Yow! This is *candy* ?!

[vakkotaur]

This past weekend I bought some Dutch licorice candies. I've sampled three packets so far. Two are quite good. One... well, I'll get to that.

First, some background. I like licorice (or else why would I have bought any?). I munch on licorice Altoids, so it's not just a mild thing. I can deal with licorice at Altoids strength.

But this is no mere licorice, no siree! This is "Double Salt Licorice" which I expected to be a bit weird just from being salty. I can deal with weird. But this... this is not merely weird. This stuff has gone past weird and into diabolical.

I was not prepared for the sheer intensity of the salt. Enough salt that it seems to knock the licorice (which is no slouch in flavor intensity) into the background.

Ah, but it didn't stop there. This stuff is made not with sodium chloride (table salt), not with potassium chloride (so-called lite salt), not even with calcium chloride (road salt) but with... ready? ... ammonium chloride. And evidently quite a lot of it. It's salty stuff, yep.

Wait, there's more! Now as I munch on this gel of hyper-salty licorice alleged candy I discover two unpleasant things which conspire to make things worse than either alone might have been. First, the gel candy sticks to teeth much like napalm sticks to skin. Gum drops have nothing on this stuff. And second, the ammonium chloride seems to dissociate and react. How do I know? I know because the sticky gel bonding to my teeth begins to reek of ammonia!

This is candy?! Is this given to kids? If so, I suspect it's to make them swear off candy. I am not about to eat any more of this stuff. Anyone having trouble with a candy thief? This stuff will give them pause. And might get you accused of trying to poison them.

Comments

[ginafae.livejournal.com]

Excellent! You have discovered what we in RST call a "Nasti-snak". Nasti-snaks are things that my husband is notorious for eating.

Salted Dried Prunes (with pits)? Yep, he loved them.
Chili-lime Pistacios? He ate them with glee.
Basically any candy in the Mexican isle in the grocery store, yep, he goes for it.

This one candy he loves which is a lime/mango/salt powder (I can't remember what it's called) was tried by me and some other RST members. It was described like this: *hopeful tone of voice* "It tastes like an orange..." *pause* *eyebrows turn down in disbelief and disgust* "that rots in your mouth!"

I think Frank would love it.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Chili-lime pistachios sound like they'd be worth a try, at least. I don't see how salt and prunes would work together, and I prefer prunes not have pits anyway. I'll bring the double salt licorice with me to Peoria. I rather doubt anyone else will want any of it.

[haystack.livejournal.com]

I developed a taste for "Vero Elotes" while working in a local factory with a large contingent of Hispanic workers. One night, a friend handed me this funky-looking lollipop shaped like a tiny ear of corn, coated with a ruddy powder. As it turned out, the yellow lollipop was strawberry-flavored, and the powder... yup... chili powder. I've run across a number of Mexican candies that contain lots of salt and chili powder and, strangely enough, find them a nice break from the screaming, cloying sweetness of many US candies. :)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

This one candy he loves which is a lime/mango/salt powder...

Was/is it perhaps pico (http://www.bad-candy.com/candies/pico/)?

[haystack.livejournal.com]

Vakko, is THIS what you ate?

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

That appears to be it, from the picture, but the reviewers either had something else not quite as nasty, or just plain missed the ammonia (How?! It was blatant). They say "sodium chloride" and that would at least not have had the ammonia. However, that is doubtful as the use of ammonium chloride in these candies is common. Evidently at least some of the candies are salmiak (http://www.bostoncoop.net/~tpryor/wiki/index.php?title=Salmiakki) and at having tried some of the non "Duppel Zout" there is just a hint of ammonia, but not the gas attack of the DZ stuff. Even not being DZ, there is significant saltiness to it.

One packet has red and white candy-coated versions of the stuff (not DZ) so they look sort of like large M&Ms. Which could make for some interesting reactions, but one would probably not wish to be too close when the difference is discovered.

[haystack.livejournal.com]

Ammonium chloride...

* Can be used to clean the tip of your soldering iron
* Sometimes found in shampoo
* Has been used as cough medicine
* Is used in aerosol antiperspirants

Apparently it's also used for flavoring candy, vodka, and colas in Scandinavia, Holland, and a few other places.

People eat the craziest things. :P