Written by Miranda González
It’s not officially Halloween until you groan, “Ohhhh, I think I ate too much candy.” Sure, we normally attribute candy-induced stomachaches to children, but adults are certainly not immune. Americans LOVE candy. According to Business Insider, we spend $29 billion a year on it. But we are certainly not alone. Candy is popular all over the world, and a person’s preferred candy likely varies according to where he or she is from.
Have you ever wondered what sweets people in other countries are snacking on? Here’s a sampling:
Brigadeiros – Brazil
The great thing about this candy is that you can make it at home by heating up sweet and condensed milk, butter, and chocolate and rolling it into balls, and voila! You’ve made some tasty Brazilian bonbons.
Palm Sugar Candy – Cambodia
Sap is extracted from palm trees and then boiled down into a syrup, which then cools and hardens into this yummy, preservative-free candy. It’s usually almond-colored and sold in little cakes.
Turkish Delight – Turkey
If you’ve ever read C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, you’ll know that the character Edmund loved this sweet so much that he was willing to betray his siblings in order to get his hands on some. It is little squares made of sugar and starch and flavored with things like orange, rosewater, or cinnamon. It’s also full of chopped nuts and dried fruit and dusted with powdered sugar.
Tamarind Candy – Mexico and Thailand
It seems odd that the two countries where this candy is most popular are so far apart, but so be it. The many variations of this candy usually involve some form of sweetened, salted tamarind paste. And it almost always includes chile. If you like your candy to bite you back, this is the stuff for you.
Truffles – France
These were invented in Chambéry, France in 1895. There are lots of variations in how a truffle is made and what ingredients it contains, but the basic center is made of ganache. “Ganache” is just a fancy word for cream mixed with chocolate. Mmm…cream and chocolate…how could you possibly go wrong?
Jordan Almonds – Italy
It’s said that people have been eating honey-covered almonds since ancient Rome. However, Italian cooks began coating the almonds in sugar instead in the 1400s. Eventually they evolved to the pastel-colored, candy-coated almonds that we know today.
Green Tea Candy – Japan
The Japanese can’t get enough of green tea. They have all sorts of green tea-flavored candy – everything from taffy to hard candy to Kit-Kats. Yes, even Kit-Kats! If green tea helps with weight loss, but I eat it in the form of candy, do they cancel each other out? Let’s hope so!
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