THE CRYSTALLISATION OF FRUITS AND FLOWERS 



161 



THE CRYSTALLISATION OF FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 



Lecture by C. Herman Senn. 



Delivered at the Royal Horticultural Society on Tuesday, December 5, 1905. 



The business of preserving various kinds of fruit whole in sugar, includ- 

 ing candied, crystallised, and glace or glazed fruits, forms an important 

 industry which is chiefly carried on in the south of France, where there 

 are a large number of firms doing a most profitable business. 



The French confiseurs seem to have a special gift and aptitude for 

 this particular trade. They possess >oth great taste and skill in the 

 selection of fruit, its preservation, arrangement, and colour, as well as in 

 packing these goods. It is entirely owing to this that they have gained, 

 and retain, almost a monopoly in supplying the world with this class 

 of goods. 



The way in which the French preserve and crystallise fruit renders 

 its appearance most attractive, and that is one of the reasons why it 

 always commands a good market. 



In addition to crystallised fruits, a large quantity is also preserved in 

 syrup, in tins and bottles, as well as in the plainer form known as glace. 



Crystallised and glace fruits are neatly packed in boxes of wood or 

 cardboard. With regard to this I should like to call attention to the fact 

 that not only does the French manufacturer pay strict attention to the 

 preparation of the articles, which are invariably as perfect as it is possible 

 to make them ; but he likewise studies the best methods of putting them 

 on the market. The " get-up " of packages in the Frenchman's hands 

 becomes, as it were, an art. He studies not only elegance of form, but 

 a correct, smart, and pleasing contrast of colours. His ingenuity and in- 

 ventive power are ever on the alert, whilst each year he produces some 

 kind of novelty in packing the fruit more tastefully and artistically than 

 before. Competition and rivalry, in this class of goods especially, are 

 very keen among the French manufacturers. 



Fruit and flower crystallisation is, as far as I know, entirely a 

 French invention. German, Belgian and Italian manufacturing con- 

 fectioners are also ingenious, and they, too, preserve fruit in this way, but 

 their goods do not, as a general rule, come quite up to the standard of 

 excellence of the French article. 



The crystallisation of fruit and flowers is effected by encrusting them 

 with a thin coating of sugar, or, in other words, by a deposit of sugar 

 crystals. This is brought about in the case of fruits by. their being first 

 boiled in a syrup, allowed to soak in it at certain degrees of heat, and then 

 drained and dried for crystallising purposes. The process takes several 

 days. I should have liked to have shown to you by way of some practical 

 demonstration the process of crystallising, but as this is not possible in 

 the time allowed for a lecture, I will explain the various stages of pre- 

 serving and crystallising fruits. This, together with the specimens of 



M 



