Culture

The Best and Most Bizarre Candies Around the World

In this day and age eating individually packaged snack confections is a commonality across the globe, from the U.S. and its love for peanut butter filled chocolate cups to Japan’s love for the wacky and often less than sweet “candies”. Ever since the invention and following explosive popularity of the candy bar in the U.S. in the early 1900’s other countries have taken this confectionery concept and morphed it into their own, culturally reflective versions of a sweet snack. As the concept of a candy has changed over time so have the varieties with some amazingly unique “candies” being developed today. Here is a compilation of some of the best and most bizarre of these candies from around the world. 

Salmiakki – Finland

This is one of the deceptively simple-looking, dual flavored candies. Beneath the initial sweet licorice flavor is an incredibly salty licorice undercurrent made by adding ammonium chloride to the candy. Ammonium chloride is usually used in cough medicine and shampoo, but don’t panic. It is edible and makes an appearance in bread making and crisp snacks from India and Pakistan too. 


Takoyaki Drops – Japan
Many people enjoy fried octopus, so why not turn it into a candy? Takoyaki drops are candies made to taste just like Takoyaki, which is a meal made from batter-fried octopus topped with Japanese mayonnaise and green onions. So it’s a sweet that tastes like meal… two birds, one stone. 

Elite Popping Milk Chocolate – Israel
The Elite line of candy bars are the best selling chocolates in Israel. While they do offer some standard fare that would look normal to the Yankee candy cruncher, they succeed with their stranger sweets, especially this popping chocolate bar. Imagine a Dove chocolate bar full of Pop Rocks. That’s the Elite fireworks experience.



Salsaghetti – Mexico

This uniquely Mexican watermelon flavored candy comes in red strings that look spaghetti noodles and also comes with a sachet of tamarind sauce for dipping. It’s chewy, sweet, spicy, and sour all at the same time.


Violet Crumble- Australia

When visiting Australia, you can spot one of the most popular candies in almost every store. Its name is Violet Crumble. The name (as well as the wrapper color) was inspired by the chocolatier’s wife, whose favorite flower was the violet. This tasty treat is a chocolate bar with honeycomb toffee inside. It is famous because the way it is produced is very difficult. In order to make it, the factory has to make sure the honeycomb toffee doesn’t stick to each other. It is so important that the package even says “it’s the way that it shatters that matters”!

Krembanan- Norway

This Norwegian treat is chocolate covered gel-and-banana cream. Nidar, the manufacturers, still use the same machine to give this treat it’s banana shape that they used in 1957. A Krembanen looks the same to day as it did fifty-five years ago.


El Almendro Turron – Spain

This popular Spanish dessert’s recipe was first recorded in the Manual de Mujeres in the 16th century. This translates to The Woman’s Handbook. Personally, we’d like to get our hands on one of those in order to learn some feminine secrets. This dessert consists of egg whites, honey, and nuts. Pretty simple and pretty delicious. 

Beacon Liqourice Allsorts- South Africa

This assortment of sweets is wildly popular in South Africa. In 1899, Carlie Thompson, a Beacon sales representative, supposedly dropped a tray of various samples he was showing to a client in Leicester, mixing up the different sweets. He scrambled to re-arrange them, but the client was intrigued by the blend. A less clever employee of Beacon came up with the slogan “All sorts love Allsorts” in the 1970s. Each bag has different flavors of licorice, different sizes, different shapes, different colors—it’s like a bag of Legos you can eat.



Neneng Durian Bar – Philippines 

Durian is an acquired taste, and a tough sell for Americans. Some folks will tell you the smell is similar to natural gas as it is an extremely pungent fruit. As a person unaccustomed to durian, some effort is required to enjoy this unique fruit. But once you acclimate, you’ll find it tastes sweet and creamy, like a custard

So how do any of these candies sound to you? What’s the weirdest treat you’ve ever tried? The best? We want to know! 

And if you’d like to see more of these bizarre and delicious international treats click here. Websites to order some of these candies are also available! 

By Global Immersions, Inc.

Global Immersions, Inc. specializes in Boston Homestay living for individuals and customized Group Homestay Programs. Global Immersions, Inc. distinguishes itself in the industry with its commitment to building cultural awareness and fostering global understanding. We are dedicated to the advancement of living and learning opportunities that provide an in-depth understanding of U.S. culture.