particular sweet I have in mind is akin to the pack on the right, but it's more smarties-shaped:

A mellowing of both mint and liquorice results in a nostalgic taste that is familiar from childhood, albeit separately as mild mint candy and sweet soft liquorice like that found in Allsorts (which—as far as flavour pairings are concerned—won't be discussed here any further. It looks pretty, though). It's is an agreeable all-rounder, but it does nothing to alleviate my cravings:

Finally we have a number of candies where the mint dominates to the extent that there seems to be no point in the addition of liquorice. These include disgusting minty sugar pearls and these jellies:

They may be OK for mint addicts, but why bother with the liquorice?

There you have it, from the sublime down to the abysmal ;)

I'm Seeing Double

2009-10-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last order, but now that my trickle of supplies has dried up, I returned to Liquoriceheaven and filled up my basket with a gluttonous heap of assorted liquorice, only to be told that the order couldn't be processed.

No worries. I fired off an email and was told that they'll get on the case straight away (apparently there's been a server problem) and a few days later I re-ordered and received a big bag full of liqs :)

But imagine my surprise when another bag arrived not two days after that.

It seems that their server has been working after all, and the first order has gone through. Now let's just hope it hasn't picked up on my previous two attempts or I shall soon be drowning in liqs!

What arrived is—literally—a mixed bag, with quite a few sweet kinds included. But I'm not prejudiced and I have already encountered a few that I like, including one with a nice, old-fashioned jellybaby consistency and earthy sweetwood undertones. There are also quite a few that I don't like, but more about that later.

salmiak chocolate bar is not what's up

2009-10-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

People don't often pair licorice and chocolate and this candy bar is a perfect example why.

It was supposed to be milk-chocolate squares filled with salty, oozy licorice filling. Instead it was dried out, cloyingly sweet and mildly nauseating.

CONFESSION: I kept this bar for about six weeks after I received it, unrefrigerated in a humid climate. I didn't know it had been crushed in transit and was rapidly drying out. The flavor and texture were obviously compromised. But my goodness, what an unpleasant candy experience!

Squirts of the leaked filling had solidified to a whitish-gray coating resembling mold over part of the bar. Mmmmm. I won't post a picture of that because I don't want to besmirch the Fazer name and classic black diamond packaging, but it was really disgusting.

Of course I ate it anyway. To my disappointment, even the filling in the uncrushed squares was no longer liquid. The flavor is just terrible. The whole concoction is too sweet, with only hints of saltiness. Perhaps the salmiak flavor was stronger when the bar was fresh? It seems to have evaporated with the filling.

Back to the lab with this one, Fazer! My stomach hurts.

something salty this way comes

2009-08-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well hellooooo, American-sized box of candy from Finland!

This mega-super package of salty licorice sweets is basically my idea of candy heaven. There are some childhood favorites in there and a few new concoctions that I cannot wait to review.

I'm literally salivating as I type this. Must. Show. Restraint. This intense love of salmiak flavor can be overwhelming at times. But, I'm excited to be here on the Liquorice Lovers blog, where folks understand this intoxicating craving. U understand right??

The plan is to blog about these delectable confections before I eat them all, so licorice--er, liquorice--lovers, stay tuned... it won't be long. SRSLY. nom.

Thanks for having me, Denni.

:~j

Catching Up

2009-08-10T03:31:00.000-07:00

Yes I know, I have posted woefully little. Could be because my friends and rellies have been supplying me with salty liqs from Germany and the Netherlands :)

(Although I miss my Scandinavian liqs. Danfoods is usually out of stock

Now, every time I want a fix, I just pop a few dropjes and don't think about it any more. The craving is gone, so I got lazy.

But soon an exciting new author may be joining this blog, hopefully along with a few friends. In fact, anyone who wants to join the party could drop me a comment with a web reference (Facebook/blog/personal site) so that I/we know that you are human. A gmail account is required for Blogger authors.

Salt Bomber

2008-06-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

There's a reassuring statement on the package that this is liquorice for adults, not kiddies, but the saltiness leaves something to be desired. This could be among the mildest of the Scandinavian liqs.

OK, but no great shakes.

7/10

Treasure Trove

2008-05-22T03:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the package from Danfoods:

I'm slowly working my way through it :)

Skilte Lakrids

2008-05-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Triangular taffic-sign liquorice: proof that cramming for your theoretical driving test needn't be boring.

These are nice and hard with a fragrant violet flavour that is quickly displaced by menthol and a good, strong salmiak hit.

Could be a new favourite.

9/10

Feeding my Addiction

2008-05-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a long time since I have written an entry for this blog. But that is because I have managed to satisfy my cravings more-or-less with liquorice bought on holiday (wherever the Germans go...) or ordered from UK-based sweet shops.

But—damnit—it's no longer enough!

The likes of Katjes paws, Salinos and Dutch coins are merely teasing. Occasionally there is a hint of salt, sometimes of sweetwood, but rarely of salmiak.

Recently, in Greece, I resorted to pouring some sort of ammonia powder—on sale for curing meat or something—over yet another bag of mild liquorice, but the taste wasn't right. Whatever the stuff was, it wasn't ammonium chloride, so I hastily got rid of it.

Scandinavian liquorice is available in the UK, but usually at exorbitant prices and with international shipping charges attached.

Thankfully, I have found a more-or-less reasonable supplier. Danfood is about 20% cheaper than the competition and is based in the UK.

I've just placed an order. Unfortunately, Pletskud (one of my faves) is on special offer: buy one, get one free. While this should be ground for jubilation, it means that I don't dare order more than one. But they have Super Piratos—yay!

Yes I know...

2007-11-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

...it has been a long time.

