It's been used to clear the bowels, to prolong life and, in Korea, as a hangover cure. John Betjeman wrote a poem about it, and until the 1970s, it was grown in fields in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract.
It is, of course, liquorice - and a book has just been published tracing the history of this healing root, and showing the important role women have always taken in its production. There's still a sweet factory producing liquorice in the town today. Clare Jenkins has been sharing out her liquorice allsorts and sampling some unique liquorice bread.
