A partially eaten stick of yellow rock candy.

Rock candy in various colours.

Rock candy crystallized in the form of cubes.

Origins

Candied sugar has its origins in India and Persia. Arabic writers in the first half of the 9th century described the production of candy sugar. Crystals were grown as a result of cooling supersaturated sugar solutions. In order to accelerate crystallization, confectioners later learned to immerse small twigs in the solution for the crystals to grow on. The sugar solution was colored with cochineal and indigo and scented with ambergris or flower essence.^[1]

In cuisine

Rock candy is a different product from British rock, also called seaside rock, which more closely resembles a candy cane.

Rock candy is used in Chinese cuisine. It is used to sweeten tong sui (sweet soups) and chrysanthemum tea, as well as Chinese liquors.

Rock candy is called mishri in Hindi and is widely used in India with aniseed (saunf in Hindi) as a mouth freshener, especially after meals. In Telugu, it is known as patika-bellam. One can find these two being offered along with the check/bill, at most restaurants in India. Rock candy is called kalkandu in Tamil and is commonly used in Tamil cuisine especially in Jaffna (Northern Sri Lanka).

Rock candy is also used in Mexico to make calaveras de azúcar ("sugar skulls") on the celebration of the Day of the Dead. Children make the rock candy in the shapes of skulls by special strings and then decorate them with icing and jewels. These are eaten after the festivities.

References

1. ↑ Candy Sugar- the purest form of cane sugar!

External links

• Exploratorium.edu Recipe for rock candy as an educational exercise in crystal

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