Violette de Toulouse

Crystallising flowers is a very old confectionery idea. Cultures Sucre recalls that in the Middle Ages, violets were used to prepare “sucre violat” and “sirop de violette”, employed for medicinal purposes, for instance to soothe the voice; sugar, a rare commodity, was almost exclusively reserved for apothecaries. In the 17th century, Massialot described in his Confiturier Royal how to candy violets in sugar.

Crystallised violet itself is attributed to a Toulouse confectioner. The radio station Ici names him: in 1890, Monsieur Viol, a confectioner on Rue Montgaillard specialising in “gelées et confitures de ménage”, had the idea of candying the de-stalked flower in sugar syrup, adopting from apothecaries the technique of sucking pastilles. Cultures Sucre dates the idea, without giving a year, to the end of the 19th century, and credits it with a certain success. Anecdotrip wavers: it speaks of sweets made since the early 19th century, then dates the sweet to the end of the 19th century, and La Maison de la Violette notes that as early as the beginning of the 20th century, violets were crystallised in Toulouse.

A Toulouse house, Candiflor, perpetuates this tradition. The radio station Ici reports that it was founded in 1818, a family business specialising in crystallising flowers and seeds, and presents it as the last to carry on this tradition. Cultures Sucre also names it as the last company to produce candied or crystallised violet. In October 2009, Le Journal des entreprises described it as a Toulouse firm that had been making natural crystallised flowers since 1818 — violet, but also rose, acacia, lilac, mimosa, jasmine, mint and verbena leaves —, with exports representing no less than 70% of turnover.

Another violet inhabits the city's history, and Anecdotrip associates it with the sweet from the very title of its article. According to this website, it all began in November 1323, when seven troubadours met in Toulouse to devise a new kind of poetry contest: each year, in early May, a golden violet would be awarded to the poet who had written the finest poem. For the first edition of the Jeux floraux, Arnaud Vidal de Castelnaudary received the joya de la violetta; Anecdotrip adds that in the Middle Ages, Clémence Isaure intended these small flowers for the winner. This story tells of a poet's prize, not a confectionery.

The winter of 1956 froze a large part of violet production; La Maison de la Violette adds harsh growing conditions, urban development, Rungis market and competition from other flowers, encouraged by air transport. In 1984, the Chambre d'agriculture de la Haute-Garonne and the Conseil régional de Midi-Pyrénées launched a research programme to clean up the plants, which were reproduced in vitro; the name “Violette de Toulouse” became a registered trademark in 1985.

Spurred on by the association “Terre de violettes”, founded in 1993, the violette de Toulouse enjoyed a revival in popularity, and several chefs in the Toulouse region offered a dessert featuring crystallised violets on their menus. Every year, the city celebrates its flower on the first weekend of February on Place du Capitole: repotting workshops, exhibitions and activities for young and old alike.