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Good for the throat: Honey, sugar, butter with a little salt, liquorice, to sup, soft eggs, hyssop, a mean [moderate] manner of eating and drinking, and sugar candy. Evil for the throat: Mustard, much lying on the breast, pepper, anger, things roasted, lechery, much working, too much rest, much drink, smoke of incense, old cheese and all sour things are naughty for the throat. —The Kalendar of Shepheardes, 1604

It's that time of year when everybody seems to be plagued by sore throat and coughs. For centuries, sore throat sufferers have eased their pain with herbal candies, often made at home. Strong teas were brewed from medicinal herbs, honey or cane sugar was added to make a syrup, and the syrup was cooked into a hard candy that could be held in the mouth until it dissolved.

Here's a modern version of this traditional tasty treatment.

3¾ cups white sugar
1½ cup light corn syrup
1 cup strong herbal tea made with 3 tablespoons dried herb steeped in 1 cup boiling water for eight-ten minutes
1 teaspoon flavored extract (peppermint, orange, etc.)
½ teaspoon food coloring (optional)
¼ cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

In a medium saucepan, stir together the white sugar, corn syrup, and herbal tea. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300°F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads. Remove from heat and stir in flavored extract and food coloring, if desired. Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Let cool, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Hard candies held in the mouth until they're dissolved are a good "delivery system" for healing herbs. Some herbs have a long tradition of this use: horehound and licorice, for instance, long used to treat sore throats, as were thyme, cayenne, mullein, and calendula. Other herbs were used to treat different ailments. Ginger candies soothed upset stomachs. Peppermint candies treated digestive difficulties.

Before cane sugar was readily available, candies were sweetened with honey, which was known as far back as Egyptian times to have healing properties. (Check out this blog post on LittleHouseInTheSuburbs to see how one amateur candy maker makes honey candies. Add herbs to enhance honey's healing qualities) Cane sugar, as well (Saccharum officinarum), was thought to have medicinal properties.

These days, we consider candies to be a sugary treat. But in the days of our ancestors, it was an entirely different story.