ABCs... Association France-Etats Unis, Berlingots, and Chez Serge!

You know how in middle school the popular kid got to invite all of his/her friends to the coolest birthday party ever?  You know how awesome of a feeling that is?  Me neither ;) haha Ok but seriously, let me give you a little bit of background here.  My host family is part of the France-Etats Unis Association, which normally does events with students at the IAU (Institutes for American Universities) in Avignon.  However, the Avignon center has had low enrollment in the past several years and just recently closed permanently.  No American students at the IAU meant that the association had to recruit Americans from elsewhere… and since I was handy, they turned to me and let me invite other American friends (and Spanish friends who live in Carpentras!)  :)  Hannah and Brooke and Becca all came up from Marseille and Caitlin and Laura took the bus from Orange, and Maria met us at the bus stop. 

We started off the day with a trip to Confiserie du Mont Ventoux, where one of the nicest candymakers ever showed us how they make the traditional candy of Carpentras, the berlingot.  The candy is made of mostly sugar, which is heated up to something ridiculous like 400 degrees Celsius in a big stir-fry pan.  When it’s hot enough, it’s poured onto a metal table, where the color and flavor is added.  The traditional flavor is mint, but many other fruity flavors exist too.   The material at this point was how I imagine plasma might be… the man poured the liquid onto the table, where it became solid enough to fold and pick up, but it was still so hot that once it had been set back down on the table, it flowed like a liquid.  Crazy!  Once it had been worked enough to be sufficiently cooled, he took a small ball and went over to a hook, where he rapidly pulled the candy using a hook.  It’s difficult to describe, but it was almost like really flexible twizzlers.  Treating the material like rope and working it quickly like this turned it white!  He then took the small ball of white material back to the table and snaked it over the rest of the sugary solution, making the stripes which identify the berlingot.  One all of the stripes had been added, the whole ball went into a machine, which pulled the candy and cut it, finalizing the process! 

1. Pouring out the liquid

2. Working the... liquid?

3. Working it til white

4. Adding the stripes

5. One BIG berlingot

6. Feed it in the machine...

Mmm- tasty!  This one's mint :)

After our candy-making (and eating!) experience, we headed to Chez Serge, where we ate a delicious lunch.  All of this was to celebrate the signing of the first treaty between the United States and France, way back on February 6 of 1776.  Merci d’être venus!

The crew in front of Chez Serge!