National Taffy Day 2021: Fun Facts About The Iconic Chewy Treat

Are you a Taffy lover looking for a good excuse to enjoy your favorite sweet treat? Well, this could be your perfect chance as we celebrate National Taffy Day this Sunday.

Taffy is one of America's favorite sweets and the holiday celebrates this delicious classic. Made from boiled sugar and butter, taffy is prepared by stretching and pulling the mixture until it reaches that iconic chewy consistency that people love.

On this day, taffy lovers can indulge in their favorite taffy or perhaps try new flavors they haven't tasted before. They can even send taffy to someone who loves it or perhaps share a good "taffy memory."

But before you indulge in the chewy candy, take a look at some interesting facts about it. (Courtesy, National Today, Royal Wholesale Chocolate and Warrell Creations)

• The first time the word taffy was mentioned in the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1817.
• Many taffy makers still follow the pulling process that was used to make taffy 100 years ago.
• Using modern technology, confectioners can make 1,000 pieces of taffy per minute.
• People used to have candy pulls specifically for taffy in the 19th century. These events were typically held in colleges or churches, during which people would put butter in their hands and pull taffy for fun.
• Toffee is the British term for the American taffy. Some 19th-century cookbooks in America and Great Britain used different terms to mean the same thing.
• Salt water taffy isn't really made from salt water and it's no different from regular taffy. It's believed that the term "salt water taffy" was coined when candy shop owner David Bradley's store in New Jersey got flooded with Atlantic salt water. When a young child asked for taffy, he called it "salt water taffy" as his stock was affected by the flood.
• The taffy is pulled into a long rope after being repeatedly stretched and folded. It is then cut into small pieces.
• There are many taffy flavors, but some of them are quite unusual. For instance, there is a jalapeno flavored taffy.
• The Laffy Taffy, which is a version of the traditional taffy but in the form of a long cord, entered the market in 2005.