# What's your culture's version of circus peanuts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 31, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247 "2026-01-31T22:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saphir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Saphir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saphir)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/1 "2026-01-31T22:09:58Z")
I have recently moved to Germany. This has entailed visiting German grocery stores in the hopes of finding subsistence. On one of these visits, I found the candy aisle. I bought…a bag of cheerful-looking chocolate covered moon sort of candies. Friends, they were bad. Imagine the sort of quasi-congealed material you find inside gumdrops. Not really hard, not really soft. Now, imagine that it were banana flavored. Artificial banana flavored. Cover that in chocolate. I do not believe in wasting food, so I managed to eat the entire bag, but in the course of discussing this experience with many Germans, I have come to learn that nobody seems to like them, and, indeed, everyone seems to find them absolutely revolting. Yet they seem to be found in every grocery store! In short, I had stumbled across the circus peanuts of Germany. Anyway, in light of my recent experience, I have to ask– what is your local/regional equivalent of circus peanuts? The candy that nobody seems to like, is conceptually horrifying, and is inexplicably ubiquitous? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/2 "2026-01-31T22:31:32Z")
UK reporting in, and welcome to the Dope, @Saphir. Here we have something called Liquorice Allsorts, which has the advantage of being many sorts of awful. Basically it’s like eating competition entries, where the brief was: “Take this sickeningly sweet paste and these sheets of liquorice and see how many different shapes you can make with them”. For variety, there are also solid chunks of liquorice, and sugar coated blobs of intensely aniseed-flavored gel. > **[Liquorice allsorts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice_allsorts)** > > Liquorice allsorts are liquorice confectionery sold as an assortment. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. > Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world, but are most popular in Europe, especially Britain and the Netherlands, where they are called Engelse drop, meaning English liquorice. They are also common in Scandinavia, where they are called Engelsk konfekt or... As a child with a sweet tooth I used to try to peel the liquorice off and throw it away, So they’ve been around and ubiquitous for over half a century. j ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/3 "2026-01-31T22:54:05Z")
In the US South we have these candies that come in tins(well, used to). All shapes and colors of hard candies. Flavors doesn’t matter so much..I’m told they all taste the same. Nasty hunk of sugar. And always in Grammas candy dish, melted slightly and stuck together. If you have a more frou frou Granny you might get the fake strawberry ones that are twist wrapped in shiny red paper. Did anyone ever buy those on purpose? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/4 "2026-01-31T22:54:14Z")
In China a common snack is salted dried plums, or “mui” (pr: “moy”). Often found individually wrapped. There are two main types: chan pui mui, and li hing mui. The latter is drier and has a salty powdered coating, and is sometimes even ground into powder itself and used as a seasoning. The former is more like just a wrapped preserved plum, it’s “fresher” and sweeter. People generally like them, or they hate them. [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91l0Y62x3UL._AC_SL1500_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91l0Y62x3UL._AC_SL1500_.jpg) [![](https://www.snackhawaii.com/cdn/shop/products/salted-li-hing-mui_1200x1200.jpg?v=1548367257) ](https://www.snackhawaii.com/cdn/shop/products/salted-li-hing-mui_1200x1200.jpg?v=1548367257) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/5 "2026-02-01T00:00:06Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > UK reporting in, and welcome to the Dope, @Saphir. Here we have something called Liquorice Allsorts, Yes welcome. You forgot to mention “turkish delight”, which was a sad let-down for millions of younger Narnia readers when they actually tried it. But yeah Licorice Allsorts are pretty nasty. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/6 "2026-02-01T00:16:17Z")
> [@Saphir](#): > > I bought…a bag of cheerful-looking chocolate covered moon sort of candies. > > Friends, they were bad. > > Imagine the sort of quasi-congealed material you find inside gumdrops. Not really hard, not really soft. Now, imagine that it were banana flavored. Artificial banana flavored. > > Cover that in chocolate. Can you give the name or better a link under which that candy is sold in Germany? Because as a German I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/7 "2026-02-01T01:12:41Z")
