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The history of confectionery

When confectionery is mentioned, one word comes to mind: sugar.

It is in effect the principal ingredient used in confectionery.

The term "confectionery" comes from the word "confire" (to prepare, fix), which comes from the latin "conficere" (finish,preparing meals).

First off, it is honey (and not sugar) that was used by the people of antiquities, to prepare the following sweet products: China, Middle East, Egypt, Greece and Rome, used honey to cover fruits, flowers and probably used honey to make sweets such as we still find these days in these countries.

These Oriental confectioneries have an important proportion of honey (and add more) instead of sugar. We know that sugar came from Perse, known by the Greek and the Romans and maybe by the Gaul. Because of the invasions and destructions of these empires, sugar convoys disappeared. The crusades permitted the Christian to find sugar.

The Middle Ages is the return of sugar in Europe. Certain confectioneries manufactured in (XII and XIII centuries), which certain recipes reach us, such as the "Gingembraz", the "Diadorotrili", the "Pignolat", permitted us to follow the evolution of sugar.

Egypt's Sultan wanted to be agreeable with King Charles VII, which had just sent over many presents. In a top position, Ça centum weight tonnage of fine sugar".

Sugar and sweets were valuable gifts to which monarch were themselves not insensible to.

The consumption of sugar and all sweet products was very important starting in the Middle ages, first reserved for the aristocrats (because of its price), sugar became more and more popular and soon became accessible to the middle class.

Jams as we know them appear in the Middle ages, the oldest written work on jams is dated from XIV century, called "Ménagier de Paris" written by a middle class person from the city of Paris.

From XVII to XIX centuries:

The confectioners of Paris will stay for centuries, since there still are some on Lombards Street, also the streets close by, Saint Honoré Street, Richelieu Street,...

In XVII century, Abraham du Pradel, alias le Sieur de Blegny, doctor and business man, indicated in his book "Useful book of addresses in Paris for 1692", a great number of confectioners' addressed moved to this area. The beauty magazine of XV century publish and acclaim the advertisement of confectioners from le Lombards Street. We have also found some labels, leaflets and catalogues which permit us to dress a list of the confectioners of Paris and also a list of the most famous stores of that period. They will survive to the French Révolution and will have many glory days in XVIII century until after the July monarch, where active firms start to appear, not as craftsmen selling to the public, but as wholesalers industrialising themselves at the same time as mechanical material is being supplied to the human labour.

These confectioners were the appeal for the Parisian life and their magazines the meeting place of society and the riche middle class.

Without a doubt in XVIII century the famous praline was invented, due to Clement Jaluzot wine waiter Ð headwaiter of the Duc de Praslin; but at this point the historians disagree: certain believe that the praline was imagined by a cook to the blacksmith Duplessis, called Pralin.

The first enterprise, a little industrialised, was the house of Oudard, Lombards Street (Paris), with a sign "Vieux Amis". Grimod de la Reyneière, in his book ÇAlmanac des gourmands" published in 1804, described this store: "It is the place where we come to get all kinds of supplies, where the most people are approached, and where there are the most merchants all year long. The merchandise is constantly presented in quintal, instead of pounds. It is the first barley sugar factory in Paris. Everything is large or done in big quantities in this house: dry and liquid jams, fruit candy, dragées (gum), pralines, apple sugar, lollipops, marsh mellow pellets".

From the cane (sugar cane) of beets (sugar beet):

In XIX century, the idea to retrieve sugar from the beet wasn't new. From 1575, the French Olivier de Serres signified that we could extract juice from this plant, once cooked, gave a syrup resembling sugar syrup.

In 1747, the German chemist Margraff managed to isolate the sugar as a solid form; in 1786, his student Frédéric Achard, industrialised the procedure. In France, Benjamin Delessert (1773-1847) managed to produce it industrialised (he clarifies the sugar) in January 1812. The procedure is set and realised under Napoléon 1st ruling, at the occasion of the Continental blockade: at the site of the first bread of beets sugar, Napoléon enthusiastic and moved, removed his Honour Legion to decorate it Delessert...

