No, these sweets aren’t a joke!

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Stopping in for lunch on the way back to Haute Savoie a few weeks ago, I spotted these haute gourmandise sweets for sale. The boxed version on the right is the most bizarre packaging I’ve seen so far in France, with a baby in a basket alongside two busty women sharing the lap of an old man, while a white horse looks on in some weird sitting position.

French sweets - Coucougnettes - which is slang for testicles

The sweets inside are known as Coucougnettes, and once you understand the meaning, things start to fall in place (oh, did I actually write that?). Coucougnettes is slang for testicles. You can buy small pink, soft(ish) sweets which roughly translate to ‘balls’, ‘nuts’ etc.

The wench/horse/baby scene makes a little more sense, but I really can’t imagine giving this box as a gift to anyone. (Ding-dong): “Here, I brought you some knackers and I hope you find them tasty. Plus, you can keep this gorgeous commemorative box!” Okay, I probably wouldn’t buy the sweets as a gift either! You can see the box has “French Lover” written along one of its black edges. Presumably, they’re aiming for an international market, and thankfully, they didn’t translate the name of the sweets. This makes a change from past dodgy English marketing in France, such as the touted “100% balls” savoury product, Ball in Box, or the rather adult lyrics for a Kinder Bueno advert, featuring a little boy and a grown woman.

Inside a French Coucougnette (bollocks) bonbonMy gut instinct was to take a photo rather than buy them, and now I regret it. These French sweets sound quite tasty: each one is made with a roasted almond coated in dark chocolate, then marzipan and brandy, and finally, dipped in raspberry juice — probably to give it that realistic tone. Are you tempted?

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About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

5 Comments on “No, these sweets aren’t a joke!”

  1. Ha ha! Knackers! Does anyone except Australians use “knackers” as slang for goolies? When a young woman in China asked how we say “Cheers” or “Santé” in Australia, I wrote “up ya go knackers” in her little note book. After saying it several times, she seemed to grasp the concept. I do hope she is still toasting Australian’s health with it.

  2. I’m not sure anyone other country uses “goolies” either! I wonder if there’s a pocket of people somewhere in China now using your toast to show their worldly sophistication…! 🙂