Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

suckets were forerunners of modern candied and sugar-preserved fruits. The English term “sucket” (from the French succade, and Italian succata) was first used for candied peels of citrus fruits. See candied fruit. From the mid-sixteenth century on, the term had a wider meaning—almost anything could be made into suckets—not only pieces of fruits but also vegetables, roots, and nuts. A recipe from the Good Huswives Jewell (1597) mentions lemons, oranges, peaches, apples, and green walnuts. Pears and plums, stalks from angelica and marshmallow plants, roots from alisanders, borage, elecampane, sea holly, fennel, and ginger could also be used.