Over the past weeks and months, my liqs store has gradually been depleted down to the last, sad piece: almost flavourless by now and soft from the ambient humidity.

A desperate hunt around my room has unearthed the odd fossilised piece (the one I found on the windowsill—underneath a stack of papers—was truly inedible) but I was almost out.

And then a care package arrived, from my sis.

Full of liquorice :)

Thanks, Sis!

Procrastination

2007-06-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

I should be working, but I weakened and placed an order for liqs on "Humbug" said Scrooge!.

The quaint website is the online outlet for an even quainter sweetshop in a North Welsh village which stocks—wait for it—50 varieties of Dutch liquorice!

Among them are a few old favourites, and while the choice is less than that found on Dutch websites, both shipping costs and order size have to be considered. I have liquorice going stale on me because it's being kept for too long. (I have to ration it, but once a pack is open, it starts to deteriorate. Here's hoping that the bags will be sealed)

Small town sweetshops are real gold mines for Dutch treats. I even found (semi-)salty liquorice in a sweet shop in Banff, Canada! I'm wondering who actually buys the stuff.

Oddly, the sweetshop in my German hometown was about the only shop there that sold sweets but not salty liquorice (despite its popularity so close to the Dutch border)!

DIY Mix'n'MATCH

2007-06-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

I've just microwaved one of my treble-zout liquorice lozenges together with three sweet ones.

They bubbled up within seconds (watch the power!) and when the mix has cooled down, I'll be able to tell whether the right balance of flavour has been achieved :)

Not So Fast...

2007-05-30T06:50:00.001-07:00

Looks like I've been shot down from a great height.

I don't know how to put this. I—erm—didn't back up the liquorice image folder on my website.

Yes I know, I normally back up everything. At least twice.

Perhaps, issuing UNIX commands put me right back in the university environment where stuff never gets lost. I mean, my first website (anno 1995) is probably still floating around in cyberspace somewhere. Then again, moving computers inevitably meant that stuff got lost. I'll have a look at my old floppies (look, it was a while ago, OK?) and see what I can dust up.

But until then, it looks that Easyspace won't let me get at my own content.

Nobody fucks with the elephant!

EDIT: I'm in the process of fixing it, as best as I can. But it does not help that Flickr is throwing up one exception after another. (And no, I can't back up my Flickr pics; I have a 10 Gig hard drive—no snickering at the back!—and very limited online storage facilities at the moment).

Top Gear

2007-05-30T05:48:00.000-07:00

The Flickr group is shaping up nicely, thanks to everyone who's posting there :)

In other news: I'm going to get the background images back, I promise! Flickr should do it. I still have all the website files saved (of course).

This one passed under my radar: Spunk (the Danish liquorice) is back in the grapevine after Jeremy Clarkson was spotted trying some on Top Gear (BBC, 7th May).

Man, you should have seen his face—priceless!

New Flickr Group: Salty Liqs

2007-05-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

Is anyone still reading this?

In that case, permit me to spam my own blog with the Flickr group I've just created ;)

Salty Liqs is a group dedicated to the joy of salty liquorice, liquorice icecream, salmiakki vodka (and its after effects) and all things liquorice, really!

Everybody welcome.

[Deleted: my fault!]

2007-05-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

I was having a rant about the missing background pics, but it turns out that my site is down. (This blog stems from a time when Blogger didn't host pictures and I didn't have a Flickr account. Incredible, I know!)

It is possible that Easyspace has taken revenge for killing its elephant (long story). Or else, the server is down.

One way or another I'll get it restored at some stage.

Pontefract Liquorice Festival

2007-05-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

This piece of spam turned up on my LJ, of all places!

Since this blog hasn't been targeted, nor links to the LJ by default (or vice versa), all I can say is that the spammer has done its homework, and that these things are getting scarily good at it!

If there was a name attached to the comment, I might even think I was dealing with a real person.

Anyway, the content is relevant to this blog (rather than my LJ, which is about writing and ranting and ranting about writing, and which I only signed up to in order to talk to the LJ community without having to be anonymous). So here goes:

Hi,
I noticed you talked about last year's liquorice festival and the circumstances as to why you weren't able to go. I don't know if you're still living in the area but this year's is going to be bigger than ever. It's a nine day treat this time with a week-long music festival. I've put the agenda below and hoped you'd be able to flag it up to your regular readers as a great event.
Deb

AGENDA 2007

Saturday 7 July
Castle in Action
11am-5pm Pontefract Castle
A heritage day organised by the Pontefract Heritage Group including children’s battles, jousting, falconry displays and medieval stalls. There will be themed street entertainment, re-enactments, music and food, living history camps, demonstrations, historic art and craft workshops.
Free

Sunday 8 July
11am to 5pm - departing Pontefract castle
NEW. Discovery Trails and Tours - walks, talks and tours in Pontefract.
Organised by the Trust to include talks about Pontefract liquorice and historical and heritage aspects of the town as well as walks through the town, the old liquorice fields and the Hermitage. Take a guided tour of the castle grounds and underground magazine or an open top bus to a local liquorice farm to hear one of local liquorice expert Tom Dixon’s informative and entertaining liquorice talks. Enjoy a guided walk around the town to discover past Pontefract people or take in a tour of 13th century architecture, the relief of the battle of Trafalgar in the Georgian Town hall and climb a double helix staircase.

The four trails are open to everyone but priority will be given to people with tickets. Tickets can be bought for £2 from the Trust’s office at 19 Southgate (just behind Ropergate), Pontefract, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays between 9.30am-2.30pm.

Sunday also heralds the start of the music festival.

