Have you ever wondered who came up with the idea of candy? It’s a fun question to think about! There have been many amazing inventions in history, like the alphabet, the wheel, and airplanes. Candy might not be as important as those, but it sure makes a lot of people happy. Some people love candy so much that they’ve made giant lollipops as tall as giraffes or created huge sculptures using thousands of jelly beans!
But candy hasn’t always been around. So, what did people do when they wanted something sweet before candy was invented? Let’s take a trip back in time to find out!
Thousands of years ago, people from all over the world enjoyed sweet treats. In Ancient Egypt, people made sweet cakes using honey. The Ancient Romans had a treat called dolchia, which was made by stuffing nuts into fruit and cooking it in honey. These sweet treats were very popular in Roman cities.
For a long time, most sweet treats were made with honey or fruit. But in Ancient India, people discovered something special. They created a new kind of sweet treat that amazed visitors from other countries. This treat wasn’t like the cakes or honey-cooked fruits people were used to. It was something entirely new and incredibly sweet!
When visitors asked the Indian bakers what they called these delicious treats, they said “khanda.” This word might sound familiar because it’s where our word “candy” comes from! The visitors were curious about how the Indians made khanda without honey or fruit. The answer was a plant called sugar cane.
The people of Ancient India discovered that by crushing sugar cane, they could get a sweet juice. They boiled this juice and let it dry until it turned into tiny crystals. They called these crystals “sharkara,” which is where we get the word “sugar” from!
With sugar, people in India started making candies in the shapes of animals and people. Soon, visitors took sugar back to their countries and began creating their own candy inventions. In China, bakers added sugar to ginger and nuts to make new treats. In England, a root called licorice tasted much better when sweetened with sugar.
Over time, new candies like lollipops, candy canes, taffy, and caramels were invented. Factories started making lots of candy because people loved it so much. People even thought candy could cure things like stomachaches and colds, but we now know that’s not true. Eating too much candy isn’t good for us, so it’s best to enjoy it as a special treat.
Today, there are thousands of types of candy to choose from, like candy eggs with toys inside or gummy lightning bugs that light up when you squeeze them. In Japan, there are even candies where you can eat the wrappers!
In summary, people have loved sweet treats for a long time, but it was the people of India who taught the world how to use sugar to make candy. Since then, candy has become one of the most popular treats worldwide. Remember to enjoy candy in moderation and stay curious about the world around you!
Make Your Own Sweet Treat: With the help of an adult, try making a simple sweet treat at home using honey or sugar. You could make honey-coated nuts or sugar crystals. Observe how the ingredients change when heated or mixed. Discuss with your family how these treats might be similar to the ones made in Ancient Egypt or India.
Sugar Cane Exploration: If possible, find a piece of sugar cane or look up pictures and videos of sugar cane plants. Talk about how sugar is extracted from the plant. Imagine what it would be like to discover sugar for the first time. Draw a picture of what you think the first candies made from sugar cane might have looked like.
Candy Around the World: Research with an adult’s help to find out about a type of candy from another country. What ingredients are used? How is it made? Share your findings with your class or family. You could even try to make a simple version of this candy at home.
**Sanitized Transcript:**
(phone ringing) – Hi Doug.
– Hi Broc. – I have a question for you. Who invented candy?
– Oh, that’s a great question. There have been a lot of amazing inventions throughout history: the alphabet, the wheel, the first airplane, and then there’s candy. Okay, candy might not be as important as the wheel or writing, but you have to admit there’s something about candy that makes a lot of people smile. In fact, some people love candy so much that they’ve gone out of their way to let the world know, like the makers of the world’s biggest lollipop. It’s as tall as a giraffe. Or, the artists who made this record-breaking Wizard of Oz candy sculpture using 88,000 jelly beans.
But candy hasn’t always been around. What did people do before candy was invented? What did they do when they wanted something sweet? What do you think? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, you ready? Well, when we look at drawings from way back in time, we see that people from around the world have enjoyed sweet treats for thousands of years. Check out this ancient hieroglyph. Can you tell what these Ancient Egyptians are doing? You may have guessed that they’re baking cakes. They are, and these cakes are sweetened with honey. The Ancient Romans had sweet treats too, like dolchia. It was made by stuffing nuts in a fruit and cooking it in honey. Shops that would sell this were really popular in Roman cities.
But even though sweet treats have been around for thousands of years, for most people, their sweet treats were always sweetened using honey or the sweetness that comes from fruit. In Ancient India, however, the people there had something special. It wasn’t until other cultures started to visit Ancient India that an entirely different kind of sweet treat got to be known worldwide. Visitors to India had never seen anything like it. It wasn’t a cake like the Egyptians were used to, and it wasn’t honey-cooked fruit like the Romans’ dolchia. The people of India had created something that was deliciously new. It was incredibly sweet.
When visitors from other cultures asked the Indian bakers, “What do you call these delicious treats?” they answered with one word: khanda, which you might recognize. This is where our word candy comes from. It’s from the Ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. Visitors to India would have been stumped. “This is impossible,” they probably said. “Only honey or fruit can make things sweet. How are you making this khanda without honey or fruit?” But that’s when the Ancient Indians would have pointed towards a plant the visitors had never seen before, one that grows in India. By smashing this plant, they could get a sweet juice out of it. Then, they could boil the juice and let it dry until it hardens into tiny crystals. The Ancient Indians had discovered an amazing new ingredient.
In the language of Sanskrit, they called it sharkara. Sound familiar? English borrowed that word from Sanskrit, shakara. We pronounce it sugar. The plant is called sugar cane. And in Ancient India, they were using it to make candy in the shapes of animals and people. Soon other people began taking sugar back to their home countries and making their own khanda inventions, like in China, where bakers began adding sugar to their old treats like ginger and nuts to make entirely new candy treats.
And look at this root. People in England had been eating it for years, but it tasted a lot better when it was sweetened with sugar and turned into a candy known today as licorice. Over time, new treats like lollipops, candy canes, taffy, and caramels were being invented almost every day. Factories made lots of candy to keep up with how much people wanted it. It may seem unusual to us now, but people were so excited about candy that they thought maybe it could even cure things like stomachaches and colds. Since that time, we’ve learned that candy isn’t medicine. In fact, eating too much candy isn’t good for us. That’s why candy is a sometimes treat that we shouldn’t eat all the time, but candy can still be fun, as long as we don’t eat too much of it, especially now that there are thousands of types of candy to choose from, like these candy eggs with toys inside and these gummy lightning bugs. They actually light up when you squeeze their stomach. In Japan, there are even candies where you can eat the wrappers.
So in summary, people around the world have craved sweet treats for years, but it was people in India who taught the rest of the world how to use sugar to make khanda, the type of sweet treat we call candy. Since then, candy has become one of the world’s most popular treats. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks Broc for asking it.
Now, for the next episode, I reached into our question jar and picked out three questions sent into us that I’m thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: when was the doorbell invented, what’s at the bottom of the ocean, or how does popcorn pop? So submit your vote when the video’s over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