The usage of sweet products became more and more accessible and trying to lure or to tempt or to increase their customers, the confectioner compete with their ingenuity. They invent, non-stop new candies, new preparations, new names, 1815 will see the accession of the liquor candy.

In 1840, Sahel, confectioner at Nîmes, invented a preserving pan (bowl) which pivoted and was activated be hand. In 1845, this procedure is abandoned when Moule-Farine imagines the mechanical turbine. Only one year is needed to make this procedure obsolete: in 1846, Julien Peysou and Delaborde invent the dragées machine.

In 1887, in Paris there were 700 confectionery workers. They were generally fed and lodged at the detail manufacturers. The worker whom worked by month gained between 60 and 140 francs depending on his level and his employer.

As for the consumer we learner that a large portion come from the lower income class (especially children, for buying of candies). 1 kilo of candy cost 1 franc 60.

All of this shows us how the confectionery was still a traditional craft at the end of the XIX Century. Even though it is in that century that the industrial manufactories were created.

The work of a confectioner

The sugar candy:

The Arabs were the first to use juices with very strong concentration of sugar as a preservative. "Candif", Italian term which comes from the Arab term "quandi de quand"Ê(sugar cane). The candy sugar is syrup, which has a tendency to saturate and crystallise the sugar once cold or during the drying. We use it to wrap up the candied fruits or to disguise.

The fruit pastes:

The fruit paste is an article of the confectionery with a base of sugar and fruit pulps. It can be presented in many ways and can be wrapped in candies, icing, sugar or none. Classic confectionery, but really appreciated.

The Caramels :

The term "caramel" started in 1680, in the French language, this word came from the Spanish "caramelo" and this one came from the medieval latin "cannamella" which designs the sugar cane.

The caramels are products, which are prepared starting from sugar, glucose syrup, milk or cream and edible fats. The final consistency of the caramels varies according to the temperature degree of cooking. Example: soft caramels = 117°C; hard caramels = 130°C.

Caramels are part of the classics of confectionery, which never become out of fashion.

Nougat :

In the Middle Ages, we called it nogat. The word nougat appeared at XVI Century; at the beginning it was a base of honey and preserved walnuts. It is to the Provence that it owes its form and new composition. In XVI Century, the confectioners replace the walnuts by almonds and in XIX Century, a part of the honey by sugar. We think that nougat was first done in XVI Century in the Marseillaise region. Then, very quickly Montélimar established itself.

The almond tree, Asian and Greek novelty, was established in Ardèche, not far from Montélimar. The confectioners fabricated the nougat twice during the year: For Easter and Christmas. Its reputation was established in January 1701. The dukes of Bourgogne and du Berry, grandson of Louis XIV, they had just brought their brother, Philippe d'Anjou, to St Jean de Luz. So he could be crowned king of Spain and they stopped in Montélimar and the municipality offered them a quintal of white nougat to welcome them.

Two kinds of nougats are fabricated: the dark and white (very popular) nougats.

Two legends have come to us about the origin of nougat:

The 1st comes from Montélimar. It's about a grandmother who confectioned candies for her little grand children and telling them their favourite story. The children would tell their grandmother "Tu nous gâtes" (you spoil us)!

The 2nd tells the story of an apprentice confectioner, in love with a princess and that one day, thinking of her, poured in a heavy saucepan made of copper:

• Honey, which reminded him of his loved ones' shiny hair,
• The almonds, which reminded him of the shape and softness of her eyes,
• The sugar, suggestive of her smile and of her beauty.

Nougat is still today, one of the most sold confectionery products.

The Marshmallows:

Marshmallows are light confectionery, soft and elastic, which don't even contain marshmallows. The marshmallow paste is done from cooked gelatine sugar and lifted egg whites. Then it is covered with a light layer of a mix of sugar icing and starch.

It is a confectionery very much liked by the Americans, which consume tons (who never heard of marshmallows roasted over a campfire).

The French Confectionery

Abricots au Kirsch des Vosges: Apricot paste stuffed with a pit of Kirsch.

Abricots de Lembron: Preserved fruits of d'Auvergne.

