sugar syrup with carbon dioxide gas, then
chill it down quickly and under pressure to
lock the gas in the solidified candy. When
the candy is depressurized much of the gas
escapes, but some remains. And when the
candy dissolves in the mouth’s moisture,
the gas bursts out with a startling crackle.
Some chefs use these gasified candies as a
source of unexpected sensations; they
embed them in dishes that are sufficiently
dry or cold not to dissolve them
prematurely.Chewing Gum
This quintessentially American confection has
ancient roots. Humans have chewed on gums,
resins, and latexes secreted by various plants
for thousands of years. The Greeks named the
resin of a kind of pistachio tree with their
word for “to grind the teeth together, to
chew”: that was mastic (p. 421), whose root