Sunday 8 July
All day Battle of the Bands
Local bands compete for a spot on the Liquorice Festival main stage Sunday 15 July.

Sunday 8 to Friday 13 July
Music Alive
Various venues around Pontefract (evenings)
Live music in a variety of venues featuring top quality professional musicians crossing a range of popular music genres from rock, blues, folk, A Night at the Musicals to Big Band Dance Night, kicking off with the final heat of a battle of the bands featuring Pontefract’s best emerging young talent. Some events are free, others are ticketed – various prices - on the door.

Saturday 14 July

Enchanted Garden
11am-5pm at Valley Gardens
Created in the 1950’s, Valley Gardens was landscaped from the gardens of a Victorian Mill and provides a picturesque venue for a day of Victorian themed entertainment with market, craft and food stalls, traditional games, street entertainment and live music.
Free

Theatre in the Park - Conference of the Birds
4.30pm at Valley Gardens
A fun, family street theatre production by Faceless Street and Community Arts with energetic masks and amazing puppets.
Bring a picnic and a cushion. £2 each or family ticket (two adults, two children) £6 available from the Pontefract Liquorice Trust stall on the day or phone 01977 790593/629874

Sunday 15 July
National Liquorice Day
11am-5pm Pontefract town centre
The traditional Liquorice Day market with the excellent street entertainment that has become synonymous with the festival.
Opening in front of the Town Hall with a spectacular themed parade and continuing with the best of live music, specialist foods, street acts, community performances, exhibitions, activity and fun zones, art and craft workshops. All this sits alongside a bustling art, craft and liquorice produce market which includes liquorice sweets of all varieties as well as liquorice beer, cheese, bread, sausages, bacon, pies and herbal remedies.
Free. Free Park and Ride from Pontefract Park

Krokantjes (Klene)

2007-03-26T03:54:00.000-07:00

These are possibly the prettiest of them all:

But do they taste good? Nah—there's neither any discernible salmiak, nor mint.

1/10 (I prefer jellybabies...)

New Blogger

2007-03-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

My apologies for posting so late. As you may have gathered, I have finally made the switch to Google.

So why the delay?

I have used Google for a long time in order to post to the rasf (science fiction) usenet groups. However, Google insists that my username be a valid email address, then went and plastered said address all over the internet. Now, the usegroup servers have been targeted by spammers since at least the early Nineties (when I joined various Biology groups) and I haven't had much extra spam to deal with as a result, but I still wasn't pleased. And as for Google's own record: it's pretty bad, both with regard to spam and security. There is a reason why I prefer Yahoo—namely their spam filters!

Since joining Google is inevitable, I have changed my primary email address to gmail, which will serve as spam-sieve and which I won't have to keep secret for this reason. I won't usually check that address. Coments left on this blog will show up in the dashboard.

Service will resume shortly.

PS. The HTML correction feature also sucks: it has disappeared, to be replaced with a note 'sorry we can't accept this post'. For a moment there I thought it had simply been swallowed. It's there if you click on the browser's back arrow, but a link would have been nice! Also, you'll have to re-enter the labels.

That's one Google tick-off (plus one for the email username and another one for not supporting HTML tickmark characters)

Bad Google Rating:

Reluctant Blogger

2007-02-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

Just as I got ready for this rant, something amazing happened: I was put through to the Blogger dashboard without argument, side-tracking or—frankly—thinly disguised attempts at entrapment.

See, I usually have to click on a multitude of links and be careful not to sign my soul away in the process to confirm that *yes, really*, I want to remain with the old Blogger and not sign up to the amazing new Google version.

I want nothing to do with Google: I don't want to change my username and password, I abhore the idea of using my email address as username and I never asked for Google to barge into the Bloggerverse and go on to pester users.

I do have a Google account which I opened reluctantly in order to be able to post on usegroups and I am gobsmacked at the amount of spam that appears on those sites.

No thank you. It's time someone threw a spanner in Google's masterplan for world domination. Get out of my hair, or I cease blogging on this site.

Expect updates to be even more of a trickle than they have been already.

Expect the unexpected!

2007-02-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

I've been lax with blogging lately, party because when I actually have liquorice, I'm less inclined to write about it. But we've also been away on holiday in Australia until yesterday, and look what I found there:

Apparently, lots of Germans live there, and they like their liqs, including the super-salty Fortisal. They're too salty—even for me! But I keep them with some of my milder liqs and nibble them in-between.

Liquorice Heaven

2006-09-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

I knew I had landed in the right place when I spotted Tyrkisk Peber lollies next to the counter at the 7/11 in Copenhagen airport, but things got even better in Greenland.

Liquorice chewing gum, liquorice lollies, powdery liquorice dips, liquorice throat pastilles, liquorice liquorice and even— liquorice icecream (yes, in Greenland. It gets quite warm there in the summer).

For almost the entire ten days, I was breathing salmiak fumes!

Now I'm back home, chomping on deliciously in-yer-face 'Piratos' (with a hint of menthol) and 'Plet-Skud' which seem to be laced with sherbet.

Heaven!

More Blogger hic-ups...

2006-09-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

......but loh and behold—we're back.

For a while I was referred to the ghastly Beta version which simply hid my blogs from the dashboard and instead invited me to create a new one. That was almost as bad as the time when both of my bogs disappeared for a while. Almost, because they could at least still be read, even though I could neither post to them nor comment on them.

Blogger never deigned to reply to my query with anything other than a form email in the 'fix it yourself' vein (are they becoming a little too bloated, methinks?) but at least normal service has resumed now.

Why this rant if I haven't actually posted anything for weeks?

Because I'm back from Greenland and I'm rolling in liqs!

Long time no hear...

2006-08-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

...but I will be back!

