We return to part three of a three Wacky Snacks series to focus on the food of Sweden, because as it turns out, IKEA's Swedish Food Market is all kinds of kooky wonderful. Our final installment?
Name: Läkerol
Origin: Sweden
Found at: IKEA, Costa Mesa
Cost: $1.69
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This made me think of interrogations and water boarding. Surely, something was lost in the translation…or perhaps the folks at Leaf (it's manufacturer) have a sense of humor.
And then there was the flavor. These candies are very popular in Sweden and elsewhere, and can come in flavors like eucalyptus and lingonberry. As luck would have it, the only one Ikea carried was cactus. Do they even know what a cactus is in Sweden? I'm not seeing a lot of desert up there, you know?
Tasting Notes:
I suspected, even before I opened the box, that these would taste like black licorice. And it did. This is something I prepared myself for, because you know what? I dislike black licorice. A stand-up comic I heard once said he thinks the ingredients that make up black licorice are “sugar and hate”. I agree.
It did however freshen my breath. Immediately as I put it into my mouth, the gummy-like texture starts to dissolve and a menthol-like vapor travelled up my throat and into my nostrils. A minty-coolness follows, but also a strong licorice-y aftertaste. You'll like it if you like black licorice and menthol. If you don't, this might be just the thing they force you to eat to make you talk.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.