What we normally think of as "licorice" flavor is really anise, a plant closely related to the carrot family, which includes dill, fennel, coriander, cumin and caraway. (The leaves, stems, seeds, and bulb of the fennel plant are used in all kinds of cooking, and they all add a licorice flavor.) Only recently did I learn that the true licorice plant is entirely different. It a legume (think peas and beans) used in a lot of European black licorice candies. The common ingredient in anise, fennel, and licorice is anethole, the chemical that gives all three that "licorice" smell and taste. But licorice also contains glycyrrhizin, a sugar 30-50 times sweeter than sugar.
Twizzler's Black Licorice, as an example, has a trace amount of licorice extract, but most of the flavor comes from anise. If you want to try authentic licorice (made from the extract of the plant), I recommend Kookaburra Liquorice (imported from Australia), or RJ's Licorice (imported from New Zealand). Both are available at local grocery stores. (I bought mine at Macey's.) Both companies also make licorice allsorts, but the classic allsorts are Bassett's, made by Cadbury.
On my mission in Denmark, I also discovered salt licorice, or salmiak, truly an acquired taste. (In Denmark, it's called saltlakrids.) Salt licorice doesn't actually have any salt. The salty taste comes from ammonium chloride, or sal ammoniac. The name salmiak derives from this compound. If anyone knows where you can buy this stuff locally, I will be much obliged. (The great thing about developing a taste for salmiak is that you usually don't have to share.)
Red licorice, of course, isn't licorice at all, but it's the most favorite variety of the candy. Black licorice was originally just "licorice," but when red licorice came along, black licorice got its name. This linguistic change is called a "retronym." (For example, some people refer to "Rocky" as "Rocky I" to distinguish it from all the other movies. World War I didn't get that name until World War II.) The red licorice topic raises another important question: Red Vines or Twizzlers?
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I once found a book on blogging called "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch." But that isn't true: I care. I'm checking out the food scene for the BYU/Utah Valley community. This includes restaurant reviews/news, recipes, food and culture, and reflections on food generally.
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12 comments:
I can also recommend the black licorice that Costco occasionally sells (can't remember the brand). Watch for it in a black and red bag. It's made in Australia (like Kookaburra). I like both the Costco licorice and Kookaburra licorice well enough that I'd have to do a side-by-side comparison to pick a favorite. But even then it may be difficult. Like having two girlfriends, a guy might love them both for different reasons.
And, within a day, I should have a source for that nasty salt licorice you want.
Try the Old Dutch Store at 2700 S Highland Drive in Salt Lake City. They have the Dutch brands of salted licorice and a good variety, too. The stuff is neither cheap nor inexpensive, but when you've got to get a fix, that's the place to go.
mmmm... ammonium chloride...
Red Vines, no question.
Want to really ramp up the experience? Bite off the end and fill the Red Vine with the dust from a Pixy Stix. You won't sleep for a week!
I voted for Red Twizzlers, but my favorite (though not often available) is the Cherry Twizzlers rather than the standard Strawberry Twizzlers. It goes without saying, of course, that the licorice MUST be fresh, not at all stale.
Ever tried red (strawberry) Twizzlers from Canada? I have no idea why they taste different but they do and they are WORLDS better than the USA counterpart.
A few years ago at a grocery line I had a conversation about licorice. (I was buying Kookaburra.) The cashier was from Eastern USA and the bagger from Utah. We decided that the liking for red licorice is a Western thing as the Easteners and Europeans vote for black. (I'd never even heard of red licorice until I came to the US.)
A few years ago, I had a conversation in a grocery line. I was buying Kookaburra licorice at the time. The cashier was from the Eastern USA and the bagger and shopper behind me from Utah and California respectively. We decided that the liking for black licorice was an Eastern USA and European thing; Westerners prefer red. I hadn't even heard of red licorice until I came to the USA. As a child I would buy licorice sweets (candy) in all kinds of shapes (pipes [as in smoking], circles,long braids, etc.) Although I like licorice allsorts, I also like Pontefract Cakes which are small disk-shaped candy.
I've seen the salt licorice at Ikea in Schaumberg, IL and Tenuta's deli in Kenosha, WI
Ever tried red (strawberry) Twizzlers from France? I have no idea why they taste different but they do and they are better than the rest.
I thought you'd be interested to know that the Target brand of licorice has real licorice in it. Well, it has more real licorice than normally found in licorice flavored candy. It doesn't have the gooey texture of Kookaburra or other Australian style licorice. It's similar in texture to Twizzlers than anything else. It had a pretty nice bite to it, almost like licorice mints you can buy. I expect that's from the lack of anise and the presence of licorice extract. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was not aware of that, nice info.
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