Le Bonbon au Palais watercolor 9" x 11"
Class, we're back in the candy shop/confiserie, Le Bonbon au Palais. Remember I said the shop was like a schoolroom full of nostalgia. And Georges, the shop owner, has all his old school notebooks/cahiers and pencils sitting under the jars of candy.
In fact to really understand French traditional candies we do have to go back to school and study. At first glance I too gave short shrift to all these hard candies - too much like the striped baubles grandma gave us when we were small, right? Wrong. But these are quite different with much more intense flavors, often from seasonal fruits and herbs grown only in special regions of France. The coquelicot/red poppy is native to Nemours and the Bergamotte is native to the Lorraine. It's a small yellow citrus fruit, inedible when raw, but its rind yields an essential oil much used in perfumery and confectionery. The fruit was first popularized in France by King Stanislas in the 18th century. Who knew?
See all these apothecary jars full to the brim with candies? French chemists and pharmacists often by chance when making pills, made the very first candies like dragee/coated almonds you see in every French candy shop. Candy has alway been 'medicine' of a sort.
And how come French children are so savvy about these refined regional specialties? Not only do their grand-meres give them these treats. They get further 'candy education' at special celebrations like babtisms, communions, christmas, Easter, birthdays and weddings. We have a lot of catching up to do!
I was admiring little bags of pate de fruit/fruit paste. The process for these is labor intensive and complicated. I've heard people rave they're almost better than eating the real fruit. When I got home I discovered Georges had hidden a little packet in my candy bag! If you own a candy shop you're bound to get up to play tricks on people...
Here Georges is pouring fruit gells into a jar brought up from his celler which I imagine lined floor to ceiling with fabulous candies.
Why is Georges shaking the jar up and down?
To redistribute the colors he said.
Are you in love yet?
When I spotted this little schoolbook with a paintbox, Georges brought it down and read to me the poem by Jacques Prevert.
Reprenez vos couleurs
Les couleurs de la vie.
(Take your colors, the colors of life).
For my 'candy education' I had to take a trip to Nancy in the Lorraine
Famous for their bergamotte candies, syrups, liqueurs...Oh they make a million things made from that citrus rind.
Back at Le Bonbon de Palais I bought a little bag of unbelievable 'Gelifies Lorrains'. Honestly you've never tasted anything like them!
Yesterday I polished off my last gelifie bergamotte. It was tragique. Surely in New York City one should be able to find traditional French candies easily. I called and called. Nothing. Zero. New Yorkers you have to get some French candy education SVP!
This morning in desperation I discovered Amazon does carry many real French candies. They will keep me going till I get back to France. So do not walk by when you see a French candy shop full of jars of hard candies. Go in and TASTE!
You will be very surprised and delighted.
19 rue Monge 75005
Open Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 7:30pm
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