Rock (often known by its place of origin, for instance Blackpool rock or Brighton rock) is a type of

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

stick-shaped boiled sugar confectionery most usually flavoured with peppermint or spearmint. It is commonly sold at

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

(usually seaside) resorts in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(such as Brighton,

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, Llandudno or Blackpool) and Ireland (e.g. Bray and Strandhill); in Gibraltar; in Denmark in towns such as Løkken and

Ebeltoft Ebeltoft is an old port town on the central east coast of Denmark with a population of 7,204 (1 January 2022).Sydney and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. It usually takes the form of a cylindrical stick ("a stick of rock"), normally in diameter and long. Blackpool rock is usually at least in diameter, and can be as thick as across and up to long when made for special retail displays. These cylinders usually have a

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

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

Traditional seaside rock is made using granulated sugar and glucose syrup. The mix is approximately 3:1, i.e. three parts sugar to one part glucose syrup. This is mixed together in a pan with enough water to dissolve the sugar (not enough water will result in burning the sugar or the end product being sugary and possibly "graining off"). This is then boiled to approximately 147 °C or "hard crack" before being poured onto water-cooled steel plates. Once poured, food colourings for the casing and lettering are added and mixed in by hand using a spoon or small palette knife. Once the toffee mixture is poured onto a water-cooled plate, it begins to form a skin underneath; this makes it possible to cut out the colourings, using a pair of shears. The casings and lettering are constantly "turned in" to prevent "chill" (unsightly lumps in the finished product). The remainder of the toffee is stiffened up before going onto a "pulling" machine, a machine that has a fixed arm, and two moving arms, one rotating clockwise, the other counter-clockwise. The pulling machine aerates the toffee, turning it from a solid golden mass into the soft white that forms the centre of the stick of rock. Whilst on the pulling machine, flavourings are added by pouring in measured amounts. A small amount of now white toffee is taken from the pulling machine and used to keep the form of the letters which are made from the coloured toffee.

Lettering

Letters are formed by combining thin strips of multi-coloured and white toffee. When they are made, the face of each letter is approximately the size of a thumbprint, not the tiny size seen in the final, stretched product. The letters are not made in order of appearance in the name (B, L, A, C, K, P, O, O, L) but by their shape; "square" letters, (B, E, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, W, X, Y and Z), are made first, as they will not lose their shape, while "triangle" (A and V) and "round" (C, D, G, O, Q, S, U) letters are made last to prevent them from losing their shape, as the toffee is still reasonably soft at this point. For example, the letters that make up "BLACKPOOL ROCK" may be made in this order: B, P, R, K(×2), L(×2), A, C(×2) and O(×3). The individual letters are placed between blocks or sticks at this point, to prevent them from losing shape and going flat. The letters are then placed in their correct spelling order with a "strip" of white, aerated toffee between each letter to make it readable. Capital letters are the most common form of lettering as small case lettering is far more complicated, owing to their tails and high backs.

Finishing

The now aerated white toffee from the pulling machine is divided into three parts; one will form the centre and two will form the "flaps". The flaps are kneaded and spread thinly and evenly before being placed directly onto the letters; these form the space between the casing and letters, and are then wrapped around the stiffened centre. The casing is then kneaded and evenly rolled out, using a rolling pin, and this is then wrapped around the assembled "boiling", which is one very large bar of rock, usually too thick for a person to encircle in their hands, that is still pliable and warm. This is then placed into a "batch roller", which has several tapered rollers and heaters. The rollers keep the boiling of rock round and the heaters keep it just soft enough to work. A worker known as a ''sugar boiler'' then proceeds to "spin out", or stretch, the boiling onto a long flat slab, where rollers make sure it is kept rolling until it has set hard enough to maintain its round shape. The process of spinning out is what turns the very thick boiling into the much longer and much thinner final size. Once set, the strings of toffee are cut to length and wrapped in clear paper with a label, known as a "view" as it usually has a view of a landmark. The whole process of making lettered rock is done by hand by skilled workers. Smaller sticks of rock, without letters or a "view", can be machine manufactured.

In popular culture

Literature and adapted works

*In

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

's novel '' Brighton Rock'' (1938), the character Ida says, "It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton." *In Sue Townsend's '' Adrian Mole'' books, Adrian's American penpal Hamish Mancini asks Adrian what "Skegness Rock" is, and Adrian replies that it is "tubular candy".

