Cuberdons a delight of Belgium
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Hi Everybody,
I like to present you my favorite candy, the cuberdon. If I see this delicious candy I can never resist to buy them. You have them in all kinds of flavors but my favorite one is the raspberry, the original one.
This picture makes my mouth water.
A cuberdon is a cone-shaped Belgian candy. In Dutch it is known as a neus (nose),Gentse neus (Ghent nose), or neuzeke (little nose) for its likeness to a human nose. In French, cuberdons are also called chapeau-de-curé and chapeau-de-prêtre (priest’s hat).
THE RECIPE IS STILL A BIG SECRET
The original recipe of the true cuberdon, which dates from the 19th Century is known to only very few Belgian craftsmen.
Cuberdons are made with gum arabic. They are raspberry-flavored and purple, though more recently differently colored variants have been available as well. The outside is relatively hard, whereas the inside is gelatinous.
INGREDIENTS
The cuberdon has a delicate outer layer crust which melts in the mouth and releases a refined, sweet syrup. A cuberdon must be enjoyed in eight weeks following its manufacture, to fully appreciate its flavour.
Ingredients of Cuberdons are gum arabic and raspberry aroma which are cooked in a copper pot. The obtained mixture is poured into conical forms to be dried in an oven during five to six days. This kicks in the crystallization process of the outer layer, while the core stays liquid.
In each of the manufacturing process’s six stages, craftsmanship and respect for traditions are of vital importance.
The famous gum arabic is collected mainly in Saharan Africa, from the sap of acacias trees. The Second World War failed nearly consigned the cuberdon to history, due to the shortage of gum Arabic but, as of 1946, confectioners who remembered the recipe began production once more.
Arabic Gum
The acasia tree
Origin of Gum arabic
Gum arabic has been used for at least 4,000 years in the preparation of food, in human and veterinary medicine, in crafts and as a cosmetic.
The use of gum arabic (or gum acacia), which is derived from an exudate from the bark, dates from the first Egyptian Dynasty (3400 B.C.). It was used in the production of ink, which was made from a mix of carbon, gum and water. Inscriptions from the 18th Dynasty refer to gum as ‘komi’ or ‘komme’.
Moorish tribes (Medieval Muslims inhabitants of Morocco) meet to trade gum arabic at Bakel on the Senegal river, 1890 (illustration from “Côte occidentale d’Afrique du Colonel Frey“, pl. en reg. p. 100)
Gum arabic has been used for at least 4,000 years by local people for the preparation of food, in human and veterinary medicine, in crafts, and as a cosmetic.
Gum Arabic as prebiotic
Scientists have revealed that the Gum Arabic, which we have used as a resin over the years, is actually a food supplement of great importance for the body and also a food for the good bacteria as it supports it in the face of harmful bacteria.
Dr. Isam Siddiq, a Sudanese expert in Gum Arabic and its uses, said that
Gum Arabic is a prebiotic material and constitutes an important food supplement that provides the body with energy and helps enhancing g the performance of the intestine.
Prebiotics are also fed upon the bacteria responsible of discharging the waste, toxins and excess fat from the body. Prebiotics also strengthen the immunity system and combat the harmful bacteria. They live in the colon and appendix.
A vital food:
As it has been mentioned before, the only food for these bacteria is the prebiotic which is naturally found in only two types of food and with enough rates. These two types of food are the mother’s milk (%10) and Gum Arabic
(%85). Any lack in these two types results in concentration of these bacteria in the colon, matter which will lead to outbreak of such diseases as constipation and diarrhea.
Medical advantages:
Medical research conducted on Gum Arabic have proved that it is effective in treatment of many diseases such as the intestine diseases.
It has proved incredibly effective in treatment of sensitive skin diseases, constipation, diarrhea, dryness, nerve colon, diabetic, oestomalacia of children, hyperactivity, cholesterol and others.
Contradiction of interests:
International food and pharmaceutical companies, which make trillions of U.S Dollars annually, have worked and still working to hide the truth about the Sudanese Gum Arabic and its distinguished food and medical characteristics so that the demand for the Gum Arabic would not increase on one part and their products and high returns would not be threatened on the other part.
The legend of the cuberdon
The most widespread legend concerning the origin of the cuberdon claims that the candy was first made in the 19th by the clergy in Flanders near Bruges. It is from here, so the story goes, that the ‘bon bon’ gained its ‘priest’s bonnet’ nickname.
Its Flemish origins seem to be confirmed by the fact that, in the language of Vondel, ‘kuper’ means ‘cone’, but nothing is ever simple in the Low Countries, as the Flemings, contrary to their Wallonneighbours, do not use the word `’ ‘cuberdon’ for the candy, but rather ‘neuzeke’, which means ‘small nose’.
Moreover, in the year 2000, a work published by Duculot editions suggested that the word owes its origin to the French language, according to etymologists.
Other flavours
No, this is not me ! But if I was there I would also have surely enter this candy shop !
Today, the cuberdon’s recipe is regarded as the best-kept secret in Belgium and is known to only very few craftsmen.
Cuberdons can only be preserved for about three weeks, after which period the inside begins to crystallize. This is the reason why cuberdons are not exported outside of Belgium.
So you will have to visit Belgium if you like to taste them !!!