Jingle candy of the old days

The magical candy box - always arouses curiosity in many generations of children.

Sweet memories of childhood

Perhaps, the most wonderful gift of life is childhood memories. This morning, I was able to return to my childhood with games of hopscotch, marbles, gathering in groups of three or five to pick leaves to cook, the sunny afternoons when I hid from my parents to pick wild fruits. And the times when I chased after the candy cart until I was out of breath, then slowly ate each bit to try to prolong its sweet taste…

Back then, life was hard and there weren’t many snacks. So taffy was the most popular street food. Just one small, long piece of taffy could be shared by five or six people.

After we did our chores diligently or got many perfect scores, our parents would occasionally reward us with money to buy candy. There were days when we all gathered together to collect iron, copper, aluminum and plastic items, broken sandals... and even bullet casings to exchange for ice cream and candy.

I must say that in those days we tried every way to enjoy the “divine” taffy together. Having the taffy, to prolong the enjoyment and not want the joy to fade away quickly, we all enjoyed it slowly, some wanted to satisfy their cravings, chewing the whole taffy - very delicious.

Candy never… loses its deliciousness.

Children nowadays rarely have the opportunity to enjoy taffy. Partly because in supermarkets or grocery stores, candies similar to taffy are divided into small, pre-packaged bars. Moreover, on the streets and village roads, the taffy carts seem to have disappeared.

Yet this morning, I heard the jingling sound and the familiar cries again. The happiest moment was when the candy cart stopped, and there were many children surrounding the candy box - the candy box was still like a magic box.

*Absorbed in watching every action of the candy seller.*

The children are still like us, engrossed in watching every action of the “tug man”. From the moment he lifted the lid of the box, took out a white muslin handkerchief and started pulling long pieces of candy from the white block inside.

Just a few minutes later, each child received a candy bar, which was delicious - the sweetness of sugar cooked over medium heat combined with the aroma of ginger and beans was forever captivating to any child.

When I was a kid, I thought making taffy was something magical. You had to heat sugar until it melted, then knead it quickly and pliably to create the shape of the taffy. There was also a rumor that you had to soak rice and then take the rice germ to make taffy.

Later I learned that taffy in the past, like now, was cooked with sugar and water, adding a little peanuts as filling, that's all.

To make delicious taffy, all the steps of cooking the candy and roasting the peanuts must be done over a wood fire. In particular, the cook must pay attention to the weather. If it is too hot, the sugar will easily melt, and the cooked candy will be considered a waste. Therefore, people usually have to cook the candy early in the morning, when the weather is still cool.

Next, pour the sugar onto a plastic sheet coated with non-stick oil. Wait for the sugar to cool down, then stretch it out with your hands, fold it, and knead it until the sugar is soft and white.

Nowadays, every dish needs to be delicious, beautiful and unique. Even traditional dishes like taffy still have to try to be “reformed”, “creative” and “aesthetic”.

How lovely it is that the taffy still retains its shape and taste, like a gift for middle-aged people like us, tearfully looking back to our distant childhood.

Time keeps passing by. The sky of youth, even childhood memories will become silent and be polished by all things in life... What was your childhood like? Was it like ours? Do you remember?

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