286548 Tue Sep 12 12:02:16 -0700 2000 21 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1536863 I was in a cab in Manhattan coming down 7th Ave. and between12th & 13th St. ( I think) on the West side of the street was a small candy store with half a dozen handwritten signs all over the window saying: DUTCH LICORICE. What's the deal? Is this especially flavorful? tender? does it come in exotic flavors? I am not a big licorice fan but I am curious as to why this may be superior or worth checking out. Tue Sep 12 12:02:16 -0700 2000 0 Jessica Shatan 1 1536871 I think that "Dutch Licorice" is black licorice coated with salt. I've never tried it (plain is bad enough, IMHO), but my friend's aunt lived in Sweden and Holland for a while and became obsessed with the stuff. I could be wrong, though... Tue Sep 12 12:29:36 -0700 2000 1536863 0 Lauren 2 1536872 I've never had it, either, but I thought Dutch licorice wasn't sweet at all, and was in fact salty, as Lauren says, though I didn't think it was coated with salt. I believe it comes in many shapes and styles. Tue Sep 12 12:34:47 -0700 2000 1536871 0 Bilmo 3 1536899 Thanks, you guys! You've all been great to illuminate this otherwise dark area of my chowing knowledge :-) --Jessica Tue Sep 12 15:30:53 -0700 2000 1536872 0 Jessica Shatan 3 1537067 MY FATHER IS FROM HOLLAND AND EVER SINCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL HE GAVE ME ZOLTE DROPS (SALTED LICORICE)IT IS DEFINETELY A TASTE THAT IS AQUIRED. I AM ADDICTED. GOOD STUFF. Fri Nov 03 18:20:04 -0800 2000 1536872 0 BRIGET BARRON 2 1536873 Not necessarily coated with salt, but salty. There are grades of saltiness too. I like the slightly salty stuff, but the double-salt makes my head spin. - VF Tue Sep 12 12:35:18 -0700 2000 1536871 0 VF 2 1537160 A previous boss of mine would buy the salt licorice by the pound. I still remember him offering some to unsuspecting clients - quite a taste surprise if there is no warning! ElizabethC Wed Dec 11 00:15:54 -0800 2002 1536871 0 ElizabethC 3 1537162 Like most things that taste really wrong and bizarre at first, it is quite addictive. Similar in some ways to salty sweets from Mexico...... Wed Dec 11 16:27:25 -0800 2002 1537160 0 BGrey 4 1537165 There are a number of things that fall in this category. You know, things that taste weird or down-right unpleasant at first but soon reveal an addictive quality. Retsina comes to mind. Also Liederkrantz cheese and oil-cured olives. Bitter lemon and Chartreuse. What is your nasty little pleasure that elicits shivers of revulsion in the non-partakers? Thu Dec 12 10:30:42 -0800 2002 1537162 0 flavrmeistr 5 1537166 You keep mentioning Liederkranz cheese. Is that available again, or are you having a memory lapse? Thu Dec 12 13:50:28 -0800 2002 1537165 0 ironmom 6 1537167 I sit up in bed at night and say "liederkrantz". My wife has learned to ignore it . No, seriously...I screwed up and posted the same thing twice. Must be from all those years toiling away at the Dept. of Redundancy Dept. Thu Dec 12 15:12:22 -0800 2002 1537166 0 flavrmeistr 6 1537202 What ever happened to Liederkrantz cheese anyway? I used to love it. Sat Jun 07 19:36:58 -0700 2003 1537166 0 Rosie Fox 7 1537224 Borden was forced to suspend production due to two factors. One was low demand. The other was the bacteria in the cheese exceeded someones measuring stick. I don't remember if it was Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Admin. Because of low demand and the fact that they couldn't legally sell it, they stopped production. My Mother in law cries every weekend in mourning for this cheese. Fri Sep 19 15:12:02 -0700 2003 1537202 0 T Steinert 7 1537258 I totally agree. Where the heck is the Liederkrantz cheese?? Somebody help us cheese lovers out! Tue Mar 09 19:35:15 -0800 2004 1537202 0 Bob 7 1537259 I totally agree. Where the heck is the Liederkrantz cheese?? Somebody help us cheese lovers out! Tue Mar 09 19:36:05 -0800 2004 1537202 0 Bob 2 1537164 My grandmother would always bring