Liquorice

‘In the liquorice fields at Pontefract

My love and I did meet

And many a burdened liquorice plant

Was blossoming at our feet

…

The light and dangling liquorice flowers

Gave off the sweetest smells‘

The Liquorice Fields at Pontefract by John Betjeman Late Flowering Love (1973)

Roots

Liquorice is one of those flavours you either love or loathe. Me? I love it, and grew up loving anything with the vaguest whiff of liquorice or its ‘taste sister’, aniseed. In fact, it’s not uncommon for confectioners to mix liquorice with aniseed – a totally different crop – to enhance their natural sweet taste. But liquorice is just as beautiful, if not more subtle, by itself.

In the UK it’s widely recognised that the Yorkshire town of Pontefract is most renowned for growing the stuff. So much so that it even gave its name to Pontefract – or Pomfrey, the town’s medieval name- Cakes: small chewy discs of liquorice stamped with the town’s insignia!

It’s not known for certain how long the town has been growing the crop, but there are allegedly records dating back to the 17th-Century that name Pontefract, Worksop and areas in Lincolnshire as being major growers. Today, Pontefract still produces so much that they even hold a Pontefract Liquorice Festival every year.

Now, most of our liquorice comes from Finland but the Dutch also have a real taste for it, consuming an alleged 2000g per person every year.

Betjeman’s Liquorice

Image cropped from *Mother Earth Living*

For Betjeman, the plant is symbolic of something much more than taste. He’s in it for lust!

The crop’s ‘light and dangling flowers’ are a gentle complement to the wooded, sturdy structure of the prized root – a tantalising glimpse of potential union between feminine and masculine – in this case the poet and his female lover.

Before long he is hooked. The lover soon ‘cast(s) her blazing eyes’ on the poet, plucking a liquorice leaf roughly, and making a ‘captive slave’ of him – a crystal clear metaphor for passionate abandon if ever one was needed!

I’ll leave you to surmise what the abundance of it growing at their feet might symbolise!

Betjeman’s distinctly sensory poem, with its libidinous smells and sounds, and its anaphoric, perfect rhyming lines, perfectly invoke fond memories of sexually hedonistic summers. And the dark, distinctive nature of the liquorice – and that Pontefract is known for being the best place to get it – is at the very heart of this.

The poem ends with a line that suggests the lovers have come to personify the liquorice roots that surround them, in their state of blissful entwinement:

‘And held in brown arms strong and bare

And wound with flaming ropes of hair.’

Hear the great man himself reading the poem in full, here.

Using Liquorice

The early Egyptians used liquorice root as a bit of a cure-all, but through time, it’s been most commonly used to aid stomach upsets. It’s antiviral and antimicrobial so is often added to herbal tea blends, and medicinal pastilles such as cough sweets.

It clears bacteria out from the gum line and can even help hepatitis C sufferers reduce the inflammation in long-term liver damage.

Also, because it’s anti-inflammatory, it’s great for treating skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis.

It’s advised that anyone with low potassium levels or high blood pressure though, should avoid eating it in large quantities, as it can have detrimental side effects.

Liquorice Face Scrub

This deliciously scented face scrub is suitable for use once or twice a week to free up clogged pores, brighten skin tone and leave you feeling fresh and invigorated.

Oily Skin Base – 2tbs each of chickpea flour and ground oats

Dry Skin Base – 2tbs eat of oat milk and ground oats

Active Ingredients

1/4 tsp powdered liquorice

1/4 tsp aloe vera gel

2 tsp grated cucumber

few drops lemon juice

How to use

Remove all make up. Apply in an upward direction to slightly damp skin and work into the face softly to remove dead skin cells and grime.

Rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry.

Cooking with Liquorice

Liquorice is honestly just nice to chew on. You can buy the raw roots from any good sweet shop and a good mastication (or ‘Roots Manoeuvre’ as I like to call it) will release its natural flavour.

