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The dragée from Verdun: from the spicy medicine to the candy

Illustration picture | Alexandre Duret-Lutz / CC-BY-SA
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What’s this?

In Verdun, the dragée ("sugared almond") is available in every colours: golden yellow, lilac, violet, carmine red, orange or royal blue...

Braquier in Verdun makes the real traditional dragée: an almond under a shell made of sugar syrup... Almond taste explodes in mouth. Yum, delicious!

The little history

The dragée as a medicine

Our little dragées from Verdun exists since the Middle-Ages. Originally, apothecaries made them.

They gave a fresh breath and helped along the digestion. Their flavoured them with spices or acidulous fruits: anise, cinnamon, coriander, lemongrass...

A royal gift

People gave dragées to royal hosts when they came in Verdun: duke of Angoulême received more than 100 boxes, in 1634! They even gave them on special occasions, marriages or baptisms: the dragée was very useful for sterility!

Then, "King’s confectioners" diplomas were given to apothecaries who made dragées, in the 17th century.

But after the French Revolution, the production fell. They used to make dragées by hand, but a man called Lizer decided, in 1850, to industrialize the process. And the production perked up again!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!