Let's Talk About Candy!
I love reading books about food so I was very excited when I discovered Candy by Samira Kawash. Plus, it gave me a good excuse to eat candy and pretend like I was just "doing research for the sake of being able to better engage with the book." I was just eating that Sour Patch kids candy for you, dear readers, so I could give you a better blogging experience.
This book was very well researched, and well written, although not as fun as some of the previous books I've read about food.
I learned a lot of fun (and disgusting) things from reading this book;
- The California Lima Bean Council once ran an ad trying to convince people to put marshmallows and bacon on their Lima Beans. I could vomit just thinking about that.
- In a bid to try to sell more Oh Henry! candy bars, the company put out an Oh Henry! Cookbook filled with such delicious concoctions as Oh Henry! Salad (Just grate some cheese onto a soda cracker, top with a slice of the candy bar, broil and keep the barf bags handy!)
- In the early 1900's many experts were advising people to feed their kids more sugar because it would give them extra energy. More energy? Really? Are there actually parents in the world who are sitting around saying things like, "My biggest parenting challenge right now is that my children don't have enough energy. If only I could find a way to make them even more hyper."
- Someone once went to prison for trafficking in margarine. No, that's not a typo. Someone actually went to prison because of margarine. When margarine was first invented there were a lot of manufacturers who were trying to pass their product off as real butter, which led to Congress passing the Margarine Act of 1886. And Charlie Wille who looks like a woman dressing up as Geraldo Rivera for Halloween, decided that following the law is for chumps and passed some margarine off as butter.
Show of hands if you think this sounds like the plot from an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. I can't possibly be the only one who is picturing Barney Fife as the arresting officer.
And now I'd love to hear about your favorite book about food (mine is Something From the Oven by Laura Shaprio) or your favorite candy (Nestle Crunch and Sour Patch Watermelon!)
Marshmallows and bacon on lima beans? That's nasty! :D I don't think I have a favorite food book, but I do love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I was so sad when I found out I was allergic to dairy and couldn't eat them anymore. I did find a reasonably good substitute (it's called UnReal.) But sadly, I still haven't found anything that comes close to Nestle crunch!
DeleteI love books about food too. It is hard to pick a favorite but perhaps Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table and Steve Jenkins’s The Chreese Primer would be my picks. The Candy boom sounds great. I am glad that they passed The Margarine Act of 1886. Passing Margarine off as butter should be a crime!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I'm a child of the 80's, so my Mom tried to pass off margarine as butter all the time.
DeleteI can't imagine putting bacon in any kind of candy. I don't even have to taste it to know it's weird already, lol. That said, this sounds like an interesting and an informative book.
ReplyDeleteIt really does sound disgusting, doesn't it.
DeleteLmao this sounds both fun and disgusting ) I have a thing about certain foods touching xxx
ReplyDeleteLainy http://www.alwaysreading.net
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
DeleteHow appropriate for Valentine's Day! Like we all need an excuse to eat candy. I liked your fun facts here. Food and marketing just seem to go together. My favorite food book is a novel called Kitchens of the Great Midwest in which a chef feeds his infant some foods that would raise the hair of many pediatricians but raises a female master chef. https://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2015/11/kitchens-of-great-midwest.html
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.
DeleteHysterical. I think my favorite book about food is "I Ain't Dead Yet"a southern 'cookbook' filled with funny anecdotes. Have a great weekend- xo Diana
ReplyDeleteThanks. I hope you have a great weekend as well.
DeleteThis sounds like a fun and fascinating book! Hmmm. Favorite food book -- I'm thinking Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking. I still love her! And candy? That's harder! A toss-up between Payday, Mounds and M&Ms!
ReplyDeleteOhhh, now you're making me want M&Ms!
DeleteSounds like a book I'd enjoy. Or maybe not, since I'm trying to cut out sweets. I'm easily tempted. :-)
ReplyDeleteHahaha. A lot of the candies discussed in the book are actually so gross that it might have the opposite effect.
DeleteThis sounds like a fun read! And margarine trafficking? I haven't read much foodie books, but I remember reading The Recipe Club years ago and enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!