Provence's almond lozenge: candied Cavaillon melon and orange ground with almond on a wafer, under white royal icing
Origin: Aix-en-Provence, France
From the journey of Almond.
The calisson is the sweet of Aix-en-Provence, a smooth, almond-shaped lozenge of almond paste blended with candied melon and candied orange, seated on a thin disc of unleavened wafer and capped with a fine, hard glaze of white royal icing. Its flavour is unmistakable: the almond carries it, but the candied Cavaillon melon of Provence gives it a particular fruity, floral roundness found in no other sweet, and the orange and a breath of orange-flower water lift it. By tradition the calisson has been made in Aix since the fifteenth century, and a local legend ties it to the wedding feast of King René of Anjou; whatever its true origin, it has been the pride of the town for half a millennium and now carries a protected designation. Like so much of the almond confectionery of the Mediterranean, the calisson descends from the Arab almond pastes that reached Provence by way of the medieval trade and the kitchens of the south. The candied melon is its signature: the prized Cavaillon cantaloupe of the Comtat Venaissin, slowly candied in syrup, is ground together with the blanched almonds and the candied orange peel into the smooth, pale paste that fills each sweet. The royal-icing cap, applied and dried hard, gives the calisson its clean white top and its keeping quality. Small, elegant, and intensely Provençal, the calisson is the almond at its most refined, the orchard nut of the south married to the candied fruit of the same warm country.
Calissons keep for several weeks in an airtight tin once the icing is fully dry. The candied Cavaillon melon is the authentic and defining fruit; if unavailable, use good candied melon or a mix of candied melon and apricot. The paste alone, unglazed, is a fine almond confection in its own right.
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