Alberges de Tours: Jam made with fruits of albergier (taste: peach-apricot).

Angélique de Niort: Stem of angelic preserves.

Anis de Flavigny: Dragees insides and a grain of anise.

Ardoises d'Angers: Nougat covered in chocolate.

Aristocrated de Meung sur Beuvron: Sweets made of molasses and walnuts.

Bergamotes de NancyÊ: Little sugar barley squares, flavoured essence of bergamot.

Berlingots de Carpentras: Cooked sugar candies, mint flavoured.

Bêtises de Cambrai: Cooked sugar candies, mint flavoured.

Blacha de Blois: Candy with a base of hazelnuts.

Bloc des Vosges (Granit des Vosges): Sugar of barley.

Bois cassés de St Jean d'Angély: Sugar stretched very long, to be very light and crumbly, this way it takes the form of the piece of wood.

Bouchons de Champagne: Sweets with a base of praline or of chocolate and in cork shape.

Cailloux de la Moselle (Cailloux des Vosges): Candy in almond paste, taking the shape of stones or pebbles.

Calissons d'Aix-en-Provence: Sweets with a preserved fruit base and pruned almonds and honey, sprinkled with orange flower water, cut in diamond shape and covered in unleavened bread.

Cabaches de Châlons: Chocolate praline candies, icing of pistachio nuts sugar.

Caprices d'Orléans: Candies made of rhum, almond paste, dipped in a melting.

Caraques Nivernaises: Confectionery in praline paste made of honey and meringue.

Cassissines de Dijon: Sweets made of blackcurrant paste stuffed in blackcurrant liquor.

Cédrats de Corse: Candies made of sugar cooked and stuffed of cédrat.

Cédrats confits d'Ajaccio: Little pieces of bark from the cédrat preserve.

Châtaigne du Berry: Shell of sugar, very cracked, stuffed with a paste of chestnut.

Chardons des Alpes: Candies of white chocolate.

Chardons de Savoie: Paste of hazelnut wrapped in melting.

Chevriers d'Arpajon: Little candies in the shape and colour of chevrier beans.

Chiques de Montluçon:ÊLarge candies of cooked sugar, stuffed with almonds and flavoured in mint, anise, lemon,

Clochette de St-Amand-les-Eaux: Butter caramel cut in triangles and wrapped in foil paper.

Cocons de Lyon: Candies in almond paste.

Cognottes de Sens: Sweets made of puffed sugar praline in coffee.

Coquelicots de Nemours: Cooked sugar candies.

Cotignac d'Orléans: Sweets made of quince paste.

Croquants Parisiens: Candy obtained with a sugar that is intertwined with a lot of roasted almonds.

Dragées de Verdun: The oldest dragees from France (XIII Century), almond wrapped in sugar.

Ducrétines de Montluçon: Candies in almonds.

Figues de Grasse: Caramelised fruits and perfectly crystallised.

Forestines de Bourges: Shell of sugar, very cracked, stuffed with praline cream.

Fraises d'Auvergne: Preserved strawberries, drained or iced.

Framboises ou fruits des Vosges: Cooked sugar candies stuffed with fruits.

Fruits des Alpes: Sugar coated hazelnuts, coloured and presented as natural fruit shape (olives, chestnuts, and hazelnuts...).

Fruits farcis de Montpellier: Little fruits, figurines, pairs, and prunes stuffed almonds.

Galichoux de Montpellier: Candies made of almond paste, with pistachio nuts.

Gimblettes d'Albi: Fruit pastes made of liquor.

Grains de Millet de Valence: Cachous of sugar liquorice.

Granits de Semur en Auxois: Rock of roasted almonds, dipped in white chocolate, orange flavoured.

Gouttes d'eau des Vosges: White chocolate or alcohol stuffed rose from mirabelles or of raspberry.

Grimaldines de Cagnes: Truffle made of fresh orange.

Groseilles de Lorraine: Candies in the shape and look of red currant and stuffed with red currant paste.

Guignes de la région de Bordeaux: Cherries dipped in waters of life from vine and wrapped in chocolate.

