How Debauve et Gallais and Marie Antoinette put

closed and open boxes of Debauve et Gallais chocolates

Debauve et Gallais chocolate pistoles in a beribboned box, the blue-toned paper inspired by the 1783 ‘Rose’ portrait of Marie-Antoinette by Vigée Le Brun

(Image credit: Courtesy Debauve et Gallais)

Chocolate should always include a little fantasy and alchemy in the recipe, so it’s no surprise to learn that famed Parisian chocolatier Debauve et Gallais, was founded by Sulpice Debauve, a pharmacist to the court of Louis XVI, whose signature chocolate ‘pistoles’ (named after gold coins) were developed as a way of making bitter medicines more palatable for Marie-Antoinette. Knowing of her taste for drinking chocolate, Debauve mixed finely ground cocoa powder with almond milk as a disguise for the medicine, which he set in flat, coin-shaped discs, thus creating the original edible chocolate.

Debauve et Gallais’ chocolate revolution

Broken bar of Debauve et Gallais chocolate

The pistoles were a hit and, a decade after the revolution, were enjoying enough success for Debauve to open a factory and shop on the Rive Gauche in Faubourg Saint-Germain. What had been an experiment became his vocation.

Over the next decades, Debauve supplied the courts of both Napoleon and the Bourbon kings, partnered with his nephew, Jean-Baptiste Auguste Gallais, and developed new flavours and exquisite formats that are replicated today with all the mastery and knowledge that you would expect from a 220-year old institution.

Debauve et Gallais trades from two listed stores, on rue Vivienne and rue des Saints-Pères, the latter originally a townhouse designed by Napoleon’s favourite architects, Percier and Fontaine. A recent, sensitive modernisation has seen that both stores’ historic interiors remain intact while offering a contemporary customer experience.

Debauve et Gallais shop exterior signage — The shop at 30 rue des Saint-Pères was designed by Napoleon’s favourite architects, Percier and Fontaine

Debauve et Gallais continues to sell pistoles, croquamandes (chocolate-coated caramelised almonds created for Napoleon), ganaches and pralines. The pistoles are made from Venezuelan chocolate flavoured variously with almond milk, honey flakes, orange blossom, verbena and vanilla – ingredients that the brand suggests aid sleep and restore energy, as they did for Marie-Antoinette.

Staff inside Debauve et Gallais chocolate shop in Paris, seen from outside — Inside the recently renovated store at 30 rue des Saint-Pères

And, as fantasy reaches us through the eye first, the chocolates are presented in ribbon-wrapped, re-usable jewel boxes that take their colours from the 1783 ‘Rose’ portrait of Marie-Antoinette by Vigée Le Brun and are embossed with the royal arms and the words ‘fournisseur des rois de France’ (supplier to the kings of France).

debauve-et-gallais.fr

Shop exterior shot — The original interior at 30 rue des Saint-Pères

James Gurney has written on watches for over 25 years, founding QP Magazine in 2003, the UK’s first home-grown watch title. In 2009, he initiated SalonQP, one of the first watch fairs to focus on the end-consumer, and is regarded as a leading horological voice contributing to news and magazine titles across the globe.