Confectionaries of salty death

August 15, 2011 5:08 AM

Alex Papadimoulis (of The Daily WTF fame) and friends review various Finnish salty liquorice candies in the blog called Salmiyuck!

For a bit of background, there is a post titled Salmiak Attack in The Daily WTF archives from the time Mr. Papadimoulis received a large amount of candy from two Finnish followers of his site, prompting him to start his review process. Furthermore, this delicacy isn't specific to Finland, but is also enjoyed in other Nordic countries and the Netherlands, among no doubt other places.

posted by tykky (57 comments total)

I was born in Denmark and spent my early years there. I speak no Danish and have no memories of the place. The only evidence I have that I was actually born there, and my parents aren't playing an elaborate prank on me, are a birth certificate in Danish and an unhealthy passion for salty liquorice which I must have developed as a toddler.

Whenever I go near northern Europe, or anyone I know does, I demand enormous bags of Katjes Salzige Heringe (Alex Papadimoulis' rating: "halfway decent"). Sometimes, when I get back to London, I give them to my friends and laugh as they spit them out in horror. English people are famous for being able to handle only bland food. The liquorice of choice here is Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts, which for me is about as appealing as chewing Blu-Tack .

I also strongly recommend Tyrkisk Peber. Offer one to your friends! See them vomit!
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 5:30 AM on August 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

Vomit?! Vomit?! I will have you know that Turkisk peppar is awesome and delicious.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:34 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, salty liquorice is a key element of Proper Selection and Balancing of Loose Candy, a skill de facto required by civil societies in Scandinavia. Don't believe me? Try mixing salty candy with, says, sweet or sour candy. PEOPLE WILL LAUGH AT YOU. There's even an international standard for this stuff, ISO 22000.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:44 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have a couple Finnish friends who send me these every so often, and i admit with no irony that i love them. Not in a "down the whole bag in one sitting kind of way", unlike the Jussto Snacks 'megapussi' size bag (and yes, i do get a laugh out of that), but an actually look forward to getting them, eating a couple a day, then sad when gone kind of way. I do have odd tastes though, so that could have something to do with it.
posted by usagizero at 5:48 AM on August 15, 2011

Giant Bomb tries Swedish candy.

Part 2: "It's filled with salty hate!"

Part 3: Swedish fish. No, not that kind.

There's also a podcast where they try out hockey powder and it was apparently the worst of the Swedish candies, but I can't find the clip right now.
posted by kmz at 5:49 AM on August 15, 2011

I don't remember if it was hoarhound candy or maple sugar candy that made me realize what a liar Laura Ingalls Wilder was.
posted by DU at 5:50 AM on August 15, 2011 [4 favorites]

I bought the black and red packaged version of these Icelandic 'treats'. Awesome packaging... awesomely disgusting product.
posted by panaceanot at 5:51 AM on August 15, 2011

DU it was most likely the hoarhound candy. Even though I love it so.
posted by deezil at 5:52 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Salmiakki is great and anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly an idiot. QED.
posted by daniel_charms at 5:58 AM on August 15, 2011 [7 favorites]

English people are famous for being able to handle only bland food.

This is not true. Not since about 1956 anyway.

However salt liquorice is beyond even my bland food hating tastebuds. Ammonia is not my favourite taste sensation.
posted by ntrifle at 5:59 AM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

I love the salty licorice too. As do the Dutch, who call it Drop
posted by DanCall at 5:59 AM on August 15, 2011

I cannot let any post about snacking go by without mentioning Mike and Tom Eat Snacks, a podcast in which Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanaugh eat and talk about snacks. It ranges from pretty funny to sheer genius.
posted by Shepherd at 6:00 AM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

I grew up in an area with lots of South African immigrants. In primary school, at the start of each year, there'd always be two or three new South African kids. In general we were all cool with that, except that on the first or second day, we'd get to checking out their lunch boxes (I think in the perennial hope that they're might be something more interesting than vegemite sammiches and fruit in there). There'd always be one kid with dubbel zout licorice. And there'd always be another who'd swap it for a vegemite sandwich. It never ended well for either of them.
posted by Ahab at 6:01 AM on August 15, 2011 [5 favorites]

Previously
posted by ntrifle at 6:05 AM on August 15, 2011

Try something new: ice cream with salty licorice or with Tyrkisk Peber.
posted by iviken at 6:10 AM on August 15, 2011

Why does the allergen list on the Tyrsisk Peber bar include sulfur?
posted by Nomyte at 6:16 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

The absolute ONLY way licorice and salt ought EVER be together is Chinese licorice. As far as salty fish go, I hate them.
I saw some at my daughter's place. Must have been something her husband bought. And yeah eeeeeew ammonia!
Of course this is the same part of the world that gave us lutefisk.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 6:16 AM on August 15, 2011

Just to be clear...European salti licorice and Finnish Salmiakki are not the same thing. Salmiakki is Euro-style salty licorice with added amonia salts.

