Vakkotaur

For the next few days jmaynard and I are in Texas. The hotel at which we are staying at is one that is set up for extended stays and so the "room" has a kitchen setup with fridge, range (but no stove as such), toaster, and even dishwasher in addition to the usual coffee maker and increasingly common microwave. It's very nice. There, of course, little packets of sweeteners, coffees, and teas, and the like. But one thing strikes me as either ingenious or silly and I'm not entirely sure which it is.

There are little paper packets of salt, and of pepper. They are in a set of shakers. I suppose someone could open all the packets and use the shakers. I understand using the packets - only use what is needed and the next guests don't wonder about what the last guests might have done or whatever. And the shakers make it obvious what those packets are and keep them from getting mixed up with the sugar and such. Still, it is rather odd seeing the shakers with the paper packets in them.

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.