The Christmas Candy Cane originated in Germany about 250 years ago. They started out as straight white sticks.
Thank a bunch of noisy kids for the invention of what we know as the candy cane today. A German choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral circa 1670 wanted to keep kids silent during the crèche scene so he had candies made in the shape of a shepherd’s crook, to remind them of the shepherds that visited the baby Jesus at the first Christmas. It worked.
Sometime around 1900 the red stripes were added and they were flavoured with peppermint or wintergreen.
Today more than 1.75 million candy canes are sold around Christmas.
My Mirepoix 