AI-generated illustration
Île-de-France
A small, translucent red sweet born of the fallow fields of Nemours, the Coquelicot transforms a fleeting wildflower into a sweet treat that keeps all year round.
Confectionery from Île-de-France.
AI-generated illustration
The story of the Coquelicot de Nemours begins around 1870, when a confectioner in the town, where wild poppies thrive on limestone-rich land, devised a sweet made from this field flower. Poppies were renowned at the time for their soothing properties, and the confection was first created as a lozenge to calm coughs and sore throats, before becoming a sweet eaten purely for pleasure: small, translucent red rectangles stamped with a flower. The retailer Le Bonbon au Palais, for its part, traces this creation back to 1850, under the impetus of a confectioner named François-Étienne Desserey — an earlier version than the one recognised by the ministère de l'Agriculture.
The sweet enjoyed its golden age until the 1930s, before gradually falling into obscurity. It was revived in the 1990s by a confectioner from Nemours, who has kept the tradition alive ever since. Denis Jullemier, a chocolatier and confectioner based in the town, has since expanded the range of poppy specialities: sweets, chocolates, liqueurs, confits, lollipops, and even vinegar. Today, the Coquelicot de Nemours is exported to Scandinavia, Spain, Great Britain and, since 2015, to China.
AI-generated illustration
The poppy used is not cultivated: it grows naturally in fallow fields belonging to local farmers, who allow pickers free access. The harvest takes place every year between May and early July; the petals are hand-picked in the morning, between 9:00 and 11:00, to avoid dew and insects. Around 200 kilos of petals are gathered in this way each year, across two plots of three hectares each. An association in Nemours organises this harvest on untreated fields, and donates the proceeds from the sale of the petals to economic development projects in Senegal.
Appearance
Translucent sweet, tinted red with natural colourings — carrot and blackcurrant concentrates.
Aroma
Floral poppy fragrance.
Taste
Sweet, with a touch of acidity provided by the citric acid in the recipe.
Texture
Sweet for sucking, originally shaped into small translucent rectangles.
Beyond the traditional sweet, poppy confectionery today comes in the form of lollipops, petal jam, syrup, and collector's gift boxes.
hand-picking in the morning on the chalky fallow fields of the Nemours region, between May and early July.
the poppy petals are made into a decoction, the aromatic base of the sweet.
the sugar is cooked according to the traditional method, in a copper cauldron.
AI-generated illustration
The Coquelicot de Nemours is enjoyed as it is, as a sweet to suck, or in its derived forms — lollipop, petal jam or syrup. Having become an emblematic speciality of Seine-et-Marne, the confection is now exported far beyond its native terroir, reaching Scandinavia, Spain, Great Britain and, since 2015, China.
No producer is listed for this product yet.