Visiting Stockholm a few years back, Iwas pleasantly surprised by a variety of things, not least that the Swedish capital is rife with 7/11s, all of which seem to stock a far more respectable form of donut than our stateside locations, free from the chemical aftertaste that plagues so many American commercial bakestuffs. In short, a country that takes its desserts seriously, as again confirmed by Sockerbit, Manhattan’s oldest emporium dedicated to Swedish candy (there’s another now, BonBon, which honestly seems excessive). Maybe not, however, considering that the Swedish love of sweets is anchored by Lordagsgodis, the Saturday tradition of giving kids free rein to select their own personal bagful, setting them up for a week of intermittent sugar highs. ‘Sockerbit,’ meanwhile, translates to ‘Sugar Cube,’ which is itself one of the many confectionary configurations for sale, a marshmallow hexahedron resembling a squared-off packing peanut, available here in pink and white varieties. Despite its chilly, Scandinavian Modern interior, the place remains transportive in the way the best candy stores are, with an endless supply of fun shapes and flavors to discover. These range from pastellfiskar, the original Swedish Fish and likely the world’s most popular wine gum, to salmiak, a salted licorice that makes our American varieties look meek, and the sweet-and-salty licorice logs evocatively known as Kanderade Haxvral (“Witches’ Scream”). It’s a good reminder that every commercially produced candy has its own (often long) individual story, a fact often forgotten in the study of culinary history.
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