Parma Violets are a British

violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...

-flavoured

tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

manufactured by the

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

company

Swizzels Matlow Swizzels Matlow Limited, branded as Swizzels, is a confectionery manufacturer based in New Mills, Derbyshire, near Stockport in the United Kingdom.Manchester Evening News 5 April 2012 Thursday Confectioners are making a lot of lolly The compan ...

, named after the

Parma violet Parma violets belong to the more exotic branch of the violet family. First appearing in Italy, in the 16th century, most types of parma violets have lavender flowers of varying sizes, which have an attractive fragrance. The origins of the parm ...

variety of the flower. The sweets are hard,

biconcave A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

disc-shaped sweets, similar to the Fizzers product from the same company but without their fizziness. Swizzels Matlow have also released a line of Giant Parma Violets. Ingredients include

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

stearic acid Stearic acid ( , ) is a saturated fatty acid with an 18-carbon chain. The IUPAC name is octadecanoic acid. It is a waxy solid and its chemical formula is C17H35CO2H. Its name comes from the Greek word στέαρ "''stéar''", which means tallow. ...

modified starch Modified starch, also called starch derivatives, are prepared by physically, enzymatically, or chemically treating native starch to change its properties. Modified starches are used in practically all starch applications, such as in food produ ...

glucose syrup Glucose syrup, also known as confectioner's glucose, is a syrup made from the hydrolysis of starch. Glucose is a sugar. Maize (corn) is commonly used as the source of the starch in the US, in which case the syrup is called "corn syrup", but glucos ...

, and

anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...

.Swizzels Matlow: ''Parma Violets Ingredients''

Precursors

The petals of violets have long been used in

herbalism Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern reme ...

for their medicinal properties, even mentioned by

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of ''De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vol ...

. "Violet tables", sugary lozenges flavoured with violets, were made before 1620. During the 18th century, crushed violet petals, rosewater and sugar were combined to make an early type of confectionery known as flower pastry. These could be used for flavouring a cake, or moulded into pastils and eaten as sweets. In the

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

, violet-flavoured chocolate and liquor were used to relieve sickness.

Description

Parma Violets were created in 1946 by the

company

. They are sweets that are hard,

discs, based on similar

aniseed Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and tar ...

confectionery traditionally consumed in India after a spicy meal. Their flavour has been described as sweet with a soapy or floral taste. The current recipe includes

, and

. In 2016, Swizzels Matlow released a special Parma Violets flavoured cheese, produced by the Cheshire Cheese Company to celebrate their 70th birthday.

Cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

s that replicate the flavour of the confectionery are also available in some UK bars. In 2019, Somerset cider company

Brothers Cider Brothers Cider is a brand of fruit cider originating in Somerset in South West England. Originally available at music festivals, it is now served in pubs, bars and stores across the United Kingdom and internationally in countries such as Thailand, ...

launched a Parma Violet-flavoured cider. Also, large bags of Parma Violets can be purchased from the official website in sizes up to 3kg, alongside other online retailers.

In popular culture

* In

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

series,

hard candies A hard candy (American English), or boiled sweet (British English), is a sugar candy prepared from one or more sugar-based syrups that is heated to a temperature of 160 °C (320 °F) to make candy. Among the many hard candy varietie ...

very similar in description to Parma Violets are the favourite sweet of the

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

Ernst Stavro Blofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agen ...

due to their breath freshening properties. * The name of the British

Indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Palma Violets Palma Violets were an English band from Lambeth, London. The band formed in 2011, based on the musical partnership of frontmen Samuel Fryer and Chilli Jesson. The band's musical output is primarily in the indie rock genre, with some garage roc ...

is derived from the Matlows confectionery. Irish singer Naomi Hamilton also released an album in 2016 named after the sweet. * A 2005 survey reported by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' revealed Parma Violets to be the least popular sweet among the

Millennial generation Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as start ...

. * In British Pop Artist

Stuart Semple Stuart Buchanan Semple (born 12 September 1980) is a multidisciplinary British artist working across painting, sculpture, happenings, technology and activism. He is well known for his sociologically engaged works that often discuss youth poli ...

's 'potion' paint line, Purple Haze is claimed to be ''Parma Violet Candy Scented.''

References

{{Reflist

External links

Swizzels Matlow Website
Brand name confectionery Swizzels Matlow brands

Precursors

Description

In popular culture

See also

References

External links