Taffy (candy)

Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching or/and pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles produced), resulting in a light, fluffy and chewy candy.[1] When this process is complete, the taffy is rolled, cut into small pieces and wrapped in wax paper to keep it soft. It is usually pastel-colored and fruit-flavored, but other flavors are common as well, including molasses and the "classic" (unflavored) taffy.

For other uses, see Taffy (disambiguation).
This article is about the American candy. It is not to be confused with Toffee.

Taffy
Salt water taffy with a U.S. quarter for scale
Alternative namesSalt water taffy
TypeCandy
Place of originUnited States
Region or stateAtlantic City, New Jersey
Main ingredientssugar, corn starch, corn syrup, glycerine, water, butter, salt, flavoring, food coloring

Definition and etymology

The word taffy, referring to the boiled candy, is first known to have appeared in the United States circa 1817. The word is also used metaphorically to refer to insincere flattery.[2]

The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first written record of the word toffee in the forms tuffy, toughy to 1825 and identifies it as a southern British dialectal variant of taffy (first recorded use in 1817), whose modern spelling is first recorded from 1843.[3][4][5] Toffee is a caramelized sugar or molasses candy invented in the United Kingdom, entirely distinct from taffy.

Taffy pull

A taffy pull is a social event around the pulling of taffy that was popular in the 1840s through at least 1870s.[6] The host would prepare the taffy recipe by melting molasses and sorghum or sugar with a mixture of water. Participants would coat their hands with butter and working with a partner pull the hot mixture apart, and then fold it back together and repeat.[7] This process would add air to the candy, resulting in a soft chewable texture.

United States
Cherry taffy

Salt water taffy
Salt water taffy in a candy store in Portland, Oregon

Salt water taffy is a variety of soft taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area of the Jersey Shore starting in the 1880s.[8] Its late 19th century appellation most likely originated in New Jersey.[8] Salt water taffy is still sold widely on the boardwalks in Atlantic City (including shops in existence since the 19th century),[9] nearby Ocean City, and other beaches throughout the US like Cape Cod. It is also popular in Atlantic Canada and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Modern commercial taffy is made primarily from corn syrup, glycerin and butter. The pulling process, which makes the candy lighter and chewier, consists of stretching out the mixture, folding it over, and stretching it again. Although it is called "salt water" taffy, it does not include any seawater; it does contain both salt and water in its manufacture.[10] However, in the dialect of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the term taffy without "salt water" refers to a lollipop.[11]

The original invention of the candy has several different stories circulating, likely all apocryphal. One relates to an assistant who substituted fresh water with seawater—either through laziness or accident.[12] Another cites a storm which caused seawater to wash over the candy, which was consequently (and successfully) marketed with the appropriate name.[13]

Joseph Fralinger popularized the candy by boxing it and selling it in Atlantic City. Fralinger's first major competition came from candy maker Enoch James, who refined the recipe, making it less sticky and easier to unwrap. James also cut the candy into bite-sized pieces, and is credited with mechanizing the "pulling" process. The candy was also sold mail order; in 1926 sheet music was commissioned by James with the title "Send Home Some Taffy Today!" [14] The Glaser family acquired James' stores in 1947, and Fralinger's stores in 1992. Stores under each brand still operate on the Atlantic City boardwalk.[15][13]

On August 21, 1923, John Edmiston obtained a trademark for the name "salt water taffy" (number 172,016), then demanded royalties from companies using his newly acquired name. He was sued over this demand, and in 1925, the trademark was invalidated as being in common use.

Caramel candies are sometimes referred to as taffy (taffy apples), but the caramel is very different from common salt water taffy, though they share a similar tensile quality.

Ingredients
Salt water taffy stretching and wrapping machines

Salt water taffy is composed of sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, glycerine, water, butter, salt, natural and/or artificial flavor, and food color. Some examples of flavoring include vanilla, lemon, maple, banana, red licorice, watermelon, raspberry or mint extracts.[10]

..United Kingdom.. In the United Kingdom, taffy pieces are known as "chewy sweets", "chews" or "fruit chews"[16]—the term "taffy" is not used (perhaps because of its resemblance to a derogatory term for a Welsh person). Popular brands of chew include Chewits and Starburst.[16]


Canada

In Canada, a form of molasses taffy candy, known as "halloween kisses", is produced in time for Halloween.[17] The candy was first offered by the Kerr's Canadian candy company in the 1940s. At the time, a molasses candy was made by Stewart and Young in Glasgow.[17]

In song

Songwriter Murray Grand referred to the product in his lyrics for "Come by Sunday": viz:-

"On Wednesday night I'm booked in full, And Thursday nights are taffy pull..."

The product serves a title role in the song “Laffy Taffy (song)” performed by the Hip-Hop group D4L.

See also

References
  1. "Science of Candy: Why Do You Pull Taffy? - Exploratorium". Exploratorium: the museum of science, art and human perception. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  2. "Merriam-Webster Dictionary
  3. toffee | Etymology, origin and meaning of toffee by Etymonline.com
  4. "toffee, n. and a.", Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition 1989
  5. "taffy1", Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition 1989
  6. "Let's Have a Taffy Pull!".
  7. "Creative Hospitality: HOW TO HOST a TAFFY PULLING PARTY". August 15, 2011.
  8. Genovese, Peter (August 19, 2013). "Chew on this: 125 years later, Jersey Shore still daffy over salt water taffy". The Newark Star Ledger. NJ Advance Media. Retrieved March 14, 2022 – via NJ.com.
  9. Sharkey, Joe (November 11, 2001). "Traces of the place at high tide". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  10. "Recipe: Saltwater Taffy". Exploratorium.edu. San Francisco, California.
  11. "Yo! And Other Lexicographical Peculiarities". Philadelphia City Paper. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012.
  12. "The Origin of Salt Water Taffy (according to Mother Stearns)".
  13. "Joseph F. Fralinger, the History of Salt Water Taffy, and the Gager Family". ahg3rd. February 13, 2016.
  14. "Send Some Taffy - James Salt WaterTaffy Advertisement Sheet Music". eBay. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018.
  15. "Shop Fralinger's Candy – James Candy Company". fralingers.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  16. "What is taffy? Let's make some sense of this oddly confounding chewy sweet". Mr Dach. March 2, 2018. In most of the UK and Ireland, it's never taffy — only chews or fruit chews.
  17. "A Trick or a Treat: The story of Canada's Cursed Candy Kiss". ottawarewind.com. October 29, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  • The dictionary definition of taffy at Wiktionary
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