Honey was used in Ancient China, the Middle East, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create forms of candy.
īefore sugar was readily available, candy was based on honey. Pieces of sugar were produced by boiling sugarcane juice in ancient India and consumed as khanda, dubbed as the original candy and the etymology of the word. Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical South and Southeast Asia, while the word sugar is derived from the Sanskrit word sharkara. They adopted and then spread sugar and sugarcane agriculture. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, the Persians, followed by the Greeks, discovered the people in India and their "reeds that produce honey without bees". Ī Japanese vendor selling sweets in "The Great Buddha Sweet Shop" from the Miyako meisho zue (1787)Ĭandy has its origins mainly in Ancient India. The same food may be a candy in one culture and a dessert in another. Each culture has its own ideas of what constitutes candy rather than dessert. Unlike sweet pastries served for a dessert course at the end of a meal, candies are normally eaten casually, often with the fingers, as a snack between meals. However, the definition of candy also depends upon how people treat the food. Unlike a cake or loaf of bread that would be shared among many people, candies are usually made in smaller pieces. Physically, candy is characterized by the use of a significant amount of sugar or sugar substitutes. Vegetables, fruit, or nuts which have been glazed and coated with sugar are said to be candied. The category, called sugar confectionery, encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar candy. Candy, also called sweets ( British English) or lollies ( Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient.