Discovering Toulouse violets

The violets of Toulouse are candies typical of the pink city, Toulouse , in the Haute-Garonne department , in the Occitan region.

The history of Toulouse violets

The violets of Toulouse, very fragrant, are among the violets of Parma . Their production will begin around 1845 north of the pink city and will quickly become the specialty of Toulouse market gardeners . Until 1907, several vendors, at every street corner, sold beautiful bouquets of violets. After a long period of decline, the violet is again cultivated from 1985 .

These fresh flowers crystallized in the sugar will give the emblem of Toulouse: the candy violet , a delicacy of purplish color.

All you ever wanted to know about Toulouse violets

• The “caramelo de violeta” is the Spanish version of violets from Toulouse.
• In addition to flowers and confectionery, the violet comes in different forms: in sauce, syrup, liquor, cooked dishes, perfume, soap …

The manufacture of violets from Toulouse

The flowers of violets are picked up between October and March. They are hulled and soaked in a syrup , then sprinkled with sugar and dried before being steamed (for 24 hours at 60 ° C) to dehydrate them .

Part of these dehydrated flowers are then re-saturated in a sugar syrup, heated to over 100 ° C. The flowers are finally drained and cooled before being dried .

[ Photo 1 , Photo 2 , Source ]