Calisson

The calisson of Aix-en-Provence is a sugar confection made with a soft paste of almonds and candied melon. The fruit-enriched filling sits between a white icing and a thin sheet of pain azyme. A thin sheet of pain azyme is laid on the bottom, the paste is shaped into a long, narrow form, and the top is covered with white icing. Stories of a queen’s smile and the town’s blessing have also become attached to its small white shape.

A Paste Made with Candied Melon and Almonds

The main ingredients of a traditional calisson are blanched almonds, candied melon and sugar syrup. Some versions also add a little candied orange peel or orange flower water, among other ingredients. Because the melon is chopped finely and worked together with the almonds, it affects not only the aroma but also the softness of the paste. In contrast to marzipan, which is worked mainly from almonds and sugar, a calisson also has the flavor and softness of candied fruit.

The fruit and almonds are ground finely, combined with hot sugar syrup, worked together and heated until they form a smooth paste. Some methods include resting the paste before shaping, and some workshops rest it for 3 days. The proportions of ingredients and the number of resting days vary from maker to maker.

Some makers publish their ingredient ratios. According to information from the general importer for Japan of Léonard Parli, the composition is 43% almonds and 42% house-made confit of melon and orange peel. This workshop’s recipe uses French melon and Spanish orange peel, and its almonds and candied fruit are present in similar proportions.

The Pain Azyme That Supports the Filling, and the White Icing

The paste is pressed out onto a thin sheet of pain azyme into a long, narrow mold. The thin sheet on the bottom supports the soft filling, glace royale is spread over the top, and the piece is released from the mold. Glace royale is an icing made with sugar and egg white that dries into a smooth, thin skin.

The paste at the center and the icing on top are made separately. Making the shapes uniform matters, and so do spreading the icing without letting too much run down the sides and releasing each piece from the mold without spoiling its outline. Besides the traditional white surface, there are now calissons with icing colored to match a fruit flavor and others combined with chocolate.

The Legend of the Queen Who Smiled at Her Wedding

A story tells that in 1454, at the wedding of King René and Jeanne de Laval, the queen finally smiled after eating a confection. It is said that a single bite offered by a court confectioner of Aix made the downcast queen smile, and that those around her said in Provençal, “Di calin soun” (“It is an embrace”). In some versions the words are the queen’s own. The phrase is a later pun that overlays “embrace” onto the name of the confection. This wedding legend does not tell us when calissons actually began to be made.

Etymological Theories Linking the Name to a Reed Tray and a Chalice

There are other theories about the origin of the name. Dictionaries include a theory that it is an altered form of canissoun, which refers to a small tray of woven reeds. In 1998 the linguist Philippe Blanchet argued against this, on the grounds that older forms containing an l appear earlier and have more reliable attestations. He considered “little chalice,” from calice (chalice) and the diminutive suffix -oun, the more likely origin. His theory examines a religious metaphor drawn from the Eucharist, but it is not known in which direction the word passed between it and the related words of northern Italy.

Confection Names in Old Texts and the Present-Day Method

The historian Noël Coulet cites Maestro Martino’s “caliscioni,” a wrapped pastry filled with marzipan, as an early Italian candidate. Its ingredients and shaping are not the same as those of today’s calisson, in which melon paste is placed on a thin sheet and covered with icing. The name of the confection appears in a poem by Claude Brueys published in 1628, but its shape and ingredients cannot be determined from it. Coulet also points out that a 1503 usage cited in a dictionary cannot be traced to its original document. How the method changed before the confection became today’s melon-based calisson is uncertain.

Records of commercialization include an 1835 advertisement in Paris for calissons sold in boxes bearing a portrait of King René. The image of the king from the wedding story also came to be attached to the confection as a product.

The September Blessing and the Thirteen Desserts of Christmas

The September blessing is described in connection with a vow made in 1630 by the city official Martelly and others in response to a plague epidemic. The blessing of calissons in its present form began in 1996. The old municipal vow forms the background of a new event that celebrates the confection.

Separately from the September blessing, calissons are also counted among the “thirteen desserts” set out on Christmas Eve in Provence. They are one of the Christmas sweets shared alongside nuts, dried fruit, nougat and other items.

Apart from the bite-sized confection, there are also products used in other desserts. A 2019 article introducing the Le Roy René workshop features a cream-form calisson used in tart bases and sherbets and a granulated calisson for sprinkling on sweets. Calisson is not only a bite-sized confection held between a thin sheet and icing. It is also an ingredient that adds the flavor of almonds and fruit to other sweets.

Efforts to Protect the Name “Calisson d’Aix”

To protect the name “Calisson d’Aix,” makers have sought recognition as a geographical indication that defines the ingredients and the place of production. The aim is to make the use of almonds and candied fruit, and production in Aix, conditions for using the name.

Gabriel Astouric, a chef based near Aix, also serves a dessert that combines calissons with candied melon from Apt. Besides those who enjoy the small sugar confection as it is, some cooks develop its ingredients and flavors into other dishes.

Glossary