That's why it deserves it's own blog.
posted by Wylla at 6:32 AM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Argh!!! "Its own blog." Bad Wylla.
posted by Wylla at 6:33 AM on August 15, 2011

I was introduced to Drop by our Dutch exchange student. Hated it at first, love it now. Note that wikipedia states "Salty liquorice does not necessarily contain any sodium"--the stuff I have in my office right now is actually sodium free.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:34 AM on August 15, 2011

I bought the black and red packaged version of these Icelandic 'treats'. Awesome packaging... awesomely disgusting product.

I too bought it for the packaging and for the " warning, excessive consumption may cause diarrhea" warning.

It is truly one of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth
posted by The Whelk at 6:36 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I had a Swedish roommate for a semester, once, who introduced me to and got me hooked on this stuff when his family sent him a candy care package. Unfortunately I've never been able to find exactly the same style again, and it haunts me. The best I can do is to visit the local Dutch import store here in Portland and get some drophering which isn't close to the same and I'm pretty sure is just covered in regular NaCl, not the good stuff. And all the online stores I've found specifically sell Dutch or, sometimes, Finnish brands, never the Swedish sorts.
posted by curious nu at 6:37 AM on August 15, 2011

I'm firmly in the Pro-salty liquorice camp. Developed the taste when living in Denmark and Norway. Lutefisk not so much (coddled or not, that stuff is foul).
posted by arcticseal at 6:40 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Funny side note, i shared the blog with my friends from Finland, and they all said it made their mouths water. Always interesting to see how different people respond to different treats.
posted by usagizero at 6:41 AM on August 15, 2011

Somebody gave me some of this stuff as a gift.

I never spoke to them again.
posted by tel3path at 6:42 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Funny side note, i shared the blog with my friends from Finland, and they all said it made their mouths water. Always interesting to see how different people respond to different treats.

I'm dutch and my mouth is watering as well now that I've seen that blog.

That would have been ok if it weren't for the fact that the the office candy jar hasn't been refilled. It's usually filled with drop...
posted by Sourisnoire at 6:50 AM on August 15, 2011

Thanks to having a bunch of Finnish friends I not only love salmiakki, but have also discovered the awesomeness that occurs when you dissolve a packet of Turkish Pepper in vodka. Don't listen to the blog man (it also works best with cheap vodka - Glen's is about right).

On a related note, anyone know where I can buy Turkish Pepper in London? CyberCandy haven't had any for a couple of years....
posted by spectrevsrector at 6:57 AM on August 15, 2011

Marginally appropriate: The Disgusting English Candy Drill.
posted by Splunge at 7:03 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Why does the allergen list on the Tyrsisk Peber bar include sulfur?

Nomyte, if you're asking what a sulfur allergy is, sulfite preservatives in food can cause allergy-like reactions (intolerances), asthma symptoms such as wheezing in those with underlying asthma, hay fever-like reactions, urticaria (hives) and very rarely, anaphylaxis (allergic shock). One common place you find a sulfur warning is on dried fruit, in which it helps retain color.
posted by jocelmeow at 7:28 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

A visiting mefite brought salty liquorice candies - different kinds! - to a meetup a long while back, and they were fantastic. Not everyone thought so, but I was happy about the people who didn't like them because those of us who did got to eat more of them!
posted by rtha at 7:28 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

On a related note, anyone know where I can buy Turkish Pepper in London? CyberCandy haven't had any for a couple of years....

Scandinavian Kitchen has it, and a load of other salty swedish goodness too (they're a shop as well as a cafe).
posted by DangerIsMyMiddleName at 7:47 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine is half-Danish, and he always brings armloads of this stuff whenever he comes back from the Continent. One time he brought some on a camping trip, where I proceeded to get stoned and eat Salzige Heringe until my tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth. SO DESSICATED.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:48 AM on August 15, 2011

Splunge : I thought of that too. That is my favourite scene from that book. It had me in tears the first time I read it.
posted by Jode at 7:50 AM on August 15, 2011

My half-Finnish partner loves the stuff, she grew up with it. But it's not for me. I've tried it a few times and can tolerate it but I don't have the happy memories.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:53 AM on August 15, 2011

My mother is Dutch, and she introduced me to DoubleZout licorice. I was the only other one in the family to love it. Still do...but perhaps my biggest learning about it as an adult is what wonderful relief it provides for a sore throat.
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:07 AM on August 15, 2011

I'd been fascinated with salmiakki ever since stumbling upon an old wikipedia page (since apparently deleted) for "acquired tastes". Included things like huitlacoche, lutefisk, etc. I'd never been able to try the stuff, though.

