cotton candy

cotton candy –  /ko-ton ken-di/ dw Eng cotton + candy) [n.] spun sugar

Threadlike fibers of melted sugar spun into a fluffy mass (as if like cotton fibers) twined around a bamboo stick, most often colored pink, sometimes in yellow or orange. On rare occasions, it is made of blue, violet, and green.

 

 

Pink is the most commonly used coloring in making cotton candy. Perhaps it has something to do with why young kids, particularly girls, are attracted to it like the ones being sold at the Rizal Park in Inopacan, Leyte.

Cotton candy is produced by a specially designed mechanical spinner. Using a small funnel, the rotating canister in the middle is filled with white sugar that is previously mixed well with a few drops of artificial food coloring. 

Underneath the canister is a hidden pressurized (hand-pumped) petroleum gas burner. The canister is rotated by a pedal or a crank installed underneath the rolling cart. The canister keeps on rotating until the sugar is heated and started to spurn out cotton-like threads. The cotton candy is then collected by swirling around a thin bamboo stick such as a bamboo barbecue stick (sans the pointed end to avoid accidents for children).

A cotton candy maker peddles the stuff along the busy 21st Street in West Rembo, Makati City.

In the provinces, cotton candies can be seen in small towns during special occasions at places where people would gather around, usually in public places. This one is in Inopacan, Leyte on its annual town fiesta. Originally, cotton candy is popular to kids and often seen in the peryahan (a transient village for watching circus and other amusenent fair)

All photos by Edgie Polistico are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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