PESHAWAR-Cotton candy, a confection of yesteryear made up through a primitive way of spinning sugar after liquefying it in a pan through heating, is still a delight of today for children and adults as well.
Also known as `fairy floss’ or `candy floss’, the spun sugar delight has maintained its presence despite introduction of countless number of candies and chocolates in the market.
In Urdu, cotton candy is called as `Lachay’ while in local Pashto language it is known as `Malooch’.
Apart from children, cotton candy also have likings of adults and even elderly people who on seeing it in market become nostalgic about their childhood and school days when they bought and ate this most likened sweet. “Whenever I see cotton candy, it drives my mind back to childhood when I used to ask for money from my parents to buy it,” said Muhammad Sohail, a city dweller who owns a shop. The taste of intense sweetness and instant dissolution of cotton candy in mouth is still reminiscent in my mind, Sohail told APP. “I vividly remember joyfulness we had ,whenever, we gathered around cotton candy seller in our street and tried to purchase it before other one get it,” Sohail went on to state with a toothy grin while giving vent to his childhood memories. “Cotton candy is made through a hand propelled machine which spins sugar liquefied through heating,” informed a candy seller.
The machine used for preparing cotton candy is installed in a bicycle making it easier for seller to visit different places of the City for selling the merchandise. Selling cotton outside a school on Warsak road, Abdul Rauf informed APP that he earns about Rs 700 to 800 per day, claiming that margin is handsome.
He said that he purchased the machine, bicycle and an LPG cylinder for heating at a cost of Rs 7,000 and now selling candy in different areas of Peshawar for the last one and a half year.
He said that around 100 cotton candy sellers are doing this business in the City.
About the ingredients, he informed that it includes only sugar and food colour. The sugar is poured in a hollow rotating head with a burner underneath for heating.
The flame near the rim of the head melts sugar which is squeezed out through tiny holes by centrifugal force.
The molten sugar solidifies in the air and is caught in a larger bowl which totally surrounds the spinning head and is gathered around a tiny wooden stick in round shape creating a sweet cotton which is also sold through packing in transparent plastic bags, Abdul Rauf explained.
“I like this candy and enjoy its eating,” comments Abdul Gayur, a sixth grade student while purchasing cotton candy.
“Chocolate and candies have own taste and cotton candy has its own,” which has its own craving, said the young boy.
The machine spun cotton candy was invented in 1897 and was first introduced to wide audience in 1904.
In 1970, an automatic cotton candy machine was created which made production of the candy easier.
The popularity of the sweet commodity could be gauged from the fact that in United States December 7 has been declared as National Candy Day.