But on my last trip to Boston I was with some friends in a little upscale grocery store in Cambridge, and found what was apparently the Nordic candy section. They had all KINDS of salted licorice. The only kind I could find with ammonia salts, though, was ... stuffed. It was like licorice tubes stuffed with this mealy brown sawdust-looking stuff. The licorice itself tasted awesome, very strong and mouth-watering, flinty. But the stuffing was nauseating. Like dog chow and molasses. Terrible. Even though I was clearly not eating the regular stuff, I think it put me off salmiakki for a while.
posted by penduluum at 8:08 AM on August 15, 2011

Now that the salty death has been discussed, can someone shed light on filmjölk? I haven't seen it in person, but was told that it (or a similar Northern European yoghurt-like product) is salty and has a runny, mucusy consistency (as described to me by someone who was not a fan of the stuff). If this is how it is supposed to be, is it another trick food, tolerated by people who eat it, primarily because it's funny for friends to gag on it?
posted by filthy light thief at 8:10 AM on August 15, 2011

My mouth is definitely watering. I'll have to head to the store and my one problem is deciding between Tyrkisk Peber and Dracula Piller.
posted by Anything at 8:19 AM on August 15, 2011

"The Meggezone is like being belted in the head with a Swiss Alp." Great link, Splunge. And I would say salty licorice is like having a tar pit stuffed down your windpipe.
posted by tel3path at 8:57 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have a bag of salty swedish fish on my desk right now. So good.

I had forgotten what an acquired taste salty liquorice is until a few weeks ago when I offered the fish to friends as we were walking out the door. Even then, I was like, "oh, no, uh, just, well, you can grab three or four if you want but maybe taste them first" and they were all like Yum, Swedish Fish and bit the heads off and literally turned around and went back inside and spit them out and poured themselves glasses of water.

The best I can do is to visit the local Dutch import store here in Portland and get some drophering which isn't close to the same and I'm pretty sure is just covered in regular NaCl, not the good stuff. And all the online stores I've found specifically sell Dutch or, sometimes, Finnish brands, never the Swedish sorts.

There are a number of places online that will sell mixed or custom orders of all kinds of liquorice. I think we've ordered from Licorice International before. They may not have specifically what you're looking for, but you can probably find at least a decent facsimile.
posted by cortex at 9:09 AM on August 15, 2011

If you want a mellow introduction to Dutch salted licorice, I recommend the Mentos drop flavour. Delicious ammonium chloride.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 9:13 AM on August 15, 2011

Huh. Today I learned that salty licorice is not beloved all around the world. Who'd think so?
posted by Harald74 at 9:16 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

So happy to hear of others who passionately love salty licorice. I discovered it in Vancouver in this little, mostly-Scottish candy store in Gastown, and I've loved it ever since. The astringency is so irresistable! One of my friends once described them as edible urinal cakes; disturbingly enough, I can't entirely disagree with that but I find them irresistable nonetheless.

Ever since I discovered salmiak I've been trying to make converts out of my friends, but 99% of the time they freak out and wail about as if I had placed a disc of flaming knives on their tongues ... that's okay, though - more for me!
posted by DingoMutt at 10:30 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

My uncle is Finnish, and he loves this stuff.

I had some once, and thought - So the people who invented Lutefisk thought they could make candy ?

At least they also brought us the sauna. That has allowed me to forgive them.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:33 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

filthy light thief, when I lived in Sweden (in the 80s), anywhere you'd find communal cereal (camp, cafeterias, etc) the filmjölk was right next to milk in an equally large dispenser. I quit eating cereal that year because I could never tell the proper upstanding milk machine/pitcher from its evil twin. In private homes, at least, it would be in the box so I could tell them apart.

In my general peer group, I think it was actually a little weird to eat cereal with regular milk as it was considered "too wet" that way. Not a joke food at all. Nor was surströmming. Lutefisk kind of was, though, if you were under 40. We still ate it at Christmas, though, because That's What You Do.

(I personally think that drinking yogurt is wrong and disturbing, but I won't deny someone else the right to drink it if they feel they need to live like that.)
posted by Lyn Never at 10:50 AM on August 15, 2011

Oh my gosh, that looks so yummy! My favorites are the Turkisk Peber and the Haribou piratos (rated "inedible" for some strange reason).

