A chocolate-marshmallow teddy bear produced near Rouen seduced the National Assembly and Cyril Lignac
It is in two mouthfuls that we devour the little chocolate-marshmallow teddy bear from Les Confiseur. Immediately, its flavors and smoothness take you back to childhood. This is certainly what marked Gérard Leseul, the deputy for the 5th district of Seine-Maritime during a visit of the ESAT workshop at Pré de la Bataille near Rouen (Seine-Maritime). Thanks to his intervention, for the Week of the Handicap, the head of the kitchens of the National Assembly has 1,800 pieces ordered. They were all offered and tasted during the coffee by the parliamentarians.
Another chef, the very media-oriented Cyril Lignac, let himself be seduced. On a launch by the Confectioners workshop, the host tasted the Norman names and returned a card praising their quality as well as a few boxes of his own confectionery. A success that is the pride of operators with disabilities of the workshop installed since 2018 in a renovated industrial wasteland, one of the many activities of the Establishment or work assistance services (ESAT) of the Pré de la Bataille in Notre-Dame-de-Bondeville.
Another specialty: Rouen sugar
Chosen for their motivation to get older and to do this rewarding profession, the twenty employees of confectioners, dressed in a toque and a traditional uniform, manufacture all year round and by hand various confectionery such as shaped marshmallows. cubs, domes and hearts, beggars, orangettes, fruit jellies or chocolate bars: “The idea here is not so much to produce, but to train people. It is a transfer of skills possible thanks to experienced instructors, explains Estelle Isabel, the main workshop instructor. These people with disabilities can enhance their work by validating a Recognition of Acquired Experience (RAE), choose to stay with us or decide to go to work in the ordinary environment. However, here we are a full-fledged company where quality is sought. “
In the production of the Confectioners workshop, another product is even more the most emblematic. In 1987, the Pré de la Bataille decided to buy back the manufacturing process of a famous Rouen candy designed by an apothecary in 1592, the famous apple sugar, still called recently, Rouen sugar with apple or Cherry. A unique production in the world! “We release almost 700 pieces a day. Everything is handmade. As soon as the dough at 135 ° is on the marble, several operators cool it. Then they cut, roll and wrap. A great technicality that they also implement for the 5,000 cubs released each week, ”adds the manager. For customers, two solutions: go to the website or come to the store, because if only for the eyes and smell, the trip is worth it!