Croquants de Cordes

Croquants de Cordes are thin almond biscuits from Cordes-sur-Ciel, in the Tarn department of southwestern France. The golden dough is marked with holes and traces of bubbles, and the edges are uneven. When you bite into one, it breaks lightly, and the toasty aroma of sugar and the flavor of almond spread through your mouth. “Croquant” is a word describing a crunchy texture.

From unwhipped egg whites to a thin wafer

The ingredients are egg whites, sugar, flour and almonds. In the method presented by the Tarn tourism board, the egg whites are mixed into the flour and sugar without being whipped, and sliced almonds are added. The order of preparation differs from that of a meringue, in which the egg whites are whipped so that they hold their shape. Small portions of batter are dropped onto a baking sheet; because they spread sideways as they bake, they are spaced apart so that neighboring pieces do not stick together. The baked biscuits are left to cool as they are and are removed from the baking sheet only once they are completely cold.

Emmanuela Noël, a confectioner in Cordes, considers it important to use plenty of sugar and almonds and not to add too much flour. Rather than shaping the biscuits into neat circles, her method keeps the irregular outlines that form as the batter spreads during baking. People appreciate the dough, so thin and light that you can see through it, and the way it shatters in the mouth.

Methods of arranging the dough on the baking sheet also differ. When the French cook Bernard Laurance visited the Andrieu family’s workshop, Patrick Sartoux was mixing flour, sugar and almonds by machine and adding egg whites. The resulting dough is rolled into long sticks on a floured surface, cut into pieces about 1 centimeter thick, and lined up. As they bake, the small pieces bubble and spread, becoming thin croquants. This is a workshop procedure, different from the home method of dropping the batter from a spoon.

Almonds and the innkeeper’s legend

The town has a story that in the 17th century, when nearby almond trees yielded a bumper crop, the woman who kept an inn used the surplus nuts to bake biscuits. The biscuits, made from almonds, sugar and egg whites, are said to have been served with Gaillac wine. It is a story linking the land and the biscuit, and Tarn tourist information also presents it as a legend.

Meanwhile, the Andrieu family’s confectionery shop holds a family memory that croquants have been made continuously at the shop Jacques Sicard founded in 1872. In a 2010 interview, Sartoux, the shop’s successor, described how he reopened the shop, which had closed when the previous owner retired in 2001. The innkeeper’s legend and the history of the confectionery shop belong to different periods.

From a town biscuit to a Tarn biscuit

Croquants are made not only in the small workshops of Cordes but also by confectionery producers elsewhere in the department. Maison Bruyère of Lagrave states in its company history that it began making Croquants de Cordes in the early 1990s. Its product has a flavor reminiscent of roasted almonds and light caramel, and it is made within the same Tarn department.

Where the almonds come from and how flavors are added also vary from maker to maker. Maison Bruyère’s ingredient list shows California almonds, while a local retailer that features Noël’s workshop names nuts harvested in the Tarn-et-Garonne department. Even when a sweet’s name points to a place, not all of its ingredients are produced in that town. In addition to the basic almond version, Noël’s workshop also makes versions combined with spices, chocolate, citrus and other flavors.

Sharing in the market square

Events centered on croquants have also been held in Cordes. At the second festival, in June 2001, local foods were gathered in the town’s market square, and an event was planned in which confectioners including Yves Thuriès would bake a giant croquant 2.5 meters in diameter. Embers of grapevine wood were used as fuel, and visitors were to taste the baked biscuit.

Glossary