Flying saucer (confectionery)

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Flying saucers
Flying saucer confectionery.jpg
Alternative namesUFOs
Place of originBelgium, UK
Main ingredients Sherbet and wafer paper

Flying saucers (Flemish : Zure ouwels) or UFOs are small spheroidal wafer paper capsules filled with sherbet. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The first flying saucers were produced in the early 1950s when an Antwerp-based producer of communion wafers, Belgica, faced a decline in demand for their product, due to the church deciding that wafers had to be made on consecrated ground, so they needed a new way of using the existing wafer-manufacturing process and ingredients. Astra Sweets, which purchased the Belgica brand, continues to manufacture flying saucers in the present day.

Flying saucers are officially registered as a traditional product of Flanders. [3] They are also well known in the United Kingdom; their popularity in the country from the 1960s to the 1970s was attributed to the Space Race and an increased interest in science fiction. [2]

They remain a popular sweet in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Flying saucers came 12th in a 2009 poll among adults for 'Britain's top sweets' [4] and experienced a resurgence in popularity, along with other traditional sweets, in the 2010s. [5] [6] They have also been featured on lists of vegan sweets for Halloween. [7] They were also a popular sweet in Ireland. [8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The lasting allure of the flying saucer". BBC News. 2014-06-12. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  2. 1 2 "Sweet history lesson on the evolution of confectionery". belfasttelegraph. 2018-08-23. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  3. ↑ "Traditional products of Flanders". Archived from the original on 2018-11-04.
  4. ↑ Renton, Alex (10 September 2009). "Goody goody gumdrops" . Times 2. The Times. London. pp. 8-9.
  5. ↑ Salter, Katy (2014-08-06). "Sherbet dips, flying saucers and the British retro sweet revival". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  6. ↑ "Why are retro sweets tasting success?". BBC News. 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  7. ↑ Allen, Elisa (2017-10-25). "9 ways to have a vegan Halloween". Metro. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  8. ↑ "23 Undeniable Tastes Of An Irish Childhood". Lovin.ie. Retrieved 2021-05-06.


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