National Licorice Day is coming April 12th!! And a bit of Licorice History

Route 29 Candy Factory blog posts the following licorice re-cap and ideas for

"National Licorice Day - April 12th"





By Kim

March 22, 2007



What does a person do on national licorice day? To help you out here is a list of fun things to do with licorice.

1.Eat it - lots of it

2.Use it as a straw, root beer licorice being the number one choice

3.Jump rope with a long red vine

4.Make licorice art with the fruit flavored licorice

5.Produce a home movie and have licorice people as the star

6.Lunch box treat

7.Play farm with licorice pigs and cows

8.Make a center piece with licorice whips

9.Whip someone with a licorice whip

10.Hand out free licorice on the street corner

11.Fruit cake but with licorice

12.Serve it for desert

13.Dip it in chocolate

14.Dip it in caramel

15.Use it as bait for carp



I think there are some pretty good ideas,  I'm willing...;)-   -what is Your idea of fun on National Licorice Day?









Below is taken from National Confectionary Association



The History of Licorice

Licorice dates back to the early times of man. Many pharaohs and prophets enjoyed licorice. Soldiers were recorded drinking licorice to quench their thirsts on long marches.



Licorice comes from a plant called the Glycyrrhiza, meaning "sweet root" in Greek. During the Middle Ages, crusaders brought licorice to England.



Many years later, a monastery in Pontefract, England began producing licorice candy. Early settlers brought licorice recipes to America. Since then, America has produced and imported delicious licorice products.



How is Licorice Made?

There are two ways to produce licorice. Companies producing licorice on small production scales often use the corn starch molding process, while larger-sclae production companies use the licorice rope extrusion process.



In the starch molding process a tray with long rows of molds is filled with corn starch to keep the licorice from sticking. Next, hot syrup containing licorice is poured into the molds and cooled. How the syrup is cooked determines if the candy is tough, chewy or soft. After the cooling process, the licorice is dumped onto a packaging table and given a glaze.



The licorice rope extrusion process is another way to make licorice candy. It starts with boiling a mix containing licorice root extract to an exact temperature. Next, flavorings and colorings are added and the mix is slowly cooked until it is a dough-like consistency. Afterwards, it is placed in an extruder that resembles a meat processor. The mix is forced out of tiny holes making it into a rope. The rope is sometimes twisted to give a more interesting form.