Rock candy

Rock Candy

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Rock candy

Rock candy (also called rock sugar) is a type of confectionery

Confectionery

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well....
composed of relatively large sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
crystal

Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
s. Homemade rock candy is commonly formed by allowing a supersaturated

Supersaturation

The term supersaturation refers to a solution that contains more of the dissolved material than could be dissolved by the solvent under normal circumstances....
solution of sugar and water

Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
to crystallize onto a string or some other surface suitable for crystal nucleation

Nucleation

Nucleation is the onset of a crystal in a small region. The phase transition can be the formation of a bubble or of a crystal from a liquid. Creation of liquid droplets in saturated vapor or the creation of gaseous bubbles in a saturated liquid is also characterized by nucleation ....
. Heating the water before adding the sugar allows more sugar to dissolve and thus produces larger crystals. Crystals form after several days.

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Encyclopedia

Rock candy (also called rock sugar) is a type of confectionery

Confectionery

Sugar

Crystal

Supersaturation

The term supersaturation refers to a solution that contains more of the dissolved material than could be dissolved by the solvent under normal circumstances....
solution of sugar and water

Water

Nucleation

Food coloring

A food coloring is any substance that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking....
may be added to the mixture to produce colored candy

Candy

Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added....
.

Origins

Candied sugar has its origins in India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
and Iran. Arabic writers in the first half of the 9th century described the production of candy sugar. Crystals were grown as a result of cooling supersaturated sugar solutions. In order to accelerate crystallization, confectioners later learned to immerse small twigs in the solution for the crystals to grow on. The sugar solution was colored with cochineal

Cochineal

'Cochineal' is a scale insect insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-colored dye, carmine, is derived. There are other species in the genus Dactylopius which can be used to produce cochineal extract, but they are extremely difficult to distinguish from D....
and indigo

Indigo dye

Indigo dye is dye with a distinctive blue color . The chemical compound that constitutes the indigo dye is called indican. The ancients extracted the natural dye from several species of plant as well as one of the two famous Hexaplex trunculus, but nearly all indigo produced today is Chemical synthesis....
and scented with ambergris

Ambergris

Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.Ambergris has a peculiar sweet, earthy odor....
or flower essence.

In cuisine

Rock candy is a different product from British rock

Rock (confectionery)

Rock is a type of hard stick-shaped boiled sugar confectionery most usually flavoured with peppermint. It is commonly sold at tourism resorts in the United Kingdom , in Ireland in seaside towns such as Bray, in Denmark in towns such as L?kken and Ebeltoft, and in Sydney and Tasmania, Australia....
, also called seaside rock, which more closely resembles a candy cane

Candy cane

A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint or cinnamon ; however, it is also made in a variety of other flavors and may be decorated with stripes of different colors and thicknesses....
. In the Netherlands, in Western Frisia bits of rock candy are baked in a special type of luxury version of white bread called sugarbread.

Rock candy is also used to sweeten tea

Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
and is an important part of the tea culture

Tea culture

Tea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking....
of East Frisia

East Frisia

East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the Germany States of Germany of Lower Saxony.It connects Friesland with the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, all of which belong to the historic and geographic Frisia....
(Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
).

In Hungary rock candies is called kandiszcukor, and are sold in candy shops as a regular candy, often as several candy chunks crystallized on a white string. Kandiszcukor may also be used in tea.

Rock candy is used in Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine originated from the various regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world ? from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa....
. It is used to sweeten tong sui
Tong Sui

Tong sui, also known as tian tang, is a collective term for any sweet, warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine....
(sweet soups) and chrysanthemum tea

Chrysanthemum tea

Chrysanthemum tea is a flower-based tisane made from chrysanthemum flowers of the species Chrysanthemum morifolium or Chrysanthemum indicum, which are most popular in East Asia....
, as well as Chinese liquors

Baijiu

Baijiu , or shaojiu is a China distilled beverage alcoholic beverage. The name baijiu literally means "white liquor," "white alcohol" or "white spirits"....
.

Rock candy is called mishri in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
and is widely used in India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
with aniseed (saunf in Hindi) as a mouth freshener, especially after meals. In Telugu, it is known as patika-bellam. One can find these two being offered along with the check/bill, at most restaurants in India

India

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
and is commonly used in Tamil cuisine

Tamil cuisine

Tamil Nadu is famous for its hospitality and its deep belief that serving food to others is a service to humanity as is common in many regions of India....
especially in Jaffna

Jaffna

Jaffna or Yazhpanam is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Most of the residents of Jaffna are Sri Lankan Tamils with a presence of Sri Lankan Moors and Portuguese Burghers ....
(Northern Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
). It is called Khadi Sakhar in Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the Marathi people of western India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide....
. It is called in Indonesian

Indonesian

The word Indonesian may refer to:* Anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia* A person from Indonesia, or of Indonesian descent....
. It is known to be effective in relieving cough.

Rock candy is also used in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
to make calaveras de azúcar

Calavera

The word calavera, Spanish language for "skull", can refer to a number of cultural phenomena associated with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead....
("sugar skulls") on the celebration of the Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated mainly in Latin America and by Latinos living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died....
. Children make the rock candy in the shapes of skulls by special strings and then decorate them with icing and jewels. These candies are eaten after the festivities.

External links

Recipe for rock candy as an educational exercise in crystal