Bergamote de Nancy

Bergamote de Nancy is a bergamot-scented candy associated with Nancy, in the Lorraine region of eastern France. The candies are small, thin, translucent squares of amber. As a candy slowly dissolves in the mouth, its citrus aroma spreads.

Adding essential oil and making thin candy

Bergamot is a fragrant citrus fruit that is also used to flavor tea. The candy is flavored with the essential oil rather than with fruit pulp. Under the 2020 specification for the Protected Geographical Indication (IGP), sugar and glucose syrup are dissolved in water and boiled down over an open flame. The syrup is taken off the heat, the essential oil is quickly mixed in, and the mixture is spread thin on a table as it cools, then cut into small squares. Overmixing makes the sugar crystallize too early, so care is also needed when mixing in the essential oil.

Sugar syrup boiled down over an open flame becomes hard and brittle like glass as it cools. This heating also produces the amber color. Under the specification, each candy is individually wrapped in transparent packaging. This protects the candies from moisture and keeps them from sticking together. Some tins and boxes depict Nancy’s Place Stanislas, and together with the candy, which was presented at the 1909 exhibition, they became an image that represents the town.

Early records of scented sweets and the regional designation

Records of bergamot-scented sugar confections are older than today’s candy. According to a historical account by the Lefèvre family, confectioners in Nancy, a book by the confectioner Machet, published in Paris in 1803, includes instructions for making sugar confections flavored with bergamot. One theory links the candy to the court of Lorraine, but records of older scented confections alone do not tell us when or how today’s Nancy candy took its established form.

The IGP was registered in 1996. Under the 2020 specification, production and individual wrapping take place within a defined area in four departments of Lorraine, and the ingredients must be traceable. The name Nancy represents the skills and reputation of the place where the candy is made.

Glossary