The coussin de Lyon is a sweet specialty of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

, France, composed of chocolate and

marzipan Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitat ...

and created by Voisin, a French chocolatier. This tidbit is a piece of pale green marzipan, with dark green stripe, filled with a chocolate

ganache Ganache (; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream. Preparation Ganache is a chocolate preparation, normally made by heating equal parts by weight of cream and chopped chocolate, warming the crea ...

flavored with

curaçao liqueur Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

History

During the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

epidemic in 1643, the

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

of Lyon made the vow to organize a procession at

Fourvière Fourvière () is a district of Lyon, France, a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising from the river Saône. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum in 43 BC. The district contains many religious buildings i ...

to implore the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

to save the city. They carried a wax candle and a gold crown on a silk cushion. This gave the chocolatier Voisin, based in Lyon since 1897, the idea of using the shape of the cushion to create this confection in 1960. It has become the most popular French specialty confection containing chocolate ganache. Coussin de Lyon en coupe

This delicacy has become very popular. It is possible to buy the "cushions" individually, and also in velvet boxes which recall the original form of silk cushion. The Boucaud family has a monopoly in marketing the ''coussins'', which it makes in its network of retail stores across the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

region and in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

. In 2010 company manager, Paul Boucaud, said that Voisin manufactures annually of coussins in Lyon and that production increases by 10% year on year. The family does not use large retailers to market its product.

References

External links

Official site of Voisin society
French pastries French confectionery Cuisine of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Chocolate Marzipan {{confection-stub

History

See also

References

External links