All these months, I have happily munched away on Dutch Liquorice, but now it is time for a change. I'm heading off to Scandinavia (Greenland, to be more precise) and while I'm there, I will be sampling the delight of kick-in-the-butt local liquorice!

See ya' towards the end of August.

Droplovers convention

2006-04-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

No, not a real one, rather an impromptu gathering.

I must confess that my last bounty haul from Typical Dutch Stuff is a little much, even for me.

Well, this weekend we have one of John's PhD students visiting. He's Moroccan, but grew up in Holland. I wasn't sure whether he'd like liqs, but when I carried the big box of drops into the lounge, his eyes lit up. Munching his way through a selection, he translated bits of the Oltimers' story for us. It has nothing to do with a hunt or with roedeer, but concerns three friends visiting a fairground when one of them—father of Dropmaker J. Douwenga—has an epiphany about 'Mildzoute Hindelooper Ruitjesdrop', apparently while locked inside a room.

The weather is great: during the last week or so, spring has suddenly arrived and the air is notably warmer, the sunshine brighter and all the plants are shooting up—even the butterflies are coming out. In short, perfect barbeque weather. This being England, these events can never be planned in advance, but we phoned up another of John's colleagues, a Dutchman who lives in near-by Reading and while his family was otherwise engaged, he agreed to come over on such short notice. While we were waiting for the BBQ to heat up, I showed him the box. He was chuffed; he tends to eat up all the drops he brings back from his native country within days and then goes without for months at a time. So much more remarkable that he spared me a whole pack of Waterwerken the last time he came over for a BBQ! Now the situation was reversed.

The story behind Oldtimers' Mildzoute Hindelooper Ruitjesdrop creator was actually that the Dropmaker's father—who limped a little, hence the 'hinderlooper'—got himself locked into a toilet for four hours and during that time not only thought up the recipe, but also the distinct shape of the drop—modelled on the convenience's window.

I still don't know where the roedeer comes in.

Top of the Lot

2006-04-18T04:06:00.000-07:00

Almost all of the liqs I've ordered contain some liquorice powder—not ammonium chloride or sweetwood extracts but the actual magical combination of both. However, in most of them, it is watered down or cut with extra sugar or gum.

For the real thing—or at least as strong as I reckon it is legal to sell (to children)—you need to turn to the powder itself.

Coloured beige-brown by the addition of dextrose and starch, it looks innocent enough in its tin, despite the turbaned figure on the lid sticking out his tongue at you. I wonder what the story behind that is. All the online references to Zwart Wit Zout I can find are, unsurprisingly, in Dutch.

Once opened, ambient humidity will turn the stuff a sticky dark brown in a matter of days.

Dip in a finger and lick some of it. It will actually feel cool on your tongue. It almost seems to prickle. You won't as much taste this stuff as breathe in the fumes, which are somewhat reminiscent of the sharp smell of horse manure

For the dedicated lover of strong liquorice, there's nothig better.

10/10

Salty Shakers

2006-04-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

New from Venco, these liqs have a strange shape—a bit like a raised triangle—and a divine taste with a peppery undertone, not far removed from the recently reviewed Oldtimers. In fact these sweets don't know whether they want to be salty or peppery with the word 'Droppeppers' written above the description 'salty shakers'. They do pack an almost chilli-like kick. And there is another strange undertone, reminiscent of the boiled aniseed candy which we could buy at our local town fair. At once thoroughly old-fashioned (in taste) and fashionably abstract (in shape), this will appeal to jaded liqs eaters who thought they'd tried everything.

One for seasoned veterans—my husband nearly gagged on it.

8/10

Oldtimers

2006-04-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

In a recent comment, Ace said:

' The story of the [Swedish]Oldtimers is:
The recipe was discovered in an old book they found in the candyfactory. The book was used as a support for an old machine, and someone had put it under the machines "leg" (don't know the english word, sorry) to prevent it from tipping. There's a reason for the bow tie on the pastille also, I'm not sure but I think they put it there because of the old man who found the book. He used to wear a bow tie.
Best regards/
the swede'

Thanks, Ace—it's great that people who read this blog come up with little morsels like that, what a lovely story!

A similar story is told on the back of my Oldtimers' 'Mildzoute Hindelooper Ruitjesdrop'. Something about dropmaker J. Douwenga's father, his friend and (if I can glean this correctly) a roedeer which somehow led to the manufacture of these sweets. And they're delicious. The only thing that would increase my enjoyment even further is if I could read enough Dutch to understand the story behind them.

The drops are quite sweet, with both sugar and glucose syrup, but not as mild as they're made out; they pack a nice, peppery note which combines well with their soft texture and sweetness. Not one for beginners, but salty liqs' 'oldtimers' will love them!

9/10

Too much of a good thing!

2006-04-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

I've overeaten on liquorice!

Need to take a break for a few days. More reviews next week or so.

Napoleon Echte Zwart Wit Kogel

2006-03-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

What is this? When I checkd my blog today, I found nothing but a hazy picture of Oldtimers SZH at the lower right corner of the screen. No text, no links and no pictures. Yet another Blogger cock-up???

Technical problems aside, I have been happily munching my way through liqs in the last few days. After smileys, the next on my list were the above round sweets with genuine ZW powder at their centre. Again, I remember them being much bigger in my childhood.

Another surprise was the chocolate-ly taste of the candy. I think it goes extremely well with the earthyness of the sweetwood and even the ammonium chloride kick of the center. The only downside: You taste the ZW powder almost at once, so these are not suitable to offer to an unsuspecting friend as a treat and then crack up when they pull a face. I don't know, perhaps the company has been sued in the past??

