Last week, while visiting Salem for work, my coworkers and I stopped into Ye Olde Pepper Companie, "Americas Oldest Candy Company." In addition to being a perfect example of an adorable New England candy shop, complete with all kinds of chocolates, fudge, and barley pops in the shape of lobsters, Ye Olde Pepper Company still manufactures several nineteenth-century candies. Black Jacks, pictured above, are hard candy sticks made with corn syrup and molasses, with a recipe dating from the 1830s. They have a nice hint of molasses flavor, not at all overwhelming. These candies are not exactly show-stoppers, but they are satisfying and tasty.

Gibralters are the original Salem candy, first sold in 1806. The texture of a gibralter varies across its length and lifetime. It begins like an airy candy cane, crisp and hard, and then becomes soft and crumbly as it absorbs moisture. The flavors, lemon and peppermint, are clean and direct. Eating a peppermint gibralter immediately made me nostalgic for the experience of finding one in my Christmas stocking (an experience I have, in fact, never had).

My favorite, however, is the ginger bread - also known as honeycomb toffee. Not unique to the Pepper Companie, this simple-to-make candy is found all over. While the toffee is still soft, baking soda and acid react to form carbon dioxide, puffing up the candy and creating a honeycomb-like structure that has a delightful crunch. After a few chews, the candy compacts into a chewy, sticky mass of toffee that sticks fast to teeth.

If you're in Salem, I recommend you try all three!