Kubli Candies from France at the Candy Store
Art Nouveau confectionery and a taste of Paris circa 1900!
At the turn of the 20th century, Paris was a heady place. The country had been at war with Prussia, and things had not gone well. The Dreyfus Affair was dominating the news. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao described the city at the time in an exhibition of fin-de-siecle art:
Fin-de-siècle Paris was a time and place of political upheaval and cultural transformation, during which sustained economic crisis and social problems spurred the rise of radical left-wing groups and an attendant backlash of conservatism that plagued France throughout the late 1890s.
In the interest of moving things forward, the Exposition Universelle was put together. A World’s Fair filled with all sorts of fascinating new (and old) things to check out. It was the most modern of the modern, the cutting edge of cultural energy. The style of the fair that year, and of that entire era in Paris, was Art Nouveau. These special candies are firmly planted in that place—the emphasis on lovely, graceful lines taken from nature, plus flowers and fruits and other fine examples of what our planet has to offer.
It’s in that era that a young Jacques Kubli moved from Switzerland to France and set up his candy business in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. His family has been making candy there ever since! Four generations and still going strong! To understand Kubli’s candy, it’s important to let go of the modern images we all have—no convenience-store counters, no TV advertising. This is a taste—literally as well as conceptually—of a memorable era that, on most counts, has long since passed.
Kubli is the kind of candy that I can imagine Parisian schoolkids—either now or a hundred years ago—getting really excited about. Hard sugar candies with the look of vintage frosted glass. There are raised designs or corners on each molded piece that show in relief. In other words, they are beautiful as well as delicious! All-natural flavors and no artificial colors or additives. And the Kubli crew still uses the same molds they started with at the turn of the 20th century.
Here are some of the flavors we’ve got in stock at the shop now:
- Violet: Very delicious violet flavor! Old-school craft confectionery work at its best. Exotic, enticing, excellent.
- Orange and Lemon Slices: Like lemonade and orange juice in hard-candy form.
- Raspberry: A taste of French fields in the summer. Floral, elegant, excellent.
- Salade de la Mer: This is the French name, which translates to “seafood salad.” It’s tongue-in-cheek, of course. A more straightforward English name might be “Seashells & Fishes.” These are shell-shaped and fish-shaped hard candies that come in five flavors: lemon, currant, strawberry, raspberry, and orange.
Stick a few Kubli candies in your kids’ lunches or stash a bottle in your desk as a small, all-natural pick-me-up. Better still, write your significant other a nice card to thank them for all they do and attach a jar of these jewel-like candies! You could also add them to a Valentine’s basket or just bring them home tomorrow as a way to brighten a cold winter day.
Care for some Kubli?
