# Candy

By [Lady](https://paragraph.com/@mmaskbetter) · 2023-02-01

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The word candy entered the English language from the Old French _çucre candi_ ("sugar candy"). The French term probably has earlier roots in the Arabic _qandi_, Persian _qand_ and Sanskrit _khanda_, all words for sugar.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-4)

Sugarcane is [indigenous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_\(ecology\)) to tropical [South](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia) and [Southeast Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia). Pieces of sugar were produced by boiling sugarcane juice in [ancient India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_India) and consumed as _khanda_.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-5)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-6)[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-7)[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-8)[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-9) Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, the [Persians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_people), followed by the [Greeks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks), discovered the people in [India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India) and their "reeds that produce [honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey) without [bees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee)". They adopted and then spread sugar and [sugarcane agriculture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane).[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-agrisugar1-10)

Before sugar was readily available, candy was based on [honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey).[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-11) Honey was used in [Ancient China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Chinese_states), the [Middle East](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East), [Egypt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt), [Greece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece) and the [Roman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire) to coat fruits and [flowers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers) to preserve them or to create forms of candy.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-History_of_Food-12) Candy is still served in this form today, though now it is more typically seen as a type of [garnish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnish_\(food\)).

Before the [Industrial Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution), candy was often considered a form of [medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine), either used to calm the [digestive system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_digestive_system) or cool a [sore throat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sore_throat). In the [Middle Ages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages) candy appeared on the tables of only the most wealthy at first. At that time, it began as a combination of [spices](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice) and sugar used as an aid to [digestion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestion). Banquet hosts typically served these types of 'candies' at [banquets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confectionery_in_the_English_Renaissance) for their guests. One of these candies, sometimes called _chamber spice_, was made with [cloves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloves), ginger, [aniseed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniseed), [juniper berries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniper_berries), almonds and [pine kernels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_kernels) dipped in melted sugar.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-History_of_Food-12)

The [Middle English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English) word _candy_ began to be used in the late 13th century.[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-OED-candy-13)[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy#cite_note-14)

The first candy came to [America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) during the early 18th century from [Britain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain) and [France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France). Only a few of the early colonists were proficient in sugar work and sugary treats were generally only enjoyed by the very wealthy. Even the simplest form of candy – [rock candy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_candy), made from [crystallized](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystallization) sugar – was considered a luxury.

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*Originally published on [Lady](https://paragraph.com/@mmaskbetter/candy)*