I like to bring local candy home when I travel, especially hard candy, and that was one of my objectives on the trip we just took to Portugal and Spain. I had a hard time finding interesting candies, though; most of the stores I looked at devoted their space to Mars Bars, Mentos, and the like – I can find those at home.
I did have a little success along the way, though; I have a small bag of “Fruit Chewy Caramels” from Portugal (made by Penha), and I’ve already written about finding the mother lode at Carmelos Paco in Madrid.
But the most interesting candy I found on the trip came from the small town of Régua – it’s a local candy called rebuçadods da regua. It’s so local the bag doesn’t have a UPC code, nutritional labeling, or even a manufacturer’s name.
I paid one Euro for a bag of nine candies; the bag wasn’t sealed, just tied, and the individual candies are hand-wrapped and hand-made. The candy isn’t super-sweet; it mostly tastes of honey with a little Port wine mixed in.
I wish I’d bought more!