Candy, also called sweets or lollies, is a confection that
features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called sugar
confectionery, encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing
gum, and sugar candy. Vegetables, fruit,
or nuts which have been glazed and coated with sugar are said to be candied.
Physically, candy is characterized by the use of a
significant amount of sugar, or, in the case of sugar-free candies, by the
presence of sugar substitutes. Unlike a cake or loaf of bread that would be
shared among many people, candies are usually made in smaller pieces. However,
the definition of candy also depends upon how people treat the food. Unlike
sweet pastries served for a dessert course at the end of a meal, candies are
normally eaten casually, often with the fingers, as a snack between meals. Each
culture has its own ideas of what constitutes candy rather than dessert. The
same food may be a candy in one culture and a dessert in another
Between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, the Persians,
followed by the Greeks, discovered the people in India and their "reeds
that produce honey without bees". They adopted and then spread sugar and
sugarcane agriculture. Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical South and Southeast
Asia, while the word sugar is derived from the Sanskrit word Saccharum. Pieces
of sugar were produced by boiling sugarcane juice in ancient India and consumed
as Khanda, dubbed as the original candy.
Before sugar was readily available, candy was based on
honey. Honey was used in Ancient China, Middle East, Egypt, Greece and the
Roman Empire to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create forms of
candy. Candy is still served in this form today, though now it is more
typically seen as a type of garnish.
Candy was originally a form of medicine, either used to calm
the digestive system or cool a sore throat. In the Middle Ages candy appeared
on the tables of only the most wealthy at first. At that time it began as a
combination of spices and sugar that was used as an aid to digestive problems.
Digestive problems were very common during this time due to the constant
consumption of food that was neither fresh nor well balanced. Banquet hosts
would typically serve these types of 'candies' at banquets for their guests.
One of these candies, sometimes referred to as a 'chamber spice', was made with
cloves, ginger, aniseed, juniper berries, almonds and pine kernels dipped in
melted sugar.
The Middle English word candy began to be used in the late
13th century.
In the United States
The first candy came to America in the early eighteenth
century from Britain and France. Only a few of the early colonists were
proficient in sugar work and were able to provide the sugary treats for the
very wealthy. Rock candy, made from crystallized sugar, was the simplest form
of candy, but even this basic form of sugar was considered a luxury and was
only attainable by the rich.In contrast, since 1979 the world has produced more
sugar than can be sold, making it very attainable and cheap.
The candy business underwent a drastic change in the 1830's
when technological advances and the availability of sugar opened up the market.
The new market was not only for the enjoyment of the rich but also for the
pleasure of the working class as well. There was also an increasing market for
children. Confectioners were no longer the venue for the wealthy and high class
but for children as well. While some fine confectioners remained, the candy
store became a staple of the child of the American working class. Penny candies
epitomized this transformation of candy.Penny candy became the first material
good that children spent their own money on. For this reason candy store-owners
relied almost entirely on the business of children to keep them running. Even
penny candies were directly descended from medicated lozenges that held bitter
medicine in a hard sugar coating.
In 1847, the invention of the candy press (also known as a
toy machine) made it possible to produce multiple shapes and sizes of candy at
once. In 1851, confectioners began to use a revolving steam pan to assist in
boiling sugar. This transformation meant that the candy maker was no longer
required to continuously stir the boiling sugar. The heat from the surface of
the pan was also much more evenly distributed and made it less likely the sugar
would burn. These innovations made it possible for only one or two people to
successfully run a candy business.
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