page_title: Polkagris
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Polkagris / History
caption_attribution_description: Unwrapped polkagris
context_page_description: Polkagris is a Swedish stick candy that was invented in 1859 by Amalia Eriksson in the town of Gränna, Sweden. It remains a well-known albeit old-fashioned candy in Sweden, often sold at fairs, Christmas markets, and the like. It is still closely associated with Gränna. The traditional polkagris candy stick is white and red, and is peppermint-flavoured.
context_section_description: Polkagris is a special candy stick type which was invented in Gränna 1859 by Amalia Eriksson (1824–1923), a poor 35-year-old widow. Amalia needed to support herself and her family, when her husband died. Amalia Eriksson got the town council's permission to open a bakery to make pastries and  peppermint rocks, and opened a shop in Gränna. She kept the recipe secret and it was only revealed upon her death.
  The candy is made of sugar dough which is boiled, kneaded on a marble baking table, pulled, and twisted by hand to the right size. The candies contain peppermint, sugar, water, and a very small amount of vinegar, and are sold in about 20 stores in the town.
  The candies come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, but the classical version is a straight, peppermint-flavored stick colored in red and white. The recipe has been included in Swedish cookbooks.
  The town of Gränna has only 2,500 residents, but its convenient location off one of the most traveled highways in Sweden attracts over a million visitors per year, many of them drawn by the famous candy, which has been a tradition for more than 150 years.
  The first store making polkagrisar outside of Gränna opened in the summer of 2011, on Lilla Nygatan 10 in the Old town of Stockholm.
  In 2016, polkagris made its debut in the US in the small town of Solvang, California. It is made by hand in small batches at the Swedish Candy Factory.
caption: The traditional red and white polkagris
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