My daughters have been asking me about horehound candy. We used to make it when they were younger. You can buy it commercially, but what they sell is sugary crap, so we learned to make it ourselves.
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) is readily found along the hillside trails of southern California. It’s not native, though, having been brought here by Franciscan friars in the early mission days. It was their medicine, brewed as a tea for the management of many upper respiratory conditions including asthma, coughs, colds, and sore throat.
Some time after its introduction, the indigenous Chumash began to use it as above, though there is at least one report of the Santa Ynez Chumash using the tea to induce abortion. Pregnant women may want to give horehound a miss.
The plant is from the mint family, and really bitter. But once you sweeten it up, you have a wonderful, unique candy that doubles as powerful medicine. Done right, the flavor is not unlike bitter root beer.
It’s not hard to make horehound candy. You essentially boil the leaves of the horehound plant to make a strong tea and blend that into your favorite hard candy recipe like the one here.
If you’re curious about making your own candy but a bit nervous about foraging fresh horehound, you can buy some dry stuff here. And if you make it, please come back and let us know how it went!
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