What
a dilemma these dragées present:
whether to savor the satiny smoothness
of the sugar coating or to crunch
right into the rich fruity almond
inside.
These
dragées are made with the prized
Avola almonds from Sicily and coated
with vanilla-flavored sugar.
Avola
almonds, grown in the town of Avola
in Sicily, are famous for their fine
taste, lack of bitterness, and their
shape, which makes them particularly
well suited for coating.
These
dragées are made by Braquier,
in Verdun, which has been making them
for over two centuries and has supplied
everyone from Napoleon to General
de Gaulle.
The
sachet and the box contain the larger
Avola Princesse dragées (each
dragée is about 0.1 oz). The
pillow box contains 9 of the smaller
Avola Marquise dragées (each
dragée is about 0.05 oz).
A
13th century Verdun apothecary is
credited with the idea of coating
his pills in sugar. They proved so
popular that a grocer did the same
with almonds. Louis XIV decreed that
dragées be distributed to school
children every New Year's Day.
Today
the French offer dragées to
family and friends on special occasions:
weddings, baptisms, and the like.