I was a fan of Oblélix et Astérix as a child myself. Thanks for sharing this sweet tale.

You may want to sort out what "candi sugar" is. No such expression in English but I am trying to think what it is. Pearlized sugar? I don't think so. It depends on what kind of sugar is in this confection. Looking at it, I'd guess it is perhaps superfine granulated sugar, but maybe not? In any case, candi (it would be candy anyway) sugar is meaningless here, so please, please describe the sugar and we will find a word for it.

Thanks! I love the blue pillow though I am not sure I would eat it myself.

Can we order them here in the U.S.?

Candy sugar also called "sweet diamonds" is the purest form of cane sugar. It is sparking white big crystal sugar obtained by cooling supersaturated sugar solutions. You can find candy sugar in swizzle stick for example.

Karene, I located the website from which your comment is lifted:
http://www.sugarindia.com/candy.htm

but when I looked for pictures of it, I found these big rocks of sugar that are called candy sugar. Also, what is "purest form of cane sugar"? Sugar is sugar unless it has impurities. Table sugar, granulated sugar and powder sugar are all the same substance, chemically but in different physical forms. That's why it makes no sense to talk about "purest" because it would imply that that table sugar we use is is not pure (and this is not true). By the way, brown sugar and white sugar are all the same chemially, no difference at all.

Maybe, in this definition, purest should be understood as unrefined in opposition to powder sugar which is refined. But I may be wrong.

I remember the day my dad came back home with a box of coussins de Lyon, we all loved them. I saw some of them in G.Detou and in Lafayette Gourmet.

Anneliese, according to Harold McGee, all sugar starts out with impurities which are progressively refined out. For the whitest, clearest preparations--fondant, clear syrup--he recommends using coarse white decorating crystals (aka "sanding" sugars), which are super-refined, even to the point of being washed with alcohol to eliminate sucrose dust on the surface (not making this up, that's what he says!). Not sure what you'd call a fine crystal version, nor whether to make your own you'd just pulverise the large white crystals or go through a syrup process.

Susan, this is it! I think these sugars are called "sanding sugars" in English. I think this is exactly it!
Wonderful discussion.

Coussin de Lyon - mmmmm......
It has been a long time since our family trip to Lyon and the Beaujolais region but the taste is now coming back to me.
Thank you so much!

i've been wanting to visit friends in Lyon for a while now. Coussins Lyonnais seems to be another reason too!

My daughter loves Asterix and food things too - I'll have to check to see if she has this one. I love the color!

hmm, a variation on this candy is quite abundant in Sweden... I thought it was Swedish!

Clotilde,

This is the first time I've posted a comment to your wonderful blog, but I've been enjoying it for well over a year now. Happy new year!
When I followed your link to the Voisin site, I noticed the following explanation of the origin of your little confection:

In 1643 "une terrible épidémie ravageait alors la ville de Lyon. Pour la combattre, les échevins lyonnais font le voeu de se rendre en procession sur la colline de Fourvière en portant un coussin de soie sur lequel sont déposés un cierge et un écu d'or."

Since you are, as I am, an enthusiast for tidbits of food lore and history, I thought you'd want this included in the discussion. My high school French is unfortunately rusty, so I managed only to decipher that, in an effort to combat a terrible epidemic in 1643, the citizens (?) of Lyon formed a procession (where?) carrying silk pillows on which were laid something gold and something else. Assistance?

Thanks for so much pleasure and armchair travel!

Do you think that it'd be possible to make an approximation of these at home? What kind of work would that involve?

All right, Clotilde, you've done it. This is the last time I read your blog, you hear me? All your sweet, vivid portrayals of wonderful, tantalizing specialty items I can't easily get over here in Chicagoland. Well, I'm stopping by Trader Joe's on the way home, so you eat your heart out! Ok, Ok, we all know I don't have the strength to resist C&Z. So see you again tomorrow...

Wow--I've never seen anything quite that color...not a flower, or a dress, or a balloon...and to think it has chocolate on the inside too! Maybe a surfboard once...

