Liquorice is a popular treat enjoyed by people all around the world. But did you know that there's more to this tasty confection than meets the eye? Here are a few fun facts about liquorice that you might not know!
1. Liquorice has a long history.
The use of liquorice root dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was used for medicinal purposes. It was also a popular treat in ancient Greece and Rome.
2. Liquorice is actually a plant.
The sweet flavour of liquorice comes from the roots of the Glycyrrhiza glabra plant, which means 'the sweet root'. This name is no understatement because, in its natural state, the liquorice root is 30-50 times sweeter than plain sugar. We gather our fine liquorice roots from central Asia and Georgia.
3. Liquorice can be both sweet and salty.
While the sweet variety of liquorice is the most common in the United States, salty liquorice is popular in Northern and Eastern Europe. Our salty liquorice is made with salmiak; a unique ingredient, especially used with liquorice in the Nordic countries. It has a sour and salty taste compared to regular salt which has a sweet and salty taste.
4. Liquorice as a confection can be made in three ways;
slow cooked liquorice, cast liquorice, and extruded liquorice. At LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW, we cook our liquorice in two different ways. One is the extruded liquorice, where the liquorice is cooked under pressure and then cut into small pieces - this is the type of liquorice you find in most of our chocolate-coated products and our pure liquorice variants 1-4. The slow-cooked liquorice is cooked in an open pot for 4 hours, then handcrafted by a liquorice chef, adding flavours such as granulated salt - a much more intense and caramel-like type of liquorice that you can try as our organic SLOW CRAFTED collection.
5. There are many uses for liquorice beyond just eating it.
In addition to being used as a flavouring for food and drinks, liquorice has also been used in traditional medicine and as a natural dye. If you're looking for inspiration to use liquorice in recipes, you can explore the recipes here on our blog!
We hope you enjoyed learning about these fun facts about liquorice! Next time you indulge in our gourmet liquorice, you can impress your fellow liquorice-loving friends with your newfound knowledge.
You can also learn more about how our liquorice is made by joining our factory tours and learning from our very knowledgeable guides.