Bergamotes from Nancy

The bergamot story

The word Bergamot comes from the Turkish word beg-armâdé which means "Lord's pear".
The bergamot tree appeared undesignedly in South Italian citrus fruits grove between the XIV and XVI th centuries as the results of a natural hybridation.
You can get bergamots by grafting a lemon-tree on a wild orange-tree. Bergamot oil comes from the pressing of the bark of this tree.
When you mix this oil with cooked sugar, you get the famous bergamots produced in Nancy. It has a nice amber color and an unique taste.

the origins of the bergamots from Nancy ?

Long before 1750, René d'Anjou and René II, both Duke of Lorraine and King of Sicily brought back some bergamot oil in Nancy where it became famous.

The bergamot's main dates
Starting in 1750 : bergamot is decreted of royal use only. Gilliers, king Stanislas' chief, created a bergamot flavored barley sugar that soon became the king's favorite.
In 1857 : bergamot became officialy a speciality from Nancy thanks to Godefroy Lilig, a great confectioner, that had first the idea to make a square-shaped bergamot sweety.
In 1993, the 30th of October, bergamot got the official Lorraine label.