It’s generally used in cookery as a sweetener. Stir powdered liquorice into homemade syrups and drizzle over hot, poached pears. Spoon it into porridge or onto ice cream.

Or try it at its absolute best as a sweetie!

Below are two of my personal favourite recipes for total liquorice indulgence, and you can also find a great recipe for liquorice laces, here.

Salted Liquorice Caramels (bbc.co.uk/food)

Ingredients

groundnut/rapeseed oil
125g/4½oz unsalted vegan butter or coconut oil
225g/8oz granulated sugar
200g/7oz sweetened oat milk
175ml/6fl oz date or golden syrup
pinches coarse sea/rock salt to taste
10g raw liquorice powder
¼ tsp black food colouring or sustainable charcoal

Method

Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with groundnut oil, then line with baking paper and grease again.
Place the butter/coconut oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan with the sugar, oat milk and syrup. Heat over the lowest heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar.
Using a sugar thermometer in the pan, increase the heat slightly until the mixture is at a gentle boil. Stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 118C/245F. Take care here as the boiling sugar can be volatile.
Remove from the heat and using a wooden spoon, stir in a healthy pinch of sea salt, the liquorice powder and black food colouring or charcoal. Beat the mixture well until the black colour is consistent throughout.
Pour the caramel into your prepared tin and scatter with sea salt. Cool for one hour, then refrigerate overnight before cutting into bite-sized squares. Wrap each square in greaseproof paper and twist to secure.

Liquorice Ice Cream (glutarama.com)

Ingredients

300g dairy free condensed milk (see below)
200ml dairy free cream
30g dairy free butter
1-2 tsp liquorice extract (to taste)
¼ tsp black food colouring

For the vegan condensed milk:

Empty a 400ml tin of coconut milk into a medium saucepan
Add 150g caster sugar and stir to combine. Place on a high heat and stir until bubbling.
Turn heat down to a gentle rolling boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the coconut milk halves in volume and darkens in colour.
Remove from the heat, pour into a heatproof jug and cool to room temperature, for about an hour.

For 900ml ice cream

In a large bowl beat your vegan cream and softened butter until it stiffens.
Add the condensed milk, and liquorice extract (gradually, and taste testing for preferred amount) and beat again to combine.
Gradually stir in the black food colouring, to blend in the colour.
Spoon the ice cream into a large container and smooth down with a spatula.
Freeze for about 12hrs or until scoop-soft.

Liquorice Products We LoveI!

Sometimes you just need a quick liquorice fix. After all, liquorice is, as Betjeman helpfully pointed out, a hedonistic flavour! And what’s more hedonistic than somebody having already done all the hard work for you!

With that in mind, here are a few of our favourite ready to go liquorice flavours…

Yogi Tea

All Yogi teas are just the best! They cover just about every flavour imaginable, and each tea bag is eco friendly, and comes with a positive affirmation on every tag.

And – joy of joys – they often use liquorice flavours too!

Go for pure liquorice, which is soothing, calms the tummy and mind and is a great skin booster. Or, if you’re feeling festive, try their spicy Christmas Tea blend which is like a fireworks display on your taste buds!

I’ve been known to repurpose the used teabags to brighten up any dark circles under my eyes too!

Panda Chews

1920s firm, Panda have dedicated decades to creating a range of the most spectacular liquorice sweeties on the planet!

All vegan, and using totally natural flavours they come in big bags or soft, gummy snack bars that are perfect for lunch boxes!

Søstren Grene

Anna and Clara Grene set up shop in Aarhus, Denmark in 1973.

They’re best known for their homewares, but it’s a little known (and indisputable) fact that they also sell the best brittle liquorice sweeties on the market.

Using Finnish liquorice, they add sea salt to some of their toffees and lollipops for a super-keen hit.

It’s not a taste for the faint hearted but I could munch on the stuff for days! The Scandies also love it, giving it the name salmiyakki.

I heartily recommend for the ultimate hygge experience!