KRIJTJES

[ellenkushner]

I bet you didn't know that there were this many varieties of licorice in Holland alone . . . .! -- found while looking for a source for my favorites - I'm down to the last few in my little bag of "Oudhollands" brand from De Tuinen (hoarder? me? just because these are from, um, the same bag that got me through our move, which I am carefully eking out until...); I feel that they are inadequately described on the site as "Krijtjes drop white licorice pastilles" and "Krijtjesdrop (licorice crayons): peppermint shell with a licorice paste inside. Taste: sweet, peppermint." - to me, they're more like a salty licorice with a streak of menthol. ?? I'll give you the powdered white outsides, though - they look a bit like giant white pencil erasers. I guess.

Comments

[voske.livejournal.com]

Ah, 'drawing chalk'! I agree, the inside is more salmiak-like.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's it - drawing chalk! The bits broken in half or left too small to hold.... What is "salmiak"?

[aulus-poliutos.livejournal.com]

Salmiak is another form of licorice. The original are little, rather hard, slightly salty, rhombic shaped 'pills' - that's why we call them Salmiakpastillen in Germany. They've gone a bit out of favour, but my father loved them as kid and still hunts them down now and then. Some shops still carry them, though what you find most these days is the Haribo assortment with a layer of a sugary paste, a layer of licorice and another layer of sugary paste in bright yellow or pink. They look pretty but are on the sweet side - at least for me (I'm the one who can't stand Hershey Kisses).

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yes; that Haribo stuff is *nasty*!

[thumbelinablues.livejournal.com]

Those Salmiakpastillen sound like the Finnish licorice I nearly killed my boss with in November! I mean, killed in a good way, I'm sure he'd actually like to know the name....

[voske.livejournal.com]

Salmiak is ammonium chloride. It's the thing that makes zoute drop (salty liquorice) salty. Do people outside The Netherlands also eat zouthout, liqorice the woody sweet root that's part of liquorice the candy?

[voske.livejournal.com]

I meant zoethout, duh.

[miep.livejournal.com]

you can get it at herb shops, and I used to get them as a kid and suck on them.

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

I have had to ban myself from licorice, else I eat the whole lot and, you know, that can't be good. I'm especially fond of licorice comfits. And that soft licorice that started turning up everywhere a few years ago.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

"Licorice comfits"?

There's a world out there . . . (sigh!)

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

You might already know them, but just call them something different. They're these (http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/627433_Panda_Licorice_Comfits__132g.html) (and, I have to say, looking at the list of ingredients - and these, mind you, are sweets you find in health food shops - I'm a little put off).

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, yes, Pandas - Trader Joe's here has them here without the sugar coating - "chews"? The ingredients look pretty benign to me - esp if you consider that only the first 3 are usually much of a muchness - after that, I assume it's just trace amounts required by law to be mentioned. . . . Sugar, Molasses & Wheat Flour? A perfect snack!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's the chews, isn't it?

Molasses syrup, wheat flour, licorice extract, natural flavour (aniseed oil).
http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/627444_Panda_Licorice_Chews__240g.html

Voila. As I said!

You just need to switch your allegiance, and you're right as can be.

[aulus-poliutos.livejournal.com]

There is.

I saw you can my childhood favourite in the US now - Lakritzschnecken (http://www.germandeli.com/haliwhb.html).

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Oh yes I did - it's one of the hazards of living there. The Dutch call it "drop" and they love the stuff. One of the things you can do for fun as an expat there is to make sure you buy some salty licorice (yuck!) for any visiting friends to try. (Since I want to keep my friends, I did warn them what it is before asking if they wanted to try any.)

[miep.livejournal.com]

there were salty fish in finland that I loved. sour and salty and licoricy. mmmmmmmmmmmmm