Talk:Taffy (candy)

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Taffy vs Toffee[edit]

There are separate pages for taffy (candy) and toffee. I always thought this was a different spelling/pronunciation of the same thing, allowing for regional differences of recipe. Are there people who eat both "taffy" and "toffee" and can explain the difference? Currently bth articles "See also" to each other but don't explain what the difference is. jnestorius^(talk) 20:40, 29 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have eaten both taffy and toffee and they are definitely different. Toffee is much sweeter, whereas taffy is generally fruit-flavoured or similar. Taffy is not as sticky as soft toffee, but much softer than hard toffee. DJ Clayworth 23:50, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This seems to be a common myth in the UK (I wonder if Joestynes is British?), that "taffy" is an American pronunciation for "toffee". To clarify: they're unrelated. Clearly they share a common root word, and probably started out as the same recipe, but today they're very different things. Americans have both taffy and toffee - the latter being basically the same as in the UK (caramelized, sweet and buttery), while the former is chewy, often fruity, and not particularly sticky. -- Rei (talk) 03:15, 10 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

UK usage 'chews' are not a kind of toffee. Chewits and Starburst (formerly Opal fruits) are referred to as 'sweets', but never as 'toffee'. Martin Turner (talk) 01:08, 1 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

AFD[edit]

I came to this article and found it had an uncompleted AFD nomination. While technically I should have completed the nomination and allowed it due process, the article looks perfectly fine to me and is clearly about a notable subject. I took the liberty of simply removing the notice. This is one case where Wikipedia:Ignore all rules applies. DJ Clayworth 23:50, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pulling Machine[edit]

I would like to see pictures or a whole article on taffey pulling machines, or simply confenction manipulating machines. I am interested because I have seen video of a front loading machine that streatched the confection and then cut into the middle of this ribbon to streatch it again, which seems impossible to do with a crank mechanism as the parts would collide. How is this accomplished.

Also to the Taffy/Toffey question, taffey is always chewey, toffey can be chewey or hard. Taffy is given light fruit flavors while Toffey is flavored with molassas and has carmalized sugars, the sugars in Taffy are not cooked to carmalization. I hope that helps, im sorry you missed out on this lesson in childhood, its a delicious one. 76.212.154.87 09:10, 9 August 2007 (UTC) Sandy[reply]

Taffy Pull Qua Event[edit]

Possibly this page could use some discussion of taffy pulls as events one hosts and invites people to. (Which these days is more of a historical thing, alas.) 74.10.73.253 (talk) 21:37, 12 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that either this needs a section on taffy pulls or the redirect needs to be changed to allow a separate taffy pull article. Jrishel (talk) 18:11, 26 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

My separate article for taffy pull was reverted, so I've added the relevant section to the Taffy article Jrishel (talk) 23:23, 17 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Marguerite Bourgeois and Saint Catherine's Day[edit]

No mention of the history of taffy being invented by Marguerite Bourgeois, a nun and schoolteacher, who used it to lure native girls to her school in colonial New France. It's still of a big part of French-Canadian culture where on November 25, Saint Catherine's Day, everybody makes taffy. 66.185.216.73 (talk) 03:06, 17 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you can write, you can add that to the article yourself -- but please supply a reference for us. Thanks! cat yronwode Catherineyronwode (talk)

Is there any difference between this Taffy and Salt Water Taffy[edit]

? --76.200.148.120 (talk) 05:02, 29 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In my opinion, it appears that salt water taffy is simply a particular variety of the traditional sweet known as taffy, for which reason it would be particularly beneficial and would reduce complexity if the articles were merged and links to salt water taffy would redirect to the section within the article "Taffy" known as "Salt Water Taffy"; the page for salt water taffy could thus be replaced by a redirect to "Salt Water Taffy" within "Taffy". SurenGrig07 (talk) 11:26, 17 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Taffies as tokens of Welshmen burnt in effigy[edit]

