Liquorice Allsorts are sadly uncommon here in America.  One of those things that most people can only find at a Cost Plus imports (if you happen to live within the range) or Ikea (ditto).  Oddly enough I have found that the Fred Meyer store in the town nearest me happens to carry them, which makes me very happy indeed!

Allsorts are so common in England that I have found English people are surprised that most Americans haven't heard of them.  It's like telling an American that people in other countries haven't heard of Snickers or Hershey bars (which is true, by the way).  

Liquorice Allsorts (spelled with the Q in the English way, if you please) are one of the most signature of English foods.  They were first produced in Sheffield, England, in the late 1920s, by the Bassett company.  Bassett has now been swallowed up by Cadbury's, like so many other small candy companies, but this does not seem to have affected the Bassett factory's day to day operations or ingredients.

Let's talk about the ingredients.  Although they are licensed in America under Cadbury, Liquorice Allsorts are all made in Sheffiled, and shipped here to the states.  This means that, unlike pretty much every other food you can buy in America, Allsorts do not contain corn syrup, either high fructose or regular.  I maintain that you can absolutely taste the difference.  

Foods without corn syrup are a glimpse of how the rest of the world's food tastes, and I like it.  It lacks that aggressive, sticky sweet undertone that everything in America seems to have.  (Even my beloved Wheat Thins now contain high fructose corn syrup.  I can taste the difference.)

The canonical story goes that a salesman was schlepping around a tray of Allsorts to his clients, when the tray fell.  The liquorice candies got all mixed up, and his clients were intrigued.  The Allsorts bag contains several different candies, all with licorice at their core.  Most of these candies contain licorice and a layer of coconut gelatin which is lightly colored and flavored.

*    Flat squares with alternating licorice and coconut layers, like a petits four.
*    Rounds with licorice in the center and coconut on the outside, like a jelly roll.
*    Pastilles, small round licorices covered with tiny round sprinkles.
*    Licorice nuggets, about the size and shape of a small Tootsie Roll.

The Allsorts mascot is a little fellow made of Allsorts named Bertie Bassett.  Typically each bag of Allsorts contains one or two Bertie figures.  I think these are made of beeswax.  I mean, they are obviously meant to be eaten, but they aren't very good.  Nevertheless they are tradition, and I was vexed when the last bag I bought had NO Bertie Bassetts in it.

Licorice is said to have all kinds of health benefits, but I am sad to report that… not this kind of licorice.  It is the root of the licorice plant which has all the helpful chemicals.  Licorice-the-plant is chock full of goodness.  Licorice-the-candy is a combination of molasses and aniseed, and while it does have licorice flavoring, it does not contain the same compounds as found in licorice-the-plant.

Creative Commons-licensed image courtesy of Flickr user jonathanb1989