How an emperor gave his name to a sour treat: Napoleon sweets

Sometimes, a Belgian treat gives us an idea for an FOB item. You are probably familiar with them already, the ball-shaped sweets, originally bright yellow, with a hard shell of icing and powdered citric acid inside.

In 1912, Louis Janssens was pondering in his sugar bakery In Den Gouden Bol at 40 Hoogstraat, on the corner with Vlasmarkt, in Antwerp. Louis excelled with his speciality, tar pastilles, but was eager to introduce a new sweet to the market. His creation was a hit with the people of Antwerp. Still, he was not entirely happy as he could not come up with a name. The solution presented itself in the shape of a chocolatier friend who, over drinks, spoke highly of his latest creation, a praline he had called Caesar. Suddenly, Louis saw the light. In his eyes, who did even better than the great general Caesar? Emperor Napoleon of course! The French emperor was even allowed to adorn the wrapper around his sweets, complete with the right hand tucked into the front of his jacket.

Still under the Janssens family, Napoleon began to thrive. The sugar bakery grew from a small factory in the 1930s to a major business in the 1960s and was forced to move to a larger location. Due to lack of succession in the Janssens dynasty, the Stappaerts family took over in 1973. In 2003, the expertise, machinery, technology and products of the factory in Schelle were merged with those of the modern production environment in Breskens, Zeeland Flanders, into one innovative company.

Meanwhile, the range of Napoleon sweets had steadily expanded. There is a flavour for everyone, including those who prefer gluten-free, vegan or halal: lemon, apple, orange, raspberry, pineapple, liquorice, fruit mix, cappuccino, coffee mix, cassis... And some 30 countries on four continents will gladly agree.

Incidentally, do any of you know what tar pastilles are?