Cuberdons from Ghent

These were Ghent's famous candies, "cuberdons," also known as "neuzeke (little nose) in Dutch. We saw a vendor of the candies in front of the city's famous mustard shop, Tierenteyn-Verlent. I read about those cone-shaped local delicacy online before and has become curious about them. Although I like sweets, I basically don't eat candies except sugar-free cough drops. This time cuberdons were an exception. I just wanted to taste one piece, but the vendor didn't sell each. Instead, he sold a little paper bag that was filled with several assorted flavors in 5 euro. J kindly bought a bag for me.

First I tried the traditional purple one with a raspberry flavor. It was awfully sweet! The texture was very interesting, though. It had a hard, crunchy sugar-shell outer and a gooey jelly or thick-syrupy filling inside. It is said that cuberdons are made of fruit, Arabic gum, flowers, starch, glucose and sugar. All ingredients are cooked and melt together, placed into a mould, then, baked in about 12 hours. Cooling takes about a week and should be eaten within a couple of weeks while the inside is soft; otherwise, it gets crystallized. There are more than one story about the exact origin of the candies, but they have been around over 150 years!

My original plan was to get a few cuberdons at a 19th century-established historical candy shop in Ghent, Confiserie Temmerman. However, the shop was closed on Tuesday when we were in the city. I was lucky to happen to find the vendor on the street as an alternative. I guess the candies wouldn't be much difference between vendors in Ghent. Just one piece was good and enough for experience.