8/10

Smile!

2006-03-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

With that order came a whopping 1450 gram jar of liquorice smileys.

Awesome!

Popping one into my mouth was just like a home-coming—same great taste, although they have grown smaller and softer with time (or have I grown bigger and harder?).

Perhaps smileys are not that different from other soft, mild salty liquorice; perhaps if it wasn't for their size, their shape and childhood memories, they would not be right up there with the very best. But they are. Smileys rule!

10/10

Bounty!

2006-03-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

Good things come to the one who waits.

It took Typical Dutch Stuff a little while, but today an enormous box arrived, packed full of goodies.

But what is that? A box of Belgian Truffels? Have they substituted some of my coveted liqs?

But no, it's merely a thank-you. And seeing that I already have all the liqs I could possibly desire, they've included a box of chocs.

My husband will thank them ;)

Still no liquorice...

2006-03-15T03:24:00.000-08:00

...I'm twiddling my thunbs. Somewhere on their website, Typical Dutch Stuff say that they 'strive to post an order within 10 working days'. What do they want, a pat on the bag? Do they run a busines or what?

However, all is not lost. I discovered an old package of Muntdrop with about a dozen sweets left in it, hidden in a box of old papers. These have to be at least three years old, but they still taste!

Liquorice order

2006-03-03T02:14:00.000-08:00

Ever since my backpack was stolen in Makassar, Sulawesi, on January 5th, the loss of my liquorice has affected me badly (Indonesia may have been a Dutch colony for 300 years, but they never took to liquorice. I hope the thieves taste it and gag on it!)

Back home, I soon exhausted my supplies. Eventually I had to give in and order 50 quid worth of treats from the extensive selection at Typical Dutch Stuff. Why them? Two reasons
a) They don't just sell wholesale quantities, so I can order a greater variety
b) They have PayPal

And this is what's coming my way:

1 Lakrisal Salmiak,
1 Venco Droppeppers Salty Shakers,
1 Venco Jubes,
1 Venco Salmiak Rondos,
1 Venco Zwartwitjes,
1 Trekdrop Salmiak small,
1 Old Timers Mild Salt,
1 Smilie Faced Licorice (1 kg! It didn't come in smaller quantities, but this old childhood favourite is a must-have),
1 Klene Waterwerken,
1 Zwart Wit Kogels (on the few occasions when the village chemist got a delivery of these, we thought Christmas had come early. We would climb over the wall of the boarding school and sneak off to the village for more. That was 28years ago and I haven't tasted these since—are they really that good? We shall see.)

Confession

2005-11-05T01:44:00.000-08:00

After 5 pints of Stowford Press cider in the pub yesterday night, I'm unlikely to make the 10:17 train to London to get to the liquorice shop. Sorry folks.

I'll see you next year. In the meantime, catch me on my travel blog.

Tricky Treats

2005-10-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's a shame that I did not make it back to London to check out the liquorice selection at 'Totally Swedish' (aka 'The Sweedish Affair') yet. I'll go next weekend, but by then it will be too late to stock up on Halloween treats.
I only have one of the 'Tyrkisk Peber' lollies left and most of my other liqs supplies are going soggy. There are a few 'Salt Patroner' (aniseed-flavoured boiled sweets hidden under a mindblowingly strong liquorice powder coating). These are individually packaged with a suitable label so the kidds won't expect a harmless little candy, but with time the moisture has penetrated even their plastic wrapping and turned them soggy on the outside.

Perhaps that is a good thing; at least I won't have the parents and authorities on my back, accusing me of trying to poison the children. Still, it would've kept the little blighters away next year...

<evil witch's cackle/>

I'll be back in a week or so with an update on TS, but as I'm off to SE Asia soon, don't expect a lot of posts until after my return in March 2006.

Fame...

2005-10-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

Im chuffed: a writer from the States has been in touch. She's researching a book on 'extreme foods' (sounds intriguing) and, granted, in the eyes of some people salty liquorice belongs in this group ;)

I'm actually taking a little break from my ceaseless chomping right now: could it be that saturation level has been reached, at least temporarily? I maintain that ammonium chloride is an addictive substance so we shall see how long that will last. And should I go cold turkey during my imminent trip to SE Asia (21st November-14th February)? There is just a possibility that liqs will be available in Indonesia—it is a former Dutch colony and there are plenty of Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam, so...

Good for the soul—bad for the teeth

2005-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Lately I can't keep my hands out of the liquorice bag while I'm typing away. If I continue to scoff on at this rate, I may eventually grow sick of them (as if), and I'm concerned about the state of my teeth. Chomping on chewy, sugary sweets all day long is not good for them.

The solution, of course, is sugar-free liquorice.

And here deBron's Zoute Klavertjes ('salty clover') hits the spot: chewy, bouncy, pleasantly rounded and with a pure, satisfying hit of ammonium chloride; they are among the very best. I am at this moment devouring the very last one. I bought them in a small sweet shop on Murray Place in Stirling city centre, but I have never found them anywhere else. Intriguingly, their ingredients are listed in such Mediterranean languages as French, Italian, Spanish and Portugese, so you'll never know where you may find them...

9/10

Still going strong...

2005-09-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Action on the Bootsnall Scandinavian black licorice appreciation thread!

Totally Swedish

2005-09-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

'The Swedish Affair', London's only salty liquorice shop, has re-opened at 32 Crawford Street, W1; only now it is called 'Totally Swedish' and it has its own website!

