I’ve just finished my last Salte Fisk and am sad because I will have to wait for my brother’s Danish girlfriend to visit again before I can get any more.
It should be vile: it’s sal ammoniac mixed with candy and liquorice flavorings. And really, it is quite revolting, but there’s something compelling about it for me.
My brother’s girlfriend brings it over from Denmark all the time (my brother hates the stuff) and she and I have indulged in many different types of this delicacy, including hard diamond-shaped candies that are almost fizzing inside with a heap of ammonium chloride that makes our eyes water and noses run.
Yet neither of us can stop eating the stuff.
So my question is: why? Who on earth would have decided to put ammonium chloride into candy? Why would that pungent chemical be deemed suitable for children’s confectionery? When did it start being used? (Wikipedia lists a book about it, Salmiakki which would probably answer my questions, but it’s only published in Finnish.)
Supplementary question: why do I (and clearly much of Scandinavia and other parts of northern Europe) persist in eating it, despite the unpleasantness of the flavor?
<<QtM takes a dubbel zout drop out of his desk, pops it in his mouth, and subscribes to this thread to learn more about the history of the salty drop.>>
I’m glad my local grocer carries salmiak drop. Being in a community of nederlander-americans has a few advantages.
youse guys can have my lifetime supply of every form of liquorice …
blargh [too much medication as a young kid back in the 60s that was either liquorice or artificial grape flavored to actually be able to now swallow anything with either flavor]
OK, fair enough. But table salt doesn’t go up your nose and fizz and make your eyes water like this does. Yet I (and you) like this shit? What’s wrong with us?!
A local candy store sells it. I find it absolutely revolting but can’t resist it. I always eat the first piece as a joke but then eat more and more and can’t get enough of it.
It tastes like I imagine cat vomit would taste. It’s definitely the nastiest thing that I enjoy eating.
I dont like anything remotely flavored even similarly: anise, fennel, a few other herbs have undertones of the flavor … the smell trigers my hurk reflex.
Heaven.
Actually, I really like to keep it in my desk. It’s the only candy I can keep around for a long period of time because I can’t eat more than a piece or two in a sitting.
There was also a spicy red liquorice that was available in Denmark until it was discontinued in the last couple years. Likewise heavenly.
Sal Ammoniac and licorice are both expectorants. I suspect they started as medicinal drops for coughs, etc, then later got more sold as candies 'cos they’re nom. Kind of similar to the way distilled alcohol moved from medicine to tipple. I love them. Although lately my tastes are tending towards the sweeter skoolkruit.
I’ve got a bag of Venco Munten Drop right here, picked them up for a Dutch friend while I was in St. Maarten. I must drop them off to her soon - my god they are disgusting, but my resolve not to eat them is weakening.
Oh, I suspect distilled alcohol was tippled from the very first few moments of its production. Later they discovered it was a useful solvent to dissolve meds (like opium) in.
OK, based on this thread, I ordered a bunch of salty licorice (along with my supply of Swedish snus) from the Northener. I got these:
Salta Katten, Fazer - 2 pcs.
Salmiak Pastilles, Läkerol - 1 pcs.
Giants Salmiak, Läkerol - 1 pcs.
Does anyone know any of these brands and what their reputation is?
I’ve also noted that there’s a lot of warnings out there indicating that a licorice habit can cause hypertension. I guess I should be careful with getting too hooked on these things, eh, as I’ve got slightly elevated blood pressure as it is.
Even though I recognize the name, I can’t say I’ve ever tried Salta Katten(The Salty Cat), but Cloetta Fazer is, as far as I know, one of Scandinavia’s largest, if not the largest, candy manufacturer. I can’t think of anything with their name on it that I know is bad.
Läkerol is a well known brand of cough drops, I’ve never had one I didn’t like, though I can’t vouch for those particular flavors.