I will never forget bringing a bag of the Piratos to my old work, and offering one to the wife of the owner. She said "I love licorice!" and grabbed one and stuck it in her mouth. Whereupon she promptly spit it out on the floor and made a beeline for the sink to wash her mouth out. She was a stereotypical Southern Belle, so it was completely unexpected and hysterically funny behavior...

World Market and Dean & DeLuca here in D.C. used to carry good quality Dutch salty licorice, but I haven't been able to find any in a long time. All they have now is the rather bland Katjes cat stuff. I used to haze my interns by making them try a piece of the really salty goodies, but now I hoard whatever I can get (online, in care packages from my mom) instead.
posted by gemmy at 10:50 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding Wylla, salty liquorice is NOT salmiakki/salmiak. Salty liquorice is to salmiakki as fruit candy is to sour fruit candy.

I actually dislike salty liquorice and LOVE salmiakki. Odd since I never had it until moving to Finland when I was 20, but who knows, my ancestors include Norwegians from Lofoten who made their own lutefisk. "The ammoniac gene"? :) (Haven't had lutefisk yet. But if it's anything like that wallop of a sour-salty tang in salmiakki, there's a chance I'd like it. Curious now.)
posted by fraula at 11:35 AM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

rtha, it was quite a happy surprise that the drop I brought from the Netherlands to the SF meetup met with some appreciation!

I generally use the following taxonomy wrt liquorice:
- salmiakdrop/ salmiakki (scandinavian style liquorice. Pronounced pure salmiac (ammonium chloride) taste)
- zoute drop ('salt'. also salmiac taste. But more rounded with liquorice root.)
- zoete drop (sweet. Mostly liquorice root. Low on salmiac)
- any of the mixin tastes of aniseed, mint/menthol or laurel

An extra quality distinction is if a kind of licorice contains gum arabic.
posted by joost de vries at 12:37 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

I had some once, and thought - So the people who invented Lutefisk thought they could make candy ?


I actually laughed out load at that. Funny how i like the candy, but dear god, lutefisk... my dad loves it, growing up the church we went to had 'lutefisk dinners' (enough right there to turn the pope athiest, so evil), and even the smell of it brings up memories of eldrich abominations. (not really, but i'd guess that is what cthulhu smells like). The fact that they also had lefse at those nights turned me off that even for years, although now i can eat it fine, it still brings back memories of that lutefisk smell.
posted by usagizero at 12:40 PM on August 15, 2011

English people are famous for being able to handle only bland food.

... and people from Indiana are famous for being utterly ignorant about the world around them.

H-P Sauce, English mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, Marmite, pickled onions, piccalilli, Stilton, mature cheddar, and in more recent years, curry by the boatload. Not bland.

Salmiak is still generally pretty foul, though.
posted by kcds at 1:27 PM on August 15, 2011

Dude, seriously, it's a stereotype. The stereotype is that English food is bland. Even the famous HP Sauce is primarily tamarind, not exactly a fruit indigenous to England. Your boatloads of curry are only by an accident of history. And ask a French person whether "mature cheddar" even counts as cheese. But don't get too bent out of shape about it.

As for salty dutch candy, my spouse is 2nd-generation north german, as in that's where her parents are from although she's never lived there. And she loves this disgusting stuff. It's got to be a genetic thing.
posted by GuyZero at 2:23 PM on August 15, 2011

In the good old days one could get very pure and hard licorice mixed with a lot of ammonium chloride and very little sugar. It was cheap, too. But it became illegal to add more than 8% "salmiak" to the licorice. It's poisonous or something. Since then, as they have added sugar, salt and gummi arabicum to compensate, licorice has become less elegant.
I've heard this is good, but I haven't tried because I'm scared of disappointment.
posted by mumimor at 3:34 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

The stereotype is that English food is bland.

What's the blandest thing on the menu?
posted by GeckoDundee at 3:41 PM on August 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

When I was a teenager we got to put ammonia and hydrochloric acid together to create our very own batch of pure ammonium chloride in our chemistry class. The teacher encouraged us to taste the resulting white powdery stuff. It was DELICIOUS. (Um yeah, I'm a Finn.)
posted by sively at 4:28 PM on August 15, 2011

Ha sively, indeed. I remember in highschool putting jars of concentrated hydrochloric acid and ammonia next to eachother. A faint cloud of salmiak formed above them. The transmutation of deadly chemicalness into pure goodiness; alchemy!
posted by joost de vries at 7:50 PM on August 15, 2011

I'm not a fan of the straight stuff, but I'd kill for it's alcoholic version.
posted by MikeKD at 10:56 PM on August 15, 2011

I've been to Finland and I've tasted this stuff and, well, it's marginally more palatable than Hákarl in Iceland, but only by a whisker.
posted by joannemullen at 3:35 AM on August 16, 2011