As yet, there is not much to chose from, but a steady stream of customers poured through the door while I was there and the two shopkeepers were busily (and willingly!) scribbling down suggestions. So, soon we'll have Tyrkisk Peber again, and Lakritsal and many of the other old favourites. Meanwhile I came away with Salta Lakritsfigurer (Swedish version of 'Katjes'), some mean, small Malaco liquorice ('Djungelvrål') and a bulging bag with loose miniature dummies, salt herrings, boiled liquorice-flavoured sweets and Heksehyl. More about all that later.

Another nice edition to the bright and airy shop is a large chill cabinet stocked with the finest marinated seafoods. I shall come back with a cool-bag!

Klene puts the salt into salty liquorice!

2005-08-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

My cravings for salty liquorice have worsened considerably since I found that the 'Swedish Affair' is closed for refurbishment. I dug out my emergency supplies only to find that the vicious salt coating on the last of my Malaco dummies has dissolved in the ambient humidity.

That coating was something, even if the actual liquorice lolly underneath was a bit lame. Who knows whether I will see its kind again...

But I digress. I had to find my liqs-fix from somewhere; and soon. But I hesitated, with my hand hovering over the keyboard. I have just placed a big order on Amazon and I will have to buy stuff from Ebay—on-line shopping is just too easy and if I'm not more careful, there'll be no money left for travelling when the time comes (this winter). My sister is due to visit Germany, and she will bring back some liquorice, even if it will be months before we next visit her (and she may have gobbled it all up in the meantime). At worst, the 'Swedish Affair' will eventually re-open, hopefully with its full range of salty treats. No, I should wait.

So yesterday we invited a former colleague of John's and his family for a late summer BBQ and he pulled this grey bag out of his pocket. At first I thought it was coffee, or spices.

"Honestly," I said: "we've got all the foodstuff..."

The red logo on the bag looked faintly familiar, but it took a good few seconds to click: Neerlandsch eenige echte KLENE! 'Waterwerken' salty liquorice to be exact. Manufactured in honour of the Netherlands' long-standing history of water management and how it was done in the Days of Old; around the time when Klene started to make sweets back in 1876. Those were the days...

(What is it with liquorice makers and nostalgia? These guys are nearly as bad as Real Ale affectionados. Honestly, don't you think it is time for a bit of futuristic re-branding?)

To commemorate the long-standing Dutch struggle with the sea, this liquorice comes with a hint of sea-salt added; at 0.7% the salinity is slightly below that of tear-drops. The sodium chloride goes almost unoticed and the ammonium chloride hides behind the strong, old-fashioned flavour of sweetwood. A taste to bring back my childhood memories, for sure, but it doesn't quite deliver the punch I expected, leaving me to want more. Mellow, spicy and chewy, this is great to nibble by the handful, so grab a couple when you next shop for liquorice.

7.5/10

Salmakki

2005-08-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

At a certain Worldcon I finally got the chance to sample Salmakki(scroll down the link) at the Finnish party. Heavenly—but sweet.

"I agree," the smiling hostess said: "Solution: dilute it with a bit more vodka!"

"But you're mixing vodka with vodka!" the horrified woman next to her exclaimed.

"Exactly!"

The Russan Texans in the room next door of the Hilton party floor were only too happy to oblige.

I'm only now recovering. A word of warning re-iterated by all who had sampled the black nectar: it tastes just like a sweet. You might be forgetting that you are drinking spirits!

The Swedish Affair

2005-08-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Quick note before I review the awesome Scandinavian parties at this year's SciFi Worldcon: 'The Swedish Affair', central London's liquorice haven, is under new management and will be closed until early September!

Liquorice & Libido

2005-07-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-07-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

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

Return of the vanished blogs

2005-06-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted here for a while, so I did not at first notice that liqs had vanished from the web! The good people at Blogger support could not tell me why, but they have restored it now. I hope to pick up where I left off—only problem is that I have scoffed almost all of my liquorice in the meantime!

I have to go on another liquorice run.

Hiatus

2005-05-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Incredible, I know, but I'm taking a little break from scoffing salty liquorice right now. Back in a week or so...

Lakrisal: Compressed Bliss

2005-05-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

My absolute favourite it has to be said, even after 40 years of liqs eating experience, is liquorice powder or zwartwit (as the Dutch would have it) zout. Zwartwit obviously means mischief.

The real thing, which is woody and salty with the sugar not tasting through, is not always easy to find. Dutchliquorice kindly sent me a few tubs on special request with my last order (they now list it online, but they usually sell wholesale, so you need to put in a large-ish order—not easy when you're the only liquorice eater around). Even in Holland I am often unlucky. It is perhaps miraculous that I came across this stuff at all, but it was ocassionally on sale by market traders and on fun fairs when I was a kid. Only ocassionally, mind. Liquorice powder was always an elusive speciality.

You'll encounter it more often pressed into drageés of various sizes, but these tend to be sugary and once you taste the sugar or worse, saccharine, it loses all of its appeal and becomes pointless at best, sickly at worst. I have been known to throw away bagfulls of the stuff deemed entirely inedible. So when I went on my last liquorice haunt, I bought just one roll of Lakritsal, another manifestation of these sweets. I wanted to give it a try but at 1£ a throw and after countless earlier disappointments, I wasn't prepared to take a chance.

Yet here it was. The real thing, or as close as I have ever tasted it, to zwartwit zout. I have to get my ass back to London pronto for more. The only reason that this does not score a perfect ten is that it is almost, but not quite ZZ.

9/10

Fazer's Salter Lakritsfigurer

2005-05-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

The first Dutch word I learned was 'Katjes'—only I did not know that it was Dutch at the time. I associated it with Haribo and small, hard if not particulary salty liquorice kittens that had a tendency to stick between once teeth. Never a particular favourite when I was a kid (and only available in large, above pocket money-sized bags anyway) I did not give it much thought and it only recently occured to me that I have not seen it around for a long time.

