him: I brought you something from the bakery!

me: ooooh! What?!? A pastry? Chocolate?

him: No, it’s this; chew on it.

me: That branch?! You can buy branches at the bakery? CHEW on it?

him: It’s not a branch, it’s a root. Anyway, it’s really good for you.

me: Ok, I’ll try that stick, but it doesn’t really look that appetizing.

him: It’s a root, and it’s good. It’s licorice. The real deal. Not any of your American plasticky artificial flavored stuff.

me: I love that plasticky artificially flavored stuff.

Strange that it’s in a bakery of all places, though, right? I mean, it’s a perfect setting for the sadistic parent that goes into the bakery with their child and buys pastries for himself, then buys a stick as a treat for his child. The kid, in no way, would ever mistake this for candy. or a treat. Ho hum. A better place for it is the pharmacy me thinks. Nope, I’m not a fan, but after a bit a research, it is really an amazing and beneficial medicinal plant. By the way, here at the bakery, one licorice root costs 20 cents of a euro, which is roughly 26 cents of a dollar.
So this root that looks just like a branch is true licorice. I always assumed licorice was a flavor made from anise seeds, which I really like. At least I now know you can buy real licorice in the bakery. Not for me because it turns out that I really do not like real licorice (though I do like anise flavored things), but I can get them for my sweetie, who likes the nasty things. For me, the stick tastes a lot like saccharin, the artificial sweetner. It is not that great. And you have to chew through the stick and spit it out sort of like chewing tobacco, which is icky. I think my tastebuds are all messed up from years of abuse from junkfood and the like back home in the old etats-unis.

The thing I didn’t know about licorice is that it is sort of like a super hero natural medicine in the world of plants; it’s considered a powerful medicine. Here are some conditions licorice is known to combat: gastric and mouth ulcers, tonsilitits, arthritis and rheumatic pain, allergies, pms, jaundice, eczema, herpes, psoriasis and respiratory problems. Also, American researchers concluded that extracted liquorice would quickly stop the growth of cancer of the prostate.

If chewing on a stick is not your thing and you’d like to consume licorice simply for your health or just because you like it, you can opt to buy these pastilles de pure réglisse. These are tiny pellets that are pure licorice extracted from the roots and are very concentrated. They taste better than the stick and the flavor is stronger. They also just melt evenutally, so you don’t have to spit out any shredded fibers. The licorice plants used for these pastilles were grown in Calabre, Italy, where a huge portion of licorice is from. While licorice is good for you, in excess, it can damage your liver. (Of course, you really need to consume more than 50 grams, which is an enormous amount, to overdose on licorice) Just be aware of its adverse effects, precautions and interactions with other substances.