Beth: the "échevins" were the municipal magistrates. They made a vow to organise a procession up a hill called "Fourvière", where stands an impressive basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary (worth visiting) . Upon the silk cushion, they carried a candle and a golden coin (an "écu", which almost became the official European currency, which would have been an acronym for "European Currency Unit", except the Brits were unable to pronounce it correctly... and eventually, they didn't even adopt it ! But that's another, very long, and irrelevant story anyway !)

Bandes dessinées : if I can boast of something I have done towards giving a good upbringing to my daughters, it is having collected and amassed those albums. I have about 2,700 of them, now. They correspond to what is more usually called "graphic novels" (although I have also lots of comics and comic strips, american, english and french) The Astérix albums in my bookshelves are in a sorry state, though : the covers are falling apart, so often have my beloved daughters extracted them from where they were (too tightly) packed together.

In a way, I am vindicated: when I was a little boy, I was addicted to reading all sorts of comics, and the teachers and other "knowledgeable" adults told me that those were "bad" for me, and that I should read serious stuff lest I fail miserably in my studies. Ah well... At least, I gave my kids a chance !

It is said that blue food is unappetizing, yet this has to be one of the most tempting photographs to accompany your entries! How maddening that it is just an image!

I must live (obviously) on a different planet because even though the story is lovely, my lips would NOT touch this concoction. The blue (and I do not like Curacao to make things worse), the sugar, the chocolate inside... I would just look at it but would not eat it.
Just because some things are French, it does not mean they are so great, people and that we should immediately desire them in this greatest country of all, the USA. Why do you always want to bring everything to your neck of the woods? This is part of the globalization so many people freak out about. Let the French have their blue pillows and we have our own marvellous foods. No need to weep and feel sorry. THIS IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY and we can everything we need here.

Enough ranting. The posting is lovely. I am just concerned with the apparent snobbery of the folks reading and commenting.

Cheers.
Anneliese

correction to the above: THIS IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY and we can have everything we need here, without necessarily bringing every littlest thing from FRANCE!

Incidentally, Scharffen-Berger chocolate won the blind taste test a few years ago, competing against the finest European chocolates. And they are made right here in America. People., buy American, ditch snobbery, know what is good for you. Currently, the world's greatest restaurants are in the US (NY, Las Vegas, LA, SF and probably other places I missed). Be proud of America!

Anneliese

You're right, anneliese, to hell with the rest of this planet! Why do we need it, really ? The good old US of A are the best... They've got EVERYTHING ! I guess we'll just have to commit collective suicide and let you enjoy your land of plenty with no further arrogant interference...

You misunderstand me. If a blue concoction (as above) showed up in your supermarket (somewhere in the USA), would you let your kids near it? I would not. But because it is French and from Lyon, does it make you blind and so full of snobbery that you don't see beyond it? Why not have it in Lyon when you go there without immediately wanting to know "where we can get it in the US". Clotilde is writing for the US market, because (among other things) it is the most open-minded and absorbent market. But for goodness sake, have your eyes wide open!
Cheer(io)s.

No arrogance is intended here. You read what you want, but I suggest you take my words at their face value, without reading INTO them anything extra.
anneliese

Annelise,

I agree...Americans can be such posers (thinking they've got to go overseas to 'be cool'?), I think it comes from oh ... who knows what...?? lack of exposure? if the u.s. were flanked by france and italy and spain maybe people wouldn't be so gaga?? well, it's not unique to the u.s. anyway...

http://www.threelayercake.com/content/view/105//

mhh: thank you and it is a very interesting article to which you provided the link.
I constantly run into people who are so awed by anything French or Italian that it embarasses me.
I must emphasize that the blue pillow and the story about it is very interesting. I am glad Clotilde wrote about it. I am glad we got a chance to read it! But why not look at the bloody thing with a critical eye? It is a blue sweet confection, infused with Curacao liqueur (which in my opinion is vile, but everyone can think what they want). But do you even know what makes Curacao blue? Research it and find out and you will see that maybe you will not be wanting to import French junk food into your American suburbia so fast. The French have junk food just like we do here! Wake up and smell your beautiful American food and be critical of foreign things, just like you are critical of our foodstuffs. And down with foreign snobbery!

