Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hey, Netherlands: Dit smaakt slecht

My brother just got back from the Netherlands, and he brought me one of (apparently) their most popular candies. Not surprisingly, the candy is licorice-based. In my limited experience with "Old World" candies, natural flavorings are much more common that here in America. The company that produces the candy is "Oldtimers," and there are several varieties of their licorice. My brother brought me the "mildzoute" variety, which means, roughly, "mildly salted."

NOT TRUE, OLDTIMERS!!!! NOT TRUE!!!

I ate one of these candies. One. When is the last time I can say that of any candy? Possibly never. I think they must soak these things in the Dead Sea for a year or so. A herd of deer could lick on one of these for their entire lifetimes. And these are the "mildzoute."


There are, according to my brother and his Dutch friend, an extra salty variety-- for those who have just run marathons, I think. And, there are also just plain sweet ones, I think, but my brother would have gotten none of the pleasure from giving me something that just tastes good.

So, anyway, I am not trying to slam the Dutch, because I am sure that they have a rich and wonderful culture. But with the salt, Nederlanders-- back off a bit, man. You're wasting licorice here!

2 comments:

  1. Jeremiah,
    I was extremely happy to find myself -albeit as the anonymous 'Dutch friend'- on a U.S. blog on candy. But, after the initial glow of joy faded, I realised you could not be further from the truth with your observation!!
    We Dutchies just happen to have a very broad taste palet when it comes to candy. The full array of sweet, sour ("zuurtjes"), bitter (80% bitter chocolate) and salt ("drop") is consumed & loved. The fact that the American underdeveloped, sweet-oriented taste cannot even handle "mildzout" doesn't surprise me...I wasn't expecting a culture where hamburgers even taste sweet, pop-tarts are considered apt for breakfast and 'sweet' equals 'cool' to fully appreciate the delicacies of the Old World.

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  2. I am sure that there are many things we Americans eat that you would also find disgusting-- and that is the point. Always been a nurture over nature kinda guy. That said, this zoute-y thing is disgusting. Maybe if I had grown up eating 6.2 million mgs of salt per drop, I would feel different. Alas, that ain't how it happened.

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