# Seaside rock

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## Summary

Seaside rock is a hard stick of boiled sugar, usually peppermint, with a pink casing and words running all the way through it.

## Description

Seaside rock is a stick of hard boiled sugar with a coloured casing, a soft white centre and words running all the way through it. Snap it anywhere and the name of the resort is still there. It is sold in seaside towns across Britain and Ireland and has been a holiday souvenir since Victorian times.
What it is made of
Rock is made from granulated sugar and glucose syrup, roughly three parts sugar to one part glucose, boiled to around 147°C. That high temperature is why it sets so hard. The white centre is the same sugar pulled on a machine until air is folded in, and the casing and letters are coloured sugar. It is most usually flavoured with peppermint or spearmint.
How it gets its letters
The words are built by hand from strips of coloured and white sugar while it is still hot, then stretched down to size as the rock is rolled out into a long rope. We explain it step by step in how they get the letters in rock.
Where it comes from
According to Candy UK, a rock maker, rock is believed to have been sold first at fairgrounds in the 19th century, as fair rock. Lettered rock is usually credited to Ben Bullock, who sent a batch to Blackpool in 1887, although Morecambe has its own claim. The full story is in where seaside rock comes from.
Rock in other places
Rock is sold at resorts including Blackpool, Brighton, Southend, Southport, Scarborough and Llandudno, and in Irish seaside towns such as Bray. Similar sweets are made abroad too: Gibraltar has its own rock, Denmark sells rock in towns such as Løkken, the Dutch have zuurstok, Sweden has polkagris, and Japan has kintaro ame, a stick sweet with a face running through it.
Different kinds of rock
As well as ordinary sticks, makers produce giant display sticks, rock walking sticks, rock shaped like food, and personalised rock with names, dates or logos inside. Edinburgh rock, despite the name, is a very different sweet: soft, crumbly and pastel coloured. It has its own entry: Edinburgh rock.
A note on safety
Rock is very hard. It is best sucked or broken into small pieces, and it is not suitable for younger children because of the risk of choking.

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