A legendary sweet

A sweet and delicate flavour, a history with twists and turns, and a recipe that’s been kept secret for more than 300 years: the barley sugar of Moret-sur-Loing has all the ingredients of a legendary sweet! Created in Moret under the reign of Louis XIII in 1638, by the Benedictine nuns of Notre Dame des Anges, barley sugar has had a turbulent destiny, closely related to that of the priory. While this sweet made with sugar and a barley brew with soothing properties was initially eaten by preachers, it rapidly became popular with the king and his court. However, production was halted during the turmoil of the French Revolution in 1792. With the convent closed, it was believed that the recipe had been lost forever. Then, on her deathbed, one of the Benedictine nuns entrusted the precious recipe to her confidante, making her swear to pass it on when a new congregation came to Moret. The promise was kept, production resumed and barley sugar sticks and sweets were a success once again. It remained popular from then on: Napoleon was very partial to it and Sarah Bernhardt would not take to the stage without warming up her voice with some barley sugar. While it has not been made by nuns since 1972, barley sugar is still produced in Moret according to the seventeenth-century method, with no added colourings or flavourings. There is a museum devoted to the sweet at the Provencher mill on an island in the middle of the Loing. You can learn more about its history there, before taking a well-deserved snack break at the shop on Place Royale.