Rock (confectionery)

Rock is a type of stick-shaped boiled sugar confectionery most usually flavoured with peppermint. It is commonly sold at tourist (usually seaside) resorts in the UK (like Brighton or Blackpool), in Ireland in seaside towns such as Bray and in Sydney and Tasmania, Australia.

It usually takes the form of a cylindrical stick ("a stick of rock"), normally 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter and 20 cm (8 in) long. Blackpool rock is usually at least an inch in diameter, and can be as thick as six inches across and up to six feet long when made for special retail displays. These cylinders usually have a pattern embedded throughout the length, which is often the name of the resort where the rock is sold, so that the name can be read on both ends of the stick (reversed at one end) and remains legible even after pieces are bitten off. Rock is also manufactured as a promotional item, for example with a company name running through it.

It is sometimes found in the form of individual sweets, with writing or a pattern in the centre; these are, in effect, 'slices' of rock.

Making rock

Rock starts as a sugar water syrup which is boiled and glucose or corn syrup is added. It is taken to hard crack stage (146-158 degrees Celsius, 295-316 degrees Fahrenheit) and an oil (such as peppermint or orange) is added for flavouring. From there it is a matter of cooling the sugar syrup until it is a workable consistency like clay. From this stage it is possible to construct the designs and words that will form in the centre. Letters and other images are moulded or assembled from separate pieces of candy and laid among layers of background rock (usually white) to form the message. All this is done in considerably larger scale than the finished product - the assembled lump of rock is usually 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 in.) in diameter. The still-soft candy is then drawn out, mechanically or by hand, until it is the desired diameter, and cut into lengths. A traditional peppermint "stick of rock" will have a white interior, with red lettering running through it, and a fairly shiny red or pink skin. It should be in a transparent wrapper, with a rectangular label showing a photographic view of the seaside town in question, taken during the 1950's.

Literary and other references

In Graham Greene's novel "Brighton Rock", the character Ida says, "It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton."

British music-hall entertainer and film star George Formby helped write and performed the song "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock".

British rock / pop group "Queen" wrote the song "Brighton Rock", which appeared on their 1974 album "Sheer Heart Attack". It concerns a young couple's illicit weekend away without their parents' knowledge in a seaside town and became the basis for guitarist Brian May's famous "Brighton Rock" guitar solos which became a standard feature of the group's live shows.

Other forms of rock

Rock is a different product from rock candy; it more closely resembles a harder candy cane.

Edinburgh Rock is another confection based on sugar and cream of tartar, made into sticks. It is friable and flavoured, for example, with ginger or
Lemon.

Another distinctively Scottish form of rock is Star Rock (also sometimes known as Starry Rock), or "starrie", which is made in Kirriemuir. It is sold in small bundles of pencil-sized sticks, and is less brittle than seaside rock.

External links

* [http://www.sweetthoughts.co.uk/acatalog/How_is_Rock_Candy_Made.html How is Rock Candy Made?] from * [http://www.sweetthoughts.co.uk sweetthoughts.co.uk]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4552841 How to Make Lettered Rock] , BBC
* [http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=With%20My%20Little%20Stick%20of%20Blackpool%20Rock "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock"] by George Formby
* [http://www.laterlife.com/laterlife-seaside-rock.htm Seaside Rock - Classic confection]