Finland: Salt Licorice Ice Cream.
2 min read
Here we are:
We are in Finland, where black licorice is intensified with a hit of salty, stinging ammonium chloride, and the resulting candy is a popular snack. So popular, that summertime in Finland means salt licorice ice cream.
Salt licorice ice cream is sell in different forms like scoops, soft serve, and ice-cream bars. The candy company named Fazer makes their ice cream in the same shape as their typic salt licorice candy. The sweet, salty ice cream is a deep gray, it’s often covered in an dark black coating.
Curious non-Finns, and there are many, as shown in this commercial from Fazer, may wonder how such a flavor was born. Ammonium chloride, as it happens, has been used in cough medicine. Licorice is in fact prized for its medicinal qualities, and in the early 20th century became a popular flavoring. It’s probably that the two ingredients met over on the pharmacy counter! And curious that salty licorice can be found all around Europe, but this ice cream only in Finland….
