Jujube (confectionery)
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- "Jujubes" redirects here. For the Chinese Date plant, see Jujube.
- Jubé is another word for rood screen.
Jujube (can be pronounced as /Ju-Ju-Bee/, /Ju-Joobe/ or /Joob-Joobe/), or jube, is the name of several types of candy, varying in description on a regional basis. In the United States, Jujubes is the brand name of a particular type of candy, whereas in Canada the word is generic, and describes any of many similar confections.
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[edit] American jujubes
American jujubes are type of starch, gum and corn syrup based candy drops originally produced by the Heide Candy Company. The product was sold to The Hershey Company, and then to the current owner, Farley & Sathers. They are much stiffer than their relatives Jujyfruits.
Jujubes are traditional western candy that existed in the mid 1900s. As with most candies of this era, although jujubes are sweet in taste and generally colorful, they do not have the strong and distinctive flavor of modern candies due to the expense of chemical flavorants at the time. It is also due to this fact that the different colors of jujubes have little to do with their actual tastes. Jello produced during the same time period also exhibits a similar lack of coordination between color and flavor.
Current flavors include lemon, orange, lime, cherry and violet; discontinued flavors include lilac, rose and mint.
[edit] Technique for consumption
Due to the hard, dense, and resinous nature of Jujubes, the candies are often consumed as a type of hard candy - "sucked on" rather than chewed with one's teeth. Individual Jujubes can be allowed to gradually rehydrate in the mouth with gentle chewing. It is due to their density that the 1996 Gummi Reviews published by NewTimes, Inc., stated that Jujubes are "a nearly inedible delicacy that has less in common with gummis than with those prehistoric amber droppings that were always trapping insects."
[edit] Product changes over the years
The original Jujube consistency, as noted above, was hard as a rock or a fossilized bit of amber. Due to the sale of the manufacturing rights to two subsequent owners, the Jujube has changed to a chewy, loudly fruit flavored gummy that bears little resemblance to the subtly flavored, suckable original candy.
[edit] Australian & New Zealand jubes
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Jubes are chewy gelatine-based sweets with some similarities to jelly-like confectionery common elsewhere. Traditionally, they are small, squishy, colorful blobs. They usually have a flat base, and are covered in sugar. They can be either hard or soft. Soft jubes are often half moon shaped. They are also commonly known as,'Jube Jubies, Jubies or just Joobs'. Both gumdrops and wine gums could be considered varieties of jube, as would jelly babies if not for their distinctive shape. Jellie tots here are also shapeless blobs and too could be considered as Joobs.
[edit] Canadian jujubes / jubes
In Canada, jujubes are the name used for a particular type of "gummy" candies, the most popular brand being Dare from Kitchener Ontario, [1] They are soft and gummy, consisting primarily of glucose syrup, sugar, flavoring, and gelatin. Common flavors are orange, lime, lemon, cherry and black licorice. Now called "jubes" rather than ju-jubes.
The name originates from a hard candy to which they bear a resemblance, though in appearance only.
The common pronunciation in Canada is "joo-joob".
[edit] Guyanese jujubes
In Guyana jujubes are made using gelatin, sugar, water, flavoring and a variety of food coloring. The confection is most commonly cube shaped, chewy and about 3/4 of an inch thick and is covered with powdered sugar; it resembles a Turkish delight but does not contain any nut pieces. It is sold at many of the snack stalls and are known as "jub-jubes".