Anneliese

Anneliese: You are either the reader who called her/himself Babette some time ago or another who finds the anonymity provided by the internet an opportunity to dispense altogether with civility and respect for others. I read in your comments a desire to provoke, to be noticed, and to make others perhaps as angry as you feel. I also find in your harsh, judgmental words reason enough to believe that patriotism is a dangerous sentiment. Surely, the rudeness with which a proclamation of U.S. supremacy demonstrates one of the uglier qualities of Americans...if you are, in fact, a U.S. citizen. There is no one set of criteria upon which to assess national supremacy, nor is this a forum for political debate. It is not warrented since someone wishing to purchase a candy from Lyon is not bemoaning the inferiority of his country. Nor is he necessarily a snob. He may simply have a powerful sweet tooth and as a good, kind soul who admires Clotilde and is grateful for this blog, wishes to send along warm wishes. Please note the origins of this blog and the generosity with which its author credits her time working in California in first awakening her passion for cooking and food before she returned home to Paris. Please be that generous in kind. Some of us appreciate the foods and peoples of many parts of the world and not just our own town, state or country. As you know, the supermarkets of United States also contain boxes of sugar-laden cereals in colors as bright and pastel as this blue with marshmallow shapes that dye your milk. It is only because of their ill effect on our diets that vitamins are added and 1 miniscule gram of fiber has been restored to the overly processed flour. Sharffen-Berger is fabulous, I agree, and I bet its founders got more of their ideas from Europe than from Hersey, PA. Same with Starbucks (well, as far as debt is concerned, at any rate). It doesn't mean Pierre Herme doesn't deserve our praise. The last word out on the best restaurant in the world turned to a self-taught chef and his former pub in England. However, that was simply opinion and a matter of taste, not fact. Peace. Paix. Pace. Pax.

this may seem like a silly question and I'm not trying to criticise but I'm curious as to why they dye the marzipan blue? Couldn't they use brown or a more natural colour?

thanks Clotilde, it sounds like a delightful little regional treat. What a brilliant tour idea.
It's surprising what commenting fury a little blue sweet can cause.

I sure am intrigued by this small piece of chocolate with a lovely blue color.

Blue or no, I personally find the coussins more attractive than the similar huesos del santo they make in Spain. Same components, minus the curaçao, but the latter give you the creepy feeling that the chocolate ganache (or candied chestnuts, or pureed sweet potato) in the middle is, ick, bone marrow.

I love your site, love your posts, loved the story and wish I had some of this beautiful treat! Thank You!!!

yes love those coussin also love the cocon from lyon a fabulous candy in the shape of a cocoon from silk worm as lyon use to be the french capital of the silk ,also base on mazipan.

I was lucky enough to have experienced one of these thanks to a Lyonesse (is that how they describe them) who offered one to me recently. It was her last sweet that she had brought with from Lyon (or had a relative bring to her). It was definitely a unique type of sweet!

Oh my goodness!

I hope that nothing I wrote could have been misconstrued as disparaging. I just happened to think that article was funny.

I think that the U.S. has great things to offer, just like I think France has great things to offer, just like every other country of the world. I think it's great that we Americans, who live pretty much isolated (in more ways than one), reach out and explore other cultures and embrace other cultures and incorporate it into our own culture. How BORING would it be to only know about things from your own neighborhood? How BORING would it be to not know how the rest of the world eats and lives? And if you hate chicken-fried steak, but love pate...is that really the end of the world? Does it make you a traitor? No, just means you love pate and hate chicken-friend state. No xenophobia or treason intended.

