A chronicle of confectionaries throughout the centuries—from honeycombs to Haribo. “There is much to get your teeth into within these pages.” —Best of British Magazine We all remember sweets—objects of pure delight and the endless cause of squabbles, fights even, hoarding and swapping; a chance to gorge, suck, crunch, and chew. But they’re by no means just a nostalgic thing of days past, and it’s not only children who love and devour sweets—gobstoppers, bulls eyes, licorice, seaside rock, bubble gum, and the like; grown-ups of all ages are partial to a good humbug, or a lemon sherbet or two—in the car, (annoyingly) at the cinema or while out walking—wherever and whenever, the sweet is there, the sweet delivers and the sweet rarely disappoints. Sweets then are ubiquitous and enduring; they cross age, culture, and gender boundaries and they have been around, it seems, forever. This book tells the story of sweets from their primitive beginnings to their place today as a billion-pound commodity with its sophisticated, seductive packaging and sales, advertising and marketing. It explores the people’s favorites, past and present; but there is also a dark side to sweets—and this book does not shy away from the deleterious effect on health as manifested in obesity, tooth decay, and diabetes. It delves into sweet and candy shops in supermarkets and markets, retro sweet shops, fudge makers, vintage sweets online, sweet manufacturing, chocolate, the grey line between sweets and “medicines” ancient and modern. It goes round the world unwrapping sweets from different countries and cultures and it examines how immigrants from all nations have changed our own sweet world.

In Sweets, Tim Richardson takes us on a magical confectionery tour, letting his personal passion fuel the narrative of candy's rich and unusual history. Beginning with a description of the biology of sweetness itself, Richardson navigates the ancient history of sweets, the incredible range and diversity of candies worldwide, the bizarre figures and practices of the confectionery industry, and the connection between food and sex. He goes on to explore the role of sweets in myth and folklore and, finally, offers a personal philosophy of continual sweet-eating based on the writings of Epicurus. "For anyone with a sweet tooth, Sweets is manna...This history of candy is full of delights."-New York Times Book Review "Sweets is an informative, entertaining grab-bag of personal opinion, anecdote and culinary history." -Los Angeles Times

Presents a history of candy and the candy industry, offering stories behind the candies, packaging, and the companies like M&M Mars.

A social, cultural, and--above all--culinary history of dessert, Sweet Invention explores the world's great dessert traditions, from ancient India to 21st-century Indiana. Each chapter begins with author Michael Krondl tasting and analyzing an icon of dessert, such as baklava from the Middle East or macarons from France, and then combines extensive scholarship with a lively writing style to spin an ancient tale of some of the world's favorite treats and their creators. From the sweet makers of Persia who gave us the first donuts to the sugar sculptors of Renaissance Italy whose creativity gave rise to the modern-day wedding cake, this authoritative read clears up numerous misconceptions about the origins of various desserts, while elucidating their social, political, religious--and even sexual--uses through the ages.

A cultural history of candy-how it evolved from medicine and a luxury to today's Kit Kat bars and M&M's Told through the Kate Hopkins' travels in Europe and the U.S., Sweet Tooth is a first-hand account of her obsession with candy and a detailed look at its history and development. The sugary treats we enjoy today have a prominent past entertaining kings, curing the ill, and later developing into a billion-dollar industry. The dark side of this history is that the confectionery industry has helped create an environment of unhealthy overindulgence, has quelled any small business competition that was deemed to be a risk to any large company's bottom line, and was largely responsible for the slave trade that evolved during the era of colonization. Candy's history is vast and complex and plays a distinct part in the growth of the Western world. Thanks to the ubiquity of these treats which allows us to take them for granted, that history has been hidden or forgotten. Until now. Filled with Hopkins' trademark humor and accompanied by her Candy Grab Bag tasting notes, Sweet Tooth is a must-read for everybody who considers themselves a candy freak.

RECOMMENDED BY SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE AS A "BEST BOOK ABOUT FOOD OF 2016"! READERS WITH AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORY OF FOOD AND AMERICANA WILL SAVOR THIS CULTURAL HISTORY There’s more to candy than its sugary taste. As this book shows, candy has a remarkable history, most of it sweet, some of it bitter. The author, a food historian and candy expert, tells the whole story—from the harvesting of the marshmallow plant in ancient Egypt to the mass-produced candy innovations of the twentieth century. Along the way, the reader is treated to an assortment of entertaining facts and colorful characters. These include a deposed Mexican president who ignited the modern chewing gum industry, the Native Americans who created pemmican, an important food, by mixing fruit with dried meat, and the little-known son of a slave woman who invented the sugar-processing machine still in use today. Susan Benjamin traces people’s changing palate over the centuries as roots, barks, and even bugs were savored as treats. She surveys the many uses of chocolate from the cacao bean enjoyed by Olmec Indians to candy bars carried by GIs in World War II. She notes that many candies are associated with world’s fairs and other major historical events. Fun and informative, this book will make you appreciate the candy you love even more by revealing the fascinating backstory behind it.

With eye-popping colors and shapes, intense flavors, and curious textures, sweets and candy are beloved by people of all ages worldwide. They provide minor treats, lessons in economics for children, and colorful giveaways to mark festivities. They can be admired for beauty and novelty, make ideal gifts, and can even be used to woo. But these seemingly inconsequential indulgences are freighted with centuries of changing cultural attitudes, social and economic history, emotional attachments, and divergent views on the salubriousness of sugar. How did confectionary become so popular? Why do we value concentrated sweetness in such varied, gooey forms? And in the face of ongoing health debates, why persist in eating sweets? From marzipan pigs and nutty nougat to bubblegum and bonbons, Sweets and Candy looks beneath the glamour and sparkle to explore the sticky history of confectionary. Methods for making sweets can be traced back to the importance of sugar in Arabic medicine and the probable origin of this practice in ancient India—a place where sweetness is still important for both humans and gods. Gorging on gobstoppers from these early candy antecedents to modern-day delectables, Laura Mason describes the bewildering and fascinating ways in which different cultures have made, consumed, valued, and adored sweets throughout history. Featuring a selection of mouthwatering illustrations and scrumptious recipes to try at home, this global candy trail will delight sweet-toothed foodies and history buffs everywhere.