Le Bonbon au Palais
Le Bonbon au Palais watercolor 9" x 11"
Class, we're back in the candy shop/confiseri, Le Bonbon au Palais. Remember I said the shop was like a schoolroom full of nostalgia.Georges, the shop owner, has all his old school notebooks/cahiers and pencils sitting under the jars of candy.
Well in fact to really understand French traditional candies we do have to go back to school and study up. At first glance I gave short shrift to all these hard candies - too much like the striped baubles grandma gave us when we were small, right? Wrong. In fact these are quite different with 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 native to the Lorraine is a small yellow citrus fruit, is 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?
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.
And how come French children are so savvy about these refined regional specialties? Along with growing up with them, they get further 'candy education' at special celebrations like babtisms, communions, 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, they are so intense. When I got home I discovered Georges hid a little packet in my candy bag! If you own a candy shop you're bound to get up to mischief...
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 was he 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 the poem by Jacques Prevert to me.
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, licquers...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. But 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 with windows are 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
And Merci Georges for the pate de Fruits!
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