Guignolettes d'Auvergne: Sweets made of cherry paste and stuffed with a Kirsch cherry.

Haricots de Soissons: Praline candies with the shape of a bean.

Joyaux de Bourgogne: Shell of white chocolate teinted green or blackcurrant and stuffed with an almond paste made of prunes or blackcurrant.

Kalougas: Very soft caramels made of coffee and or chocolate.

Karafruits de Montargis: Shell of caramel, stuffed with a very creamy fruit paste.

Lichouneries de Châteauroux: Honey candies from Sologne.

Marquises de Toulouse: Sugar caramelised, stuffed with praline.

Massepains d'Aix-en-Provence: All the regional confectioneries with almond paste as a base.

Mirabelles confites d'Alsace: Preserved fruits often stuffed with Kirsch.

Mojettes du marais poitevin de Niort: Little chocolate candies.

Mûres du Dauphiné: Fruit paste in blackberry.

Négus de Nevers: Hard and iced caramels stuffed with soft caramel.

Niniches de Bordeaux: Soft caramels with chocolate.

Noix de Grenoble: Walnut halves stuffed with almond paste.

Noisettines Aubussonnaises: Shell of cooked sugar, stuffed with hazelnuts.

Nougat de Montélimar: Quality nougat. Knowing that the nougat is not originated from this city, the nougat makers of Montélimar, acquired a reputation with no equal.

Nougamandines Stéphanoises: Small nougats praline, wrapped in sugar pistachio.

Nougat noir de Perpignan: Nougat dressed in almonds and roasted hazelnuts. Very original.

Nougat de St-Tropez: Nougat with almonds and pistachios and honey from Provence.

Nougat de Sisteron: Nougat and honey from the Alps.

Nougatines de Saint-Pourçain: Nougat in little cobblestones, caramelised.

Nougatines de Poitiers ou de Nevers: Round candies prepared with crushed almonds, caramelised, dipped in meringue.

Obus de Verdun: Chocolate sweets in the shape of a shell with a wick that we light; the shell explodes and dragees and numerous petticoat accessories comes out.

Papillotes Lyonnaises: A variety of candies: fruit pastes, melting, wrapped nougat, preserved fruits. Wrapped in shinny colours paper with its edges fringed. This wrapping also contains a rebus, a maxim, a proverb and a humoristic drawing...

Pastille au miel de St Benoît sur Loire: Barley sugar presented in a shape of (moinillons) and made by monks from l'Abbaye de Fleury in Saint Benoît.

Patates de St Malo: Candies made of almond paste with the shape of little potatoes and flavoured with Kirsch.

Perles à l'anis d'Avignon: Little candies made with liquorice paste and aniseed flavoured.

Pistoles de Blois, de Digne: Flattened prune.

Pommes de Normandie: Candies made of almond paste, stuffed with Calvados and take the shape and colour of a little apple.

Pralines d'Aigueperse: Roasted almonds, dipped in caramel.

Pralines de Montargis: Almonds wrapped with a layer of sugar, cooked brown or pink.

Pruneaux fourrés d'Agen: Stuffed prunes with prune paste, almond paste or walnuts, differently flavoured and coloured.

Pruneaux de Tours: Marinated fruits in Vouvray and stuffed with almond paste.

Quernous d'Angers: Nougat dipped in white chocolate teinted blue slate-grey.

Roses de Provins: Sugar candies cooked transparently, rose flavoured.

Sucres d'orge: Sweets with the bases of flavoured, cooked sugar, speciality of all the water cities (Evian, Cauterets, Vichy, Bourbon l'Archambault,...).

Sucres d'orge de Moret: Candies presented in a quaint and charming little box, made by nuns from Moret.

Sucres d'orge de Tours: Cooked sugar candies, flavoured with apple or cherry.

Sucre de pomme de Rouen: Bars of sugar and apple juice extract, wrapped in a sugar crust.

Tendresses Lyonnaises: Very soft nougat, rhum flavoured and wrapped in meringue.

Touron de Bayonne: Sweets in almond paste.

Touron au miel de Gap: Sweets in sugar, honey, almonds and hazelnut pastes.