At the same time, there are lots of tasty things and culinary traditions which just don't exist in the U.S. Having a fond memory or embracing something from your childhood, whether it's a box of red hots, lemon heads, Boston Baked Beans, or whatever, isn't a crime...

It's a lovely thing!

Elizabeth: you are incorrect on all counts. I am as anonymous here as you are (I had to provide my e-mail address just as you did). I am not some Babette person, but if I were, I would use my name or pseudonym or whatever.
I was not born in the US but I proudly took on the citizenship of this country. One of the best days of my life!

I suggest you be as critical of any foreign food (even French!) as you are of the American cereals.

Cheer(io)s. :)
Anneliese

Clothilde,

another first-time poster here, charmed by your eloquence and passionate epicureanism.

I once shared your aversion to the sometimes abusive marriage of liquer and confectionery, but must draw your attention to something a
Swiss friend brought me when she visited (London) for NYE.

They're crisp batons of bittersweet chocolate filled with Vieille Prune plum brandy. Initially a shock (you don't normally expect such aggression from a chocolate), the fumey liquer flavour rounds off perfectly with the sweet flavours.

Actually, as they're made by Lindt, they're probably well-known, but, along with a pecorino matured in a disused well, they've been my find of the holidays.

I'll be in Lyon in eight day's time - any other delicacies to recommend?

I'm sorry - 'Clotilde'

Amazing the controversy sparked by the innocent pleasures of blue candy and bande dessinées. To my eye, the sparkling teal-ish, turquoise-ish blue coating and the brown of the chocolate filling together make one of the most striking (and here, appetizing) color combinations, one seen in many a clothing boutique window, especially in the fall. In Clotilde's synopsis of "Le Tour de Gaule," it seems Astérix and Obélix have a lot to teach about appreciating other cultures and traditions -- and the freedom to do so.

Thank you, Clotilde, for a wonderful year of sharing your discoveries and appreciations with us, and opening the year 2006 with this sweetly nostalgic -- and meaningful -- entry. May many more surprises and joyful adventures fill your new year!

I love the color of it. At first glance it looked like an abrasive sponge--the kind one cleans pots with!

It does look like a sponge!! But I imagine it's a tiny little confection.

I didn't understand though if they are still available in Paris or not. Was the practice of selling them outside of Lyon stopped?

I can't believe how heated this discussion got, over an innocent nice historically-based candy! It's that perpetual franco-american rivalry thing!!!

I'd give these to my kids, sure. They don't have to eat pounds of it a day, but as a treat once in a blue moon (pun intended), why not? If a tenth of an ounce of die is the worst thing that happens to them...

aurelia

Now that's interesting! I was born in the suburbs of Lyon, quite some moons ago. I lived there for over 20 years. I was there again last week. I've seen the "Coussins" hundreds of times, eaten them a few times (I find them a bit too sweet). I've always seen them as being green, not blue. They are also wrapped in a green box, not blue. And it mentions that there is curaçao in the ganache, the filling, not the marzipan - though there may be a drop there, I don't know. Have I hallucinated all my life?????????? :-)

Three cheers for "Your papounet" and for Elizabeth! Four cheers for Clotilde!!!

Wow. I never heard about the "coussins de Lyon", although I know a little about French gastronomy. But the picture is so beautiful...!

Oh, wow. I must try a Coussins Lyonnais. They sound heavenly! Thanks for sharing your story. I love Asterix myself and many of my fellow Americans have no idea who he is. Happy New Year!

