the syrup-soaked ring

the syrup-soaked ring cake invented in 1845by Arthur and Auguste Julien in honour of the‘father of French gastronomie’ Jean AnthelmeBrillat-Savarin. We owe the popular bikewheel-shaped Paris-Brest to Louis Durandwho in 1910 concocted the first ones whenhe heard the cycling race was passing infront of his shop (now renamed Paris Brest) inMaisons-Laffitte (Yvelines).During the French Revolution, aristocraticladies celebrated their escape from theguillotine by dressing in flimsy white gownsand enormous hats. Known as the Merveilleux,their brief day in fashion’s sun is recalled bythe eponymous meringue and whipped creampastries from Flanders, best of all from AuxMerveilleux in Lille.Avignon remembers its medieval popeswith Papalines d’Avignon: dark chocolateballs filled with Origan du Comtat liqueur,wrapped in white chocolate tinted cardinalred. For Palm Sunday, Valence’s Suissebiscuits shaped and decorated like SwissGuards, recall how they protected Pope PiusVI after Napoleon kidnapped and sent himto Valence, where he died in 1799; MaisonGuillet is famous for them.Merveilleux, a whipped cream and meringue delight inspired by noblewomen who escaped the guillotine’s blade during the French RevolutionIn the same year in Nantes, CharlesBoho invented fruity Rigolettes Nantaise,immortalizing his cat Rigolette who was in turnnamed after his favourite opera, Rigoletto.In the French Alps, the Dahu, the mythicalmountain goat with one set of legs longerthan the other, leaves milk chocolate-coveredraisin poop, the Crottes de Dahu — solid prooffor les enfants that the Dahu really exists, andavailable in most souvenir shops.A grimmer tale inspired the dark chocolateand praline Crottes du Chien de Montargismade by Douceurs Montargris. In 1371,Aubry de Montdidier, a favourite of CharlesV, was walking in the woods when he wasassassinated by a jealous knight, RobertMacaire. The king’s search party foundMontdidier’s dog scratching the ground overhis master’s shallow grave. They brought bodyand dog back to court, when the dog, the onlywitness to the murder, attacked Macaire. Theking then ordered a duel between the man(armed with a club) and the dog (who hada barrel to hide in). The dog won, Macaireconfessed and was hanged.When Russia was àla modeFor a couple of centuries Russia andFrance were best buddies, in spite ofNapoleon trying to take Moscow. WhenTsar Alexander III turned up in Paris forthe 1855 Exposition Universal, he washonoured with an almond and hazelnutcake dubbed the Russe. In 1893, aconfiseur in Chartres came up with pralinechocolates in Swiss meringue that henamed Mentchikoff after Peter the Great’sfavourite, Prince Alexandre DanilovitchMentchikoff—who was reputedly theson of a pastry chef. In 1905, just beforeDiaghilev’s Ballets russes were to takeFrance by storm, wealthy Russians inBiarritz inspired chocolatier JacquesDamestoy to name his new chocolatecaramels Kanougas (after Kalouga, a townin Russia), which are nothing less thanthe ‘world’s finest caramel’ according tothe New York Times. His descendants stillmake them at the Maison Pariès.Royalty, plus a cat, goatand dogSuisse biscuit – a tribute to the Swiss Guards who protected Pope Pius VIin ValenceSweet display at La Mère de Famille, ParisWhen you travel around France, localbonbons make great souvenirs (who reallyneeds another fridge magnet?) In Angoulême’sChocolaterie Duceau, seek out Marguerites,daisy-shaped chocolates named afterMarguerite d’Angoulême, the brilliant sisterof François I. In Nevers, head to Au Négus fora box of Négus de Nevers—soft chocolateand coffee caramels in a hard candy coatingnamed after the Négus (Ménélik II, emperor ofAbyssinia) who visited Nevers in 1902.Sweet shop windows in France can give a glimpse into the history of French confectionary56 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 57