Touron du pays Basque: Red balls in almond paste with the appearance of arbutus berry.

Tullinoises de Tulle: Crushed walnuts mixed with an almond paste with pistachio.

Violettes de Toulouse: Delicate sweets created with crystallised violets, mixed with sugar syrup.

The chewing-gum

Some wonder what the chewing gum (industrial chewing paste) is doing in the confectionery chapter, well you should know that chewing gum is the confectionery product the most sold in the world. So it may be not liked by some, we can not ignore its flagrant expansion. The confectioners must adapt, like many others, to the new confectioneries available.

Here we explain the fabrication of chewing gum and also its history.

Originally American, this chewing paste with its immense worldwide popularity deserved to be part of the confectionery history.

In 1855, General Antonio de Santa Anna, banished from Mexico by the revolution and exiled to New York, had the idea to carry in his baggage 250 kilograms of chicle. Gum extracted from the sapodilla, a tree which he thinks is in abundance in the Yucatan forest, so that he may sell it as a substitute of rubber to rebuild his fortune. He chewed like his fellow-citizen, little bands of this gum and his colleague Thomas Adams de Hoboken in New Jersey was in charge of negotiating the chicle. Inventor and photographer, Adams failed in this business and when Santa Anna returned to Mexico after amnesty, Adams kept the chicle stock. The saying goes, that when Adams saw a little girl chewing paraffin, he remembered Santa Anna's habits and contacted the pharmacist to propose his gum at a better price then paraffin. Adams and his son (Horacio) made little bands from the chicle that the pharmacist sold 1 cent. In 1866 Adams spent 55 dollars to rebuild his stock, rent some land and a studio to promote on the market his "Adams New York chewing-gum".

This was the beginning of the industrial fabrication. Horatio Adams died in 1956 at 102 years old. Other pioneers looked into the product to better it. It was William J. Whitr who had the idea to add mint flavoured glucose syrup to the chicle and he sold his chewing gum under the name "Yucaté‡". Its Wrigley who was the first to use publicity and brilliant campaigns, and the artisan of the expansion of consumption in the United States, then Europe, where the troops disembarked in 1917 (then in 1944) during the first (but also the second) world war. That is how the product was known.

Fabrication of chewing gum:

Chewing gum is composed of insoluble plastic in water as a base and especially in the saliva, which we incorporated by mixing, iced sugar, glucose syrup, some flavours and colours.

The fabrication of chewing gum has two distinct phases:
- Preparation of the chewing gums basics.
- The mixing from the base to other constituent, putting together and the conditioning of the finish product.

This base constitutes of a mix of gum and natural resins or synthetic. The natural gums come from many different vegetable botanical families, mostly from sapotacées, apocynacées, moracées, and euphorbiacées.

The natural resins originate from many divers vegetable species. These different gums and resins are, after purification and treatments, mixed in proper proportions depending on the article that we desire to make: bars, dragees,...

The gums and resins obtained by synthesis are used alone or mixing with the gums and natural resins. The basic gum is a very complete product in which each element gives one or many qualities to the finish product. It is indispensable that each of the constituents figure in the formula, strictly dosing because the plasticity, the "body", the conservation, the quality of the subsequent work on machine depends of it.

Mixing:

The fabrication consists of preparing the paste with the help of the base gum and different other constituents: sugar, glucose syrup, products of charge, flavours, colours,...

The slabs of basic gum, crushed, are placed in a mixer heated with steamed and equipped with rotating arms, we heat very slowly to obtain a relatively fluid mass in which we incorporate in small portions: iced sugar, glucose syrup, products of charge, colours and flavours. The mass is cooled down on a table or on metallic bands.

As soon as the desired consistency is reached, it is passed through the rolling mill where it is put to the desired thickness, the ribbon is cut at the length wanted; the bars are then wrapped mechanically and grouped in packs in determined numbers.

The dragefied articles are formed at the mechanical piller with forms and cuts; the insides are then dragefied and treated the same way as the bars.

The flavour most used is mint, but other flavours are also used: fruits, anise, liquorice,...