J'ai suivi avec passion les débats sur les coussins de Lyon (qui sont par ailleurs et par hasard ma madeleine personnelle, parce que mon premier vrai amoureux était de Lyon, et sa famille habitait à côté de la Place Bellecourt, sur laquelle Voisin officie, et le premier jour de ma première visite à Lyon, on m'a offert un coussin, initiant à jamais ma dévotion pour sa petite renflure verte et son ventre d'un riche et tendre chocolat), et j'ai bien rigolé.
Quelques remarques en passant: it seems a little contradictory to celebrate the fact that "we can have everything we need here" (in the US) and to add in the same breath "Why do you always want to bring everything to your neck of the woods?". If you have everything here, it is BECAUSE everything from everywhere in the world has been imported already. As for celebrating the great American gastronomy ... I happen to live in the USA, and have my own opinion on the question. And I find interesting that everywhere I have been in the GREATEST COUNTRY (quote unquote), I have noticed the best restaurants were "ethnic" restaurants (Italian, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, ... and, yes, French).
Last year, somebody sent me a box of Coussins. My kids got some, one half at a time, for their utmost delight. Just like I wouldn't put a foie gras sandwish in their lunch box, I wouldn't give them a few coussins for snack. But I see no reason to deprive them of the great discovery of different and unique food (they love foie gras, coussins, salmon eggs, sushis ...), because it is never too early to "éduquer le goût". Oh, and by the way, there is no way you would find such a delicacy in your local supermarket. M&Ms they are not ...
Encore merci, Clotilde, pour votre excellent site, pour votre goût (on voit que vous avez été bien "éduquée", vous avez dû, dès toute petite, faire l'expérience d'un évantail de saveurs bien loin des fadeurs ... mais non, je ne vais pas relancer le débat!), pour vos découvertes, pour votre anglais ravissant (je vous ai découverte par NPR, et je suis verte de jalousie quand j'entends votre accent), et surtout, et surtout pour toutes ces réminiscences, non seulement les coussins, mais aussi le gâteau au yaourt, les hot cross buns (ah, les voyages linguistiques en Angleterre pendant les vacances de Paques ...), la tarte au chocolat, les gateaux de blettes, la tarte aux myrtilles, le crumble aux mangues ... Allez, avouez, vous étiez petite souris dans la cuisine de ma mère et ma grand-mère, n'est-ce pas?
Lola

As always a beautiful phot and a beautiful post!

I just wanted to say thank you ... you're a constant source of inspiration.

Wow, I LOVE Asterix - funnily enough, I bought the entire set of Asterix comics during my trip to India last month. They're not available in the UK (or popular, for that matter). The gastronomic tour idea DID occur to me - but I'm a vegetarian, so it's best left to you folks :) Hope you manage to do it one day, Clotilde :)

Asterix rocks!!!

And everything that is foreign is intriguing, fascinating, interesting... It's not like youf all off the face of the earth once you cross the borders of the USA.

Fière d'être canadienne française en couple avec un hollandais... Vive la diversité!

Veronique,
I think you're right: I've always found the coussin to be more green than blue.

Let's not miss the Lyonnaise legend behind the confection. You can read it in French on the Voisin site:
http://goirand.christophe.free.fr/Site_test/voisin2/specialite-lyonnaises-coussin-de-lyon.html

Enjoy!
Jenn

Sorry! I just noticed that Beth had already posted about the legend. I suppose I'd gotten sidetracked by some other discussions in the comments!
Jenn

Bonjour Clotilde,
Les Coussins lyonnais de chez Voisin sont mon pêché mignon. J'en cherche à Montréal depuis des lustres. Merci de m'avoir fait revivre un souvenir qui m'est très tendre.
Mon copain sera à Lyon cet été. Je lui demanderai de me rapporter quelques sacs.

Annaliese: It is an acknowledged fact that Lyon is considered the world gastronomical capital and the New York Times recently named Montreal the best culinary city in North America.
Just thought you'd like to know.

I grew up in Lyon, and "les coussins de Lyon" are effectively a sweet association with this city that you can never forget!
It is so delicious that it is almost addictive, and now that i saw your page about this delightfull treat , i feel like taking the plane straight to Lyon to go to Voisin and buy myself a big box of coussins!
I would enjoy visit my siblings as well...

Hi Clotilde,
I love your site. It's first time to leave a message for you.
I work with Mme Acabo. We restarted to sell the "coussin de Lyon" last week. Because we succeeded to get fresh one. You can try in Paris if you want!