MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
09 December 2010
'Tis the season for sweets. What is your recent favorite? Mine has been the simple classic lemon drop.
"Drop"!?! Zei iemand "drop"?!?
Oh.
Right. You were not speaking of liquorice, lovely salty liquorice.
That's not especially christmassy though.
I think I'll get get bonbons from the court provider in The Hague. Even most bonbons from Belgium can't compete. That's just the right think for this season.
My father has been a life-long liquorice addict (I personally can't stand the stuff), so I was thrilled at the chance when we were in Amsterdam to get him some of the legendary european salt liquorice. He hated it.
There are a lot of differences in quality of salty liquorice Ardiril.
It's rather intrigueing though that a lot of people who grew up with salty liquorice have to restrain themselves not to gorge on it to the point of getting nauseous and that people who didn't can't stand it.
The main thing to look out for in salty liquorice is whether it contains the ingredient gum arabic. That's often an indication of general quality in salty liquorice.
Btw I brought salty liquorice from NL to a mefi meetup in San Francisco. And they ate the whole lot.
Which was rather gratifying.
Toffee covered with chocolate and almonds! I make a big batch every year during the holidays to give away, and every year I wish I'd made more. I assume the recipients enjoy it, but honestly I'd never really thought about it before, simply because I love the stuff so much.
I do like a lemon drop once in a while, like a little palate cleanser. When I was a kid, I had a passion for these little round tins of fruit-flavored hard candies. They were like dusty little jewels, all different shapes and colors rattling around in there, waiting for my deliberation and delight. I haven't had one of those in years!
I'm not a huge fan of sweets and candies. At work today someone had brought in a huge box of Haribo Giant Strawbs. I had one, dear God, I wish I hadn't. It didn't taste of strawberry, it had a horrible chemical taste, stuck all over my teeth and left a nasty coating on my mouth. I had to brush my teeth immediately after eating it, it was so vile. All the admin staff were saying how fantastic the Strawbs were. Yeuch!
'Tis the season for the giant tins of Quality Street and Roses, and if they're there, I'll pick at them, but I wouldn't seek them out. Where sweet things are concerned I'd rather have a piece of lemon meringue pie than a bar of chocolate any day.
Question from an ignorant European to the assembled Americans: what distinction do you draw between sweets and candies? They're all sweets here, and I'm curious as to where the boundary lies for you.
Well, chocolate. The smoother and more Swiss/Belgian like, the better. Top favorite confection is dark chocolate covered orange peel. And top favorite non-chocolate thing --- oh, it's a tie between caramels, Swedish fish, and honey drops.
toastedbeagle: I sub pecans out for walnuts in every recipe that calls for them. I basically cannot abide walnuts. Pecans tho, those I can get behind. That was the only habit worth keeping from having lived with a Southerner for eight years.
the x adored Little Debbie snack cakes to an obscene degree, and would have purchased them by the bale at Costco had I ever consented to such a thing... our holiday season compromise was to let him keep ONE case of Little-Debbie-Whatever-HCFS-laden-atrocity-he-most-craved in the house at any given time. One. Come 1 January any that went unconsumed got binned.
Top favorite confection is dark chocolate covered orange peel.
ohohohohohohohOH, this is what I meant. Disregard all other answers I make to this question, ever.
altolinguistic, I'm not sure if "sweets" designates a narrower category (like "candy" or "baked goods") to most North American English speakers or if most of us use the word much like you describe using it. I do think the word "sweets" probably has less currency here than narrower categories like "dessert" or "candy" or "cookies."
As to why a thread about "sweets" ended up being mostly about candy: I think we just got on a roll naming candies, with a few exceptions. (Mmmmmm, Toll House cookies!)
To me, "sweets" just means something sweet: candy or cookies or tarts or cake or whatever. Anyone else from N. Am. want to chime in?
Oh, how I use to love those tins of candies, as much for the tin as the candies.
I bought the house Godiva chocolates for Christmas, truffles, dark chocolate, and almonds.
Oh, how I use to love those tins of candies, as much for the tin as the candies.
Oh, so true! And later on, I discovered Altoids, and for a decade or so my small-storage/household organization was all Altoid-scented and, of course, impossible to tell apart, all being identical.
Pumpkin pie (happens every Thanksgiving and lasts into the new year). Jelly donuts. Reeses Peanut Butter cups (if I buy a bag, I will eat the whole bag). The occasional Mounds bar, like my mother. Rice pudding. Cereal like Corn Pops, Apple Jacks, or Frosted Flakes (one of my less deadly snacks).
Last time we went shopping I saw Reeses Klondike bars. Must. Have.
Salted liquorice (aka salmiakki) is awesome. I love that stuff, so it's probably a good thing they don't sell it around here (every now and then, someone brings me a pack or two from Finland, though). Oddly enough, however, nearly all grocery chains do carry Koskenkorva Salmiakki. I don't know what's up with that.
Daniel Charms, salmiakki is one form of salty liquorice.
I'm tempted to start a disquisition on kinds of liquorice, good brands and where to get them in the US. But I won't since this is not ask mefi.
I've never had that vodka drink. But I do think Jägermeister has somewhat of a liquorice flavour, right? In fact there was a whole class of digestifs around the 1900s that tasted similarly.
My wife makes piles of candy for the holidays. Peanut-butter balls (also known as buckeyes), peanut brittle, coconut cremes, and chocolate-topped toffee among others. I've learned a lot of self-control over the years.
I've never had that vodka drink. But I do think Jägermeister has somewhat of a liquorice flavour, right?
No idea, as I've never had any, but I doubt that the taste is similar, as the vodka drink doesn't just have a bit of a salmiakki flavour, it has a lot.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
