Liquorice – to eat your shoes for.
The shoes and shoelaces that Charlie Chaplin ate in the film "Gold Rush" were in fact made of liquorice.
The Frenchman's favourite.
Napoleon was a great fan of the liquorice root. Rumour has it he always carried this powder with him.
The secret of the pharaoh Tutankhamen.
Even the Egyptians knew the beneficial effects of the liquorice root and called it "the brown gold of the gods". Thus, in the funeral vault of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamen,
a liquorice bush root was found, as a grave accessory.
Liquorice as a breath freshener?
In the south of Italy the unprocessed liquorice root is very popular. It is simply dug up, washed and used as a breath freshener.
Where does the phrase "Süßholz raspeln" (literally: "grating liquorice", meaning to ooze charm) originate?
People doing this, use very flattering language. This saying dates back to the Middle Ages, when sweets used to be made from grated liquorice. The dust that resulted from the grating, got into peoples' mouths and they enjoyed the sensation of the deliciously sweet flavour. Way back then, people simply couldn't get enough of it, and kept on grating so that everything they said was pleasantly flavoured.