What a nostalgic surprise then that Fazer's 'Salta Lakritsfigurer' look and taste almost exactly like them. They are a little bit cuter and rounder, possibly smaller, but by-and-large they are 'Katjes'. Something for fans of hard liquorice that do not want tongue-blistering levels of saltiness and enjoy the undertone of violets often found in Scandinavian liqs and (now that I have tasted them again) apparently also in one of Haribo's former bestsellers.

5/10

Treacle Stout

2005-05-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

I noticed this in the pub last Friday:

Itchen Valley Brewery's Treacle Stout.

It tasted like burnt Pontefract cakes dissolved in vinegar, but then it had been on tap since March (and should have been replaced with the Brewery's current seasonal ale). Shame I did not spot it earlier!

Sources of salty liquorice

2005-04-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

I had my first request for info about where to get liqs from—Tyrkisk Peber of all things! And nope, the poster did not have a Scandinavian name (I don't either, but I've lived in Denmark for 2½ years, so I pass ;) )

My reply:
There is a small shop in London, not far from Madame
Tousseauds [sic] and Euston Station, called "Swedish Affair"
(32 Crawford St, W1H 1PL (7224 9300)). It doesn't have
a web site, but it does have TP -- even the lollies!
[That should've been 'Tussauds']

When it comes to sourcing salty liquorice, most of it is still down to a good old chase. The availability of the stuff usually determines where we go for our tobacco runs (i.e. Amsterdam more likely than say Paris, although my next tobacco run will be whale-watching in the Bay of Biscay!) and searching for my fix drives me down quiet little streets in West London. But of course, liquorice can be ordered on-line.

By far the most intriguing selection on offer is at kado in Berlin (it helps if you can read German). They even sell —which doesn't mean in Danish what it means in English, but is an innocent made-up word Pippi Longstocking and her little friends came up with one day. Allegedly.

True to form, it now comes as a flavoured vodka.You should definitely order a bottle of this.

Shame that Kado is so difficult to deal with. Last time I tried, they couldn't handle debit cards, so I never tried them again.

My only other on-line source so far has been den hollandse drop which is good, but mainly deals in wholesale quantities. Have you ever tried to eat a whole pound of DZ (more about those later)? I still have some left from my last order over 2 years ago...

Lastly, I would recommend hollandwinkel, but I have not tried them yet. Not such a wide choice of liqs, but ordering from them seems straightforward.

Good hunting, let me know what else is out there!

Liquorice Ripple Ice Cream

2005-04-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

OK so it's not salty, but it's made with Pontefract Cakes which contain real liquorice root—with all the goodness that implies ;)

This is an old recipe by Gary Rhodes, currently of Hell's Kitchen fame. I must say, I like the food better than the man, even though it does attract all those little Englanders who think of rival chef's Jean-Christophe Novelli's inventive French cuisine as foreign Frog's fare.

Anyway, Gary's the king of puddings and this ice-cream was originally paired with black treacle pudding—a winning combination!

Step 1: 200ml double cream; 200 ml milk; 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out; 4 egg yolks; 120g sugar
Mix the milk and cream and add the vanilla pod with seeds. Bring to the boil, fish out vanilla pod (I dry it and add it to a jar of caster sugar to impart flavour). Whisk the yolks and sugar and pour in the hot milk. Cool, stirring to prevent curdling and churn or part-freeze then stir with a fork regularly until thickened.

Step 2: 75g Pontefract cakes; 100ml water
Melt the Pontefract cakes in the hot water, cool and stir into the ice cream to form ripples while still soft.

The Tangled Bank

2005-04-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Circadiana for hosting the
anniversary edition of the

—and to Pharyngula who founded it!

The Tangled Bank is a bi-weekly carnival for science bloggers that positively fizzes with amazing entries and enthusiasm. I'm very honoured to be a part of it. Thanks, everyone. Once again, I look forward to a great read.

IFA salt pastiller

2005-04-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Much more than merely a sweet, IFA pastiller are the aristocrats among liquorice.

I have already hinted at the many potential health benefits of real liquorice and IFA pastiller are formulated with this in mind. The opera singer Ivar Fridtjof Andresen (hence 'IFA'!), touted as 'the voice of the century' in the early 1900s, heartily recommended this candy The back of the pack reads to this day:

'Among their most distinguished features is first and foremost that they prevent dryness in the throat...I can most warmly recommend these lozenges for singers, speakers, smokers [yeah!] and athletes'

The fingernail-sized lozenges are indeed soothing and, for being a salty liquorice, surprisingly mild. Their thin glaze gives a tiny, satisfying crunch when chewed—and it is hard to resist doing so. I never had any handy when I suffered a dry or sore throat, but it might be a good idea to stockpile some for the next time. If I can keep my hands off them for that long.

8/10

Oldtimers Äkta Saltlakrits

2005-04-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

Oldtimers allegedly makes liquorice like your Grandma used to know—good, old-fashioned candy with none of that in-your-face fizz or other nasty surprises. Packed with flavour, they'll still blow your head off.

Not surprisingly, Oldtimers includes some of my favourite liqs and I grab them whenever I can. Intruigingly, the one I have currently on my desk has its inscription entirely in Swedish (my last one was all Dutch), a language I struggle with. In fact, I can't be asked to decode what it says: something about this recipe dating back to 1931.

The thick, oval soft liquorice is imprinted with a bow, oddly enough, and satisfyingly substatial and soft to chew—soothing like a baby's dummy. It releases a gentle, earthy flavour with a hint of powdered root and only a hint of saltiness that builds up into a gentle glow. I am surprised to learn that it contains malt extract.

