I never realised just how amazing Liquorice is.
I've always thought of it as a very special sort of sweet. A colourful sweet with a playful Bertie Bassett character. I like the layered levels of liquorice allsorts 
, and I like taking them apart and eating them stratum by stratum. I like taking the yellow or pink sugary bit off of the liquorice centre and eating them piecemeal. (Don't ask how I eat Custard Creams)
You can make Liquorice ice-cream
But I never knew what an amazing medicine it is, too.
Liquorice was known and grown in the region of Mesopotamia... Natural liquorice root was found in the Tomb of King Tut. Early Greek physicians like Theophratus and Hippocrates used natural liquorice to heal wounds and sore throats and it is an extremely important herb in Chinese and Homeopathic medicines. Manuscripts dating from 360AD, of Buddhist origin, talk of natural liquorice helping eye ailments, skin diseases, coughs and loss of hair. In the Middle Ages it became very popular as a sweet medicine and general pick-me-up. Its other past uses have included a beautifying agent, an aphrodisiac and elixir of life.
Amongst other things, it is a powerful anti-inflammatory and soothing herb useful for peptic ulcers, gastritis, indigestion, dry irritating coughs, pharyngitis and laryngitis. It even cures Chronic Fatigue (so why didn't my homeopathic rheumatologist proscribe me Liquorice Allsorts?), and it improves memory in men over fifty-five.
But be warned, it is possible to overdose on Pontefract Cakes, with frightening consequences...
