Salt Licorice Ice Cream

If you are in Finland or Sweden you got to try a local favorite, salt licorice ice cream. It’s an acquired taste. Ice cream comes in many forms: scoops, soft serve, and ice cream bars. It’s become a national sport to give foreigners Saltlakrits (salty licorice ice cream) and watch them squirm as the saltiness hits them.

Stunned non-Finns (and there are many, as shown in this commercial from Fazer) may wonder how such a flavor came to be in the first place. Ammonium chloride, as it happens, has been used in cough medicine. Licorice is also prized for its medicinal qualities, and in the early 20th century had its heyday as a popular flavoring. It’s likely the two ingredients met over the pharmacy counter. –Gastro Obscura