About Leonard Parli
- Based in
- Aix-en-Provence, France
- Founded
- 1874
- Known for
- Calissons d'Aix
Léonard Parli came to Aix-en-Provence from Switzerland, tasted the local almond sweet called the calisson, and in 1874 founded the city's first calisson factory. The historic shop stands at 35 avenue Victor Hugo, near the Rotonde, and the company has passed between two families since its founding.
Parli's almond paste uses candied melon with peach and apricot, and the company candies and glazes its fruit at its own workshop in Aix.
Calissons go well with coffee or a small glass of sweet wine.
Leonard Parli questions
What is a calisson?
A calisson is a small almond-shaped sweet from Aix-en-Provence. Ground almonds are blended with candied fruit (fruit soaked in stronger and stronger sugar syrups until sugar replaces its water), set on a thin rice-flour wafer and topped with royal icing, a hard white icing of egg white and powdered sugar. The texture is close to marzipan but fruitier.
Why does the almond share in a calisson matter?
The paste inside a calisson is almonds ground smooth with candied fruit, so the almond share decides how much of each bite is nut rather than fruit and sugar. French law requires at least 30 percent almonds in a calisson. Léonard Parli, which candies and glazes its own fruit in Aix, works to a nuttier recipe than that minimum.
