{"id":1226,"date":"2012-11-03T13:47:15","date_gmt":"2012-11-03T11:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frenchcourses-paris.com\/?p=1226"},"modified":"2018-12-30T19:44:15","modified_gmt":"2018-12-30T17:44:15","slug":"why-the-french-love-chocolate-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frenchcourses-paris.com\/fr\/french-courses-paris\/why-the-french-love-chocolate-bears\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the French love chocolate bears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marc, a waiter at a busy brasserie in Montparnasse, takes a moment from twirling his tray between lunch tables<\/h2>\n

His eyes begin to shine. He is remembering the chocolate bears from his childhood.<\/h3>\n

\"Oursons-guimauve\"\u00ab\u00a0Oursons guimauve,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0Oh, I used to love those.\u00a0\u00bb Then, more urgently, he adds: \u00ab\u00a0Is there anywhere round here I can buy some?\u00a0\u00bb<\/h4>\n

Oursons guimauve are small chocolate-covered marshmallow teddy bears (an ourson is a \u00ab\u00a0bear cub\u00a0\u00bb, guimauve is \u00ab\u00a0marshmallow\u00a0\u00bb). About the size of a Paris Metro ticket but considerably plumper, they are celebrating their 50th birthday.<\/p>\n

 \u201cIf there’s something people won’t do without, it’s the comfort of their favorite childhood sweet\u201d<\/h5>\n

The French – young and old – adore them. They eat 400 million of the chocolate bears each year. The seductive bears were invented by a confectioner from the north, Michel Cathy, who, the legend claims, bravely championed his recipe in the face of scepticism from superiors and has been vindicated by their triumph ever since.<\/p>\n

Biting into an ourson guimauve, the French say, is like tasting Marcel Proust’s madeleine cake that launched his voyage into the remembrance of things past.<\/p>\n

The chocolate bears come in milk or white chocolate, in cellophane packets from supermarkets, paper bags from small sweetshops or chic limited-edition designer tins.<\/p>\n

They have just been launched on the US market, a move that prompted some disgruntled voters to call for French President Francois Hollande – long-nicknamed The Human Marshmallow (l’Homme de Guimauve) – to be dunked in chocolate and exported along with them.<\/p>\n

The chocolate bears are predicted to make their French producers 900m euros (\u00a3720m) a year by 2015.<\/p>\n

By Joanna Robertson, 03 November 2012
\nSource: The BBC<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marc, a waiter at a busy brasserie in Montparnasse, takes a moment from twirling his tray between lunch tables His 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