A Finnish brand of salmiakki (left) and a Dutch one (right).
Salmiakki (Finnish) or salmiak (Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch) is a salty confectionery that many people in the Nordic countries love. Many agree that it is an acquired taste and is generally loathed outside Europe in a similar manner that vegemite is loathed outside Australia.
Two German brands of salmiakki.
Although salmiakki candy resembles black liquorice in colour, it is flavoured with the salt ammonium chloride and often also mixed with liquorice. The word salmiak(ki) comes from the old Latin name for ammonium chloride, sal ammoniac.
Haganol salmiakki, only from Finnish pharmacy.
Salmiakki candies are almost always black or very dark brown and can range from very hard to very soft and may be brittle. The other colours used are white and variants of grey. Since pure ammonium chloride is a white powder, the reason why black is the preferred colour for salmiakki is somewhat unclear. It might be partly to provide a "tougher image" for the candies, and partly because of the liquorice used to vary and soften the salty flavour. Carbon black is used as a food colouring agent in these candies.
The canonical shape for salmiakki candies is a four-cornered, diamond-shaped lozenge. This shape is so popular that in Finnish, the word "salmiakki" can sometimes refer to this shape, instead of the candy or the salt it is produced with. For example, Finnish Defence Forces reservist officer cadets' rank insignia are known as "salmiakki"s for their distinctive shape.
Round salmiakki candies are also very common, either disc-shaped or complete spheres.
In addition to being used in candy, salmiakki is also used to flavour vodka, distilled rye brandy and recently, meat ("Salmiakkipossu" is a brand of salmiakki-flavoured pork, probably named as a pun on "Salmiakkikossu", meaning salmiakki Koskenkorva).
Salmiakki is extremely popular in all five of the Nordic countries and in the Netherlands (because of this, the Netherlands have jokingly been called "the sixth Nordic country"). It is uncommon outside Europe, but can be found in many delicatessens.
In many countries, "Salmiakki" is commonly referred to as "Dutch Liquorice" due to above mentioned popularity in the Netherlands.
References
Salmiakki (ISBN 952-5180-27-1) is a book about salmiakki, written in 2001 by the Finnish author Jukka Annala. It serves as an introductory history to salmiakki candies, and also contains philosophy about liking or not liking salmiakki. The book's cover design is styled to look like a box of salmiakki candies, giving the net weight as 780 g, which is the correct weight of the book itself but over 20 times the net weight of a typical Finnish candy box and roughly 8 times the weight of Turkinpippuri bag.
See also
External links
