Berlingot
History
The berlingot is a typical sweet from Provence, more specifically the village of Carpentras, and one of the oldest in France.
This flavoured sweet is said to have been invented at the beginning of the 14th century by one of the cooks of Pope Clement V, the first pontiff of Avignon. One day this cook, called Sylvestre, whilst preparing a caramel custard for a banquet, realised that he had some extra caramel. The idea came to him to re-cook it after adding mint and lemon to change the flavours. He obtained sticks which he stretched and cut, thus giving birth to berlingots. He offered the result of his experiment with the words "Honneur à Bertrand de Got...", the real name of Clement V, which created the word "berlingot". The sweet owes its fame to the confectioner François Pascal Long, who in 1844 improved the initial recipe by adding candied fruit syrup. In 1851, Gustave Eysséric industrialised the production. Nowadays, two confectioners from Carpentras continue this tradition, Thierry Vial ("Confiserie du Mont-Ventoux"), and Serge Clavel ("Confiserie de Carpentras"). Their total production is between 40 and 60 tons per year.
Varieties and Flavours
This small hard and translucent pyramid, streaked with white, comes in different colours: red for mint(!), green for aniseed, yellow for lemon and orange for orange. New flavours are currently being added to the range: coffee, chocolate, melon, Venasque cherry, lavender, Carpentras strawberry, fig, violet, mandarin, apple, raspberry and even cola and Carambar.
The production of this delicacy goes through five stages:
- baking
- stretching
- kneading
- cutting with a berlingotière
- placing on racks before packaging
The Question on Everyone's Mind
Why is the mint berlingot red?
The first mint berlingot was made with red candied fruit syrup, hence its colour.
Where to Eat and Buy Them
If you want to know all about berlingot, go to Thierry Vial's Confiserie du Mont-Ventoux, 1184 Avenue Dwight Eisenhower, in Carpentras. A small museum retraces the history of this delicacy, with a visit to the factory and a tasting session that will delight young and old alike!
The Clavel confectionery, place Aristide-Briand in Carpentras, also offers delicious berlingots made in the purest tradition.