Music

*British music-hall entertainer and film star

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...

helped write, and performed, the song "

With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" is a popular song by English entertainer George Formby, who recorded it in 1937. It was written by his regular songwriting team of Harry Gifford and Fred E. Cliffe, with input from Formby himself. The so ...

". *" Floating", a whimsical Moody Blues song from their album ''

To Our Children's Children's Children ''To Our Children's Children's Children'' is the fifth album by the Moody Blues, released in November 1969. " Watching and Waiting" was released as a single to promote the album, but sold poorly. On the other hand, "Gypsy (Of a Strange and Di ...

'' (1969), has the lines "The candy stores will be brand new, and you'll buy rock with the Moon right through!", referring to rock being sold at a resort on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. *

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

, lead guitarist of the British rock band

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, wrote the song " Brighton Rock", which appeared on Queen's album ''

Sheer Heart Attack ''Sheer Heart Attack'' is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 8 November 1974 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on ...

'' (1974). It concerns a young couple's illicit weekend away without their parents' knowledge in a seaside town and became the basis for 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 Rock candy or sugar candy, also called rock sugar, or crystal sugar, is a type of confection composed of relatively large sugar crystals. This candy is formed by allowing a supersaturated solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a su ...

; it more closely resembles a harder

candy cane A candy cane is a cane-shaped stick candy often associated with Christmastide, as well as Saint Nicholas Day. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint, but they also come in a variety of other flavors and colors. ...

Regional varieties

Edinburgh rock is another confection, based on sugar and

cream of tartar Potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, with formula K C4 H5 O6, is a byproduct of winemaking. In cooking, it is known as cream of tartar. It is processed from the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic ac ...

, made into sticks. It is

friable Friability ( ), the condition of being friable, describes the tendency of a solid substance to break into smaller pieces under duress or contact, especially by rubbing. The opposite of friable is indurate. Substances that are designated hazardous, ...

and flavoured, for example, with ginger or

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

. Another distinctively Scottish form of rock is star rock (also sometimes known as starry rock), or "starrie", which is made in

Kirriemuir Kirriemuir, sometimes called Kirrie or the ''Wee Red Toon'' ( gd, An Ceathramh Mòr; IPA: nˈkʰʲɛɾəvmoːɾ, is a burgh in Angus, Scotland. It reaches back to earliest recorded times, when it is thought to have been a major ecclesiastical ...

. It is sold in small bundles of pencil-sized sticks, and is less brittle than seaside rock. A Dutch type of confection closely resembling rock is the so-called ''zuurstok'' (sour stick). Like rock with seaside resorts, the ''zuurstok'' is specifically associated with fairgrounds. Its composition is roughly the same as Edinburgh rock but it comes in a different range of flavours, basically with

(thus rendering it more or less sour), but also aromatised with cherry, cinnamon or liquorice for example. A Swedish variety of the candy is called

polkagris Polkagris (plural: ''polkagrisar'') is a Swedish stick candy that was invented in 1859 by Amalia Eriksson in the town of Gränna, Sweden. It remains a well-known albeit old-fashioned candy in Sweden, often sold at fairs, Christmas markets, and t ...

. Japanese ' is made by a similar process. * video synopsis ** 00:30 the candy is made by layering parts and stretching the assembly by a machine ** 00:45 hard candy with

Kintarō is a folk hero from Japanese folklore. A child of superhuman strength, he was raised by a yama-uba ("mountain witch") on Mount Ashigara. He became friendly with the animals of the mountain, and later, after catching Shuten-dōji, the terror of ...

's face anywhere ** 01:00 boil glucose syrup and sugar. ** 01:40 cool it down on plate util desired hardness ** 02:00 colouring ** 02:40 white candy is made by pulling the dough without colouring ** 03:40 assemble ** 04:55 assembling the eyelash portion ** 07:55 stretch the bar to thin it down ** 08:33 pull and form ** 09:00 cut into bars ** 09:40 demonstrating that the picture can be seen on any cross-section ** 10:30 various design examples ** 11:00 How is made 金太郎飴

References

External links

How to Make Lettered Rock
BBC

How the letters are created {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock (Confectionery) British confectionery Candy