From "Poor Robin's Almanack" for 1757: it appears that, in former times in England, a Welshman was burnt in effigy on St. David's day. Mr. W. C. Hazlitt, in his edition of Brand's "Popular Antiquities," adds "The practice . . . was very common at one time; and till very lately bakers made gingerbread Welshmen, called taffies, on St. David's day, which were made to represent a man skewered" (vol. i., pp. 60,61). http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Diary_of_Samuel_Pepys/1667/March#endnote_1

See Taffy was a Welshman

Dadofsam (talk) 00:06, 1 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Taffy is the Welsh pronunciation of the name Davey, and has long been a nickname that English people give to Welsh men. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dadofsam (talk • contribs) 00:23, 1 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Taffy vs Chew[edit]

I believe candies of this kind are also called chews in other English speaking countries, eg. Australia - could anyone confirm this?

While I agree with the use on Wikipedia of American English "candy", as this is internationally understood to at least some extent (where as terms used in other English speaking countries aren't), I'm sure the same is not true of "taffy". The same word is also commonly understood to mean something completely unrelated in the UK, as mentioned above. Also, I am sceptical that this type on candy originated in the US, and it is popular in other countries, giving further reason to give less weight to the US term.

I propose the name of this article be changed to something more friendly to all English speakers. Miasmic (talk) 19:46, 30 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It appears that, based upon the previous discussion within the talk page for Taffy, the term refers to a particular candy found within The United States and not a geographically distinct term for a candy shared by various nations. Perhaps the name of the article could be changed to "Taffy (US)" or a similar name. SurenGrig07 (talk) 11:27, 17 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

No, there is no reason to move this page. Since the candy term is only used in the US, there is no need to use US to disambiguate the page. Since there are other, non-candy uses of the term, it is properly disambiguated by its current title Taffy (candy). JustinTime55 (talk) 18:48, 26 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Taffy[edit]

Was he not also a Welshman who stole beef? Chrisrus (talk) 16:39, 28 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Taffy Picture[edit]

That variety sure looks like cinnamon taffy to me, but it's all good. --173.60.175.189 (talk) 05:06, 24 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oh! So that is what the pink with darker pink striped ones are. Been wracking my brain ever since I recently rediscovered my love for salt water taffy what that flavor was. I knew it wasn't peppermint, because that was the white with red striped ones. I think there are only two colors now in this bag I'm working on that I have yet to identify (banana is favorite): straight pink which I suspect is bubblegum, and all blue, which I can't even begin to guess. Love em all though. 96.41.170.11 (talk) 00:53, 31 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Images to add[edit]

It would be good to have images of the actual taffy, unwrapped or being made. I did a quick search for CC-by-sa compatible images and found these:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spablab/49225984/ - being made by machine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75001512@N00/3803264119/ Boiling taffy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilconway/4656338989/ Making Saltwater Taffy (heating it)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uriel1998/496092901/ hand-making salt water taffy

One or more of these could improve the article. I'll let someone who actually knows something about taffy take it from here :-).

(I first searched for "taffy" but got lots of pictures of dogs, hence "making taffy" - but there would be other ways to get the candy, not the dog's name.) --Chriswaterguy talk 12:20, 17 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Other Taffy Varieties[edit]

The article as written admits that there is hard taffy and soft taffy, and even that salt-water taffy is a variety of soft taffy; however the article is almost completely only describing salt-water taffy. (Salt-water taffy is a special kind of taffy. It doesn't shatter (as easily) when thrown) and it doesn't really stretch and pull like (regular) taffy.) (Salt-water taffy is such a different product, that I would have thought that it would be in its own article.)

The article mentions that taffy means a lollipop in Philadelphia. Actually, a stick of taffy on a stick (like a lollipop) is a traditional bulk candy. This is a hard taffy, and it will shatter if thrown (incidentally freeing it from the stick). Drsruli (talk) 18:31, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]