Definitely a favourite, but almost a little too understated.

8/10

The Root of Goodness

2005-04-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

Literally translated Glycorrhiza means 'sweet root', owing to the component glycyrrhizin which is 50 times sweeter than sugar. However, apart from its use for the world's best candy, this remarkable plant also has many medicinal properties.

Liquorice root has been used to treat a wide range of ailments for millenia. In Europe, it has alleviated coughs and bronchitis since at least the 14th century. It soothes the stomach and can bring relief from ulcers. It has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral properties. It acts as a liver tonic and may lower cholesterol. It may even enhance memory.

On the other hand, it can have ill-effects.Some patients who suffer from hypertension may owe their condition to a love for liquorice. Excessive consumption of glycyrrhizin increases the level of aldosterone, which can cause high blood pressure due to water retention. Reduced potassium levels (hypokalemia), resulting from sodium retention, can lead to headaches, heart problems (arythmia) and in extreme cases paralysis.

On the other hand, glycyrrhizin acts as a thrombosis-buster. it also kills cells infected by Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus by interfering with the expression of latency genes.—making it a whole new kind of anti-viral agent! Such beneficial properties may offset its potential side-effects.

But glycyrrhizin is by no means the only bio-active component of liquorice; many of the potential pharmaceutical effects of liquorice root extracts are due to flavonoids.

The flavonoid Licochalcone hasanti-tumor activity and shows promise for the development of new cancer drugs.

Flavonoids also inhibit oxidation of low-density lipoprotein by macrophages. Glabridin in particular may offer hope for the treatment of atherosclerosis while others may protect the liver

In short, there is much more to liquorice than simple enjoyment. Regular intake, in moderation, may lead to a healthier, happier life.

Liquorice Forum!

2005-04-08T02:52:00.000-07:00

'licorice'.org (sp??), a site apparently not affiliated to any company but dedicated to all things liquorice, has a well-designed (if sparsely frequented) forum with threads about the history, health issues, recipes for and pharmaceutical uses of liquorice. These are topics that I had planned for this blog and it looks to be a really useful resource.

Tyrkisk Peber

2005-04-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Made by Fazer of Helsinki, Finland, the distinctive blue bag is marked with a yellow stamp that screams 'EXTRA HOT' and a flashy icon of a little man spewing fire (while holding a thumb up).

The candy looks harmless enough and at first it tastes just like a boiled sweet; with a subtle flavour of liquorice root and anise oil. But suck it and you can feel the heat seeping through little holes which lead to the hollow centre. Here you find a vein of extra strong liquorice powder which will burn your tongue.

TP is an acquired taste. The German description on the pack ends with the warning 'Extra strong, liquorice for adults—not children' But you'll find plenty of kids enjoying the stuff in Scandinavia. The good news for them: It now comes in lollipops!

I don't go out of my way to buy it, but when I have a bag next to me I keep picking at it. Even though it makes my mouth go numb.

Rating: 6/10

Welcome on Board!

2005-04-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks for hanging on so long...

The idea for this blog came from a recent thread on my fave website:

(they publish a lot of my stories ;) )

I have long wanted to create a website in appreciation of the much under-rated delight that is Salty Liquorice, but three things have stood in the way:

I suck at web-design

Nobody looks at personal websites

Websites are tedious to update (my server's on strike as we speak—again)

.
So Blogger, with its user-friendly software and wide choice of readily customizable templates is a boon. Here it finally is: a blog dedicated to all things salty liquorice, its many different varieties, uses and legends associated with it. To my knowledge, this is the first such blog on the Web. It is also not affiliated with any company, but solely reflects my opinion and that of fellow liquorice lovers who may feel inclined to comment on it.

What about that thread then?

Don't miss it! It conveys the joys of Scandinavian salty liquorice perhaps even better than I will be able to. But more to the point—it introduces liquorice-flavoured vodka, a delicacy in Finland (and rightly so). Mina says:

'...the booze is made by dissolving a pungent salted black licorice (salmiakki) into the vodka. This completely smothers the taste of the alcohol, making you think you're drinking sweet candy juice when in reality you're downing 76-proof hard liquor. Dangerous, but fun!

The treacherous concoction actually killed a few people back in the early '90s, so the Finnish parliament decided to ban the stuff. Never ones for the alcohol-regulated life, the Finns responded by simply making their own version on a mass scale, so the government eventually gave up and lifted the ban. Koskenkorva is actually a small town in Finland that translates as "dead water in the rapids," and the label on the back of the bottle is intentionally upside down, so you can read it while you drink.

An alternative name is Salmiakkikossu, and it's commonly referred to as "Flakpanzer Fuel." Sadly, Salmiakki Koskenkorva is not available outside Finland, but here's how you can make an equivalent: get your hands on any brand of Scandinavian salted licorice candies, crush them and dissolve them in warm water until you have a thick solution. Let the stuff cool and pour it into a bottle of any unflavored vodka. You may have to try this a few times in order to get the proportions right, but it's either that or go to Finland instead.'

...

'A tip on the vodka: the easiest candy to crush up and dissolve is HARD candy, not chewy. This is the one I've used: [picture of Tyrkisk Peber bag] I think that is the Swedish name on the package, the Finnish name is Turkin Pippuri (both meaning Turkish Pepper) a.k.a. BOMBS because inside the hard candy shell, there is that yellowy powder that makes your mouth tingle.'

"tingle" is one way to describe it...

More on Tyrkisk Peber coming up very soon. And one day I will go to Finland...

Patience...

2005-03-26T07:59:00.000-08:00

...this blog is under construction (does anybody still construct websites and blogs?)