back sacks of Lakrits (salty little licorice pastilles) from Sweden. Also, other nasty candies like horehound drops. They grow on you, though. My wife had a Finnish boy in her 2nd grade class a few years ago whose family was in the candy business. For the Christmas party, he and his dad brought in a huge assortment of exquisite chocolates, nougats and fruity chews. I asked Jouni which was his favorite. He brought over a bag of tiny hand-rolled pastilles--the strongest, saltiest licorice I ever tasted. Magnificent. A week later, my wife stuck a three-pound sack of these things in my hand. "These are from Jouni", she said. "He told me that you are the only American he knows that likes these. Everybody else spits them out". Wed Dec 11 19:30:58 -0800 2002 1536871 0 flavrmeistr 3 1537232 I loved them Used to be carried by Ikea. But no more! Wed Oct 15 21:51:44 -0700 2003 1537164 0 David PR Bailin 1 1536878 There was a discussion about this last year. I posted the linked message below, a discussion of varieties of Dutch licorice. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/268592#1415048 Tue Sep 12 13:03:05 -0700 2000 1536863 0 MU 2 1536940 MU, I think I reported back to the board, but just in case I never did, thanks for all your suggestions re: licorice. If nothing else, your post turned me on to the fabulous "Broadway Nut Shop" (between 80th and 81st on Broadway) I love the freshly roasted nuts there, and the owner, Steve, is tremendously helpful and willing to let you sample anythign there. I'm very fond of the licorice coins. Like you, I'm not wild about the extra-salty ones, but like the firm ones that are semi-sweet. Great stuff. Wed Sep 13 03:32:18 -0700 2000 1536878 0 Dave Feldman 3 1536949 Dave - glad you like Broadway Nut Shop. The other place I mentioned in that post is the one that prompted Jessica's question. They're a candy shop only, but just as helpful and willing to let you sample anything you have questions about. They also carry a slightly different licorice assortment than Broadway Nut, so if you are looking for new varieties, definitely check them out. Oh, and in Boston (well, Cambridge), the shop that sells all the fancy English tea and cookies (I think it's Upton Tea Co???) also carries several kinds of Dutch licorice. It's still in the original packages, so you can't sample or buy in small quantities, though. Wed Sep 13 06:57:58 -0700 2000 1536940 0 MU 2 1537026 Thanks for the link to Dave's post on Dutch licorice. He is quite corect about the variety. There are probably more kinds of licorice ("drop") in The Netherlands than we have kinds of chocolate bars here. It's mind-boggling. He is also right that they have no strawberry, but they do have a variety of colors of dropjes that each have a (slightly) different taste. Curiously enough, in one office I worked in there, the type of drop they always had set out was called "English Licorice", which contained a variety of differently shaped, brightly (multi-)colored pieces that all tasted very sweet and only mildly licorice. Thu Sep 14 13:38:11 -0700 2000 1536878 0 Fred Vinson 2 1537163 One reason for so many forms of licorice is that since the Middle Ages it was used for its medicinal properties, which is why it is sold in apothecary shops in Holland to this day. Some of the forms (coins, death's heads, cats) are very old. It was considered an expectorant, cough supressant and analgesic in the case of sore throats. It also suppresses thirst -- I found looking around on some Dutch sites that Napoleon had it issued to his soldiers for that purpose. The different varieties have various additives which I suppose are meant to enhance the medicinal properties of the licorice root in various ways: bay laurel, anise, eucalyptus and honey are used. The site linked below is in Dutch, but by clicking on the four choices you get pictures of all the different kinds. It is amazing how many there are! Link: http://www.eucalypta.com/nl/dept_33.html Wed Dec 11 18:55:24 -0800 2002 1536878 0 Dancin' Cook