Schocko-banana, I think. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/8 "2026-02-01T01:23:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You forgot to mention “turkish delight”, which was a sad let-down for millions of younger Narnia readers I like Turkish delight okay. On the other hand, I wouldn’t sell my soul for it. There’s a shop in the Pike Place Market in Seattle that has many different flavors. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/9 "2026-02-01T01:41:38Z")
Hehe, if other cultures have something as wrong as circus peanuts, I fear for them. And I _like_ circus peanuts, but they make no sense. A peanut shaped candy, orange in color. Does it taste like peanut or orange? Nope, banana. Dadaist candy. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/10 "2026-02-01T01:44:56Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > In China a common snack I recently bought some haw candy at a Chinese grocery. The packages resemble firecrackers but the fun ends there: the food inside is like chalky disks but pasty, lacking even the momentary little brittle crack of Necco wafers. And nothing to taste at all. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/11 "2026-02-01T02:39:18Z")
Yeah, haw flakes are also definitely an acquired taste. My mother would give them to me when we went to the store when I was a toddler, because it’s very little kid sized, and involved careful unwrapping and separating the discs; it would keep me fully occupied for a solid 10 minutes. I’ve never once gotten any of my white friends, or my white wife, to like it, or mui. I would also compare them to small Necco wafers. There are definitely different levels of dryness to them, depending on their age, and the older, drier ones definitely get chalky, but the “fresher” ones have some give and a pleasant, fruity, slightly sour, sugary flavor. I’ve actually got a pack of rolls in my drawer right here by my computer. Having one right now. _I_ like it, but I get that other people don’t. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/12 "2026-02-01T02:40:21Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > peanut shaped candy, orange in color. Does it taste like peanut or orange? Nope, banana. Dadaist candy. Tastes like despair. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/13 "2026-02-01T02:44:16Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > A peanut shaped candy, orange in colo Aus has the same sweets, yellow, banana shaped, they are called ‘bananas’. Since they are the same candy, they have the same affect: unwanted, yet strangely a second one follows the first. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/14 "2026-02-01T02:44:21Z")
> [@Saphir](#): > > Imagine the sort of quasi-congealed material you find inside gumdrops. Not really hard, not really soft. Now, imagine that it were banana flavored. Artificial banana flavored. > > Cover that in chocolate. I’ve seen a version of that in the “Kosher for Passover” section of certain American supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/15 "2026-02-01T02:48:34Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Tastes like despair. Apparently I can eat half a bag of despair in a sitting. > [@Melbourne](#): > > Aus has the same sweets, yellow, banana shaped, they are called ‘bananas’. Since they are the same candy, they have the same affect: unwanted, yet strangely a second one follows the first. Ok, so if they’re banana shaped, they already make more sense than circus peanuts. If they’re also yellow, they’re wayyyyyy more sensible than the circus peanut. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/16 "2026-02-01T02:53:34Z")
BTW I’ve actually purchased that same brand bag of mui and my bag did not contain a free gift. I guess stock was out. 🙁 ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/17 "2026-02-01T02:54:34Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > There are definitely different levels of dryness to them, depending on their age, and the older, drier ones definitely get chalky, but the “fresher” ones have some give and a pleasant, fruity, slightly sour, sugary flavor. That could describe circus peanuts, too. I’m going to buy some of the mui next chance I get. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan\_myers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@aruvqan\_myers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan_myers)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/18 "2026-02-01T02:55:04Z")
Can’t really cast stones at funky candies, I like musk sticks … ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/19 "2026-02-01T02:57:04Z")
Cool. I’d love to hear what you think. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247/20 "2026-02-01T04:24:38Z")
[An Indian journalist asked this question and the answer appears to be the light dry flaky gram-flour-based _soan papdi_.](https://curlytales.com/whats-indias-worst-sweet-asks-journalist-netizens-respond-with-petha-mysore-pak-more/) Actually, it looks like more respondents have stronger negative reactions to the candied gourd chunks called _petha_, but I’m going with _soan papdi_ because it seems to carry more of a circus-peanut vibe of being widely disparaged but nonetheless tenaciously ubiquitous (in gift sweets assortments, for example). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-cultures-version-of-circus-peanuts/1027247.md?page=2)