Confectionery was (and sometimes still is) an artisanal product. The workshop donated to the museum in 1982 by the confectioner Albert Tanghe, who was based in Smedenstraat in Bruges, is used to keep this tradition alive. Every first and third Thursday afternoon, a confectioner – or ‘spekkenbakker’ in the local dialect – demonstrates how it was done.
The main ingredients of confectionary are sugar and glucose, which are mixed and heated to a temperature of 145 °C. The confectioner then immediately drops this mixture onto a limestone plate and adds natural aromas. He then kneads and cuts this viscous mass into pieces using a large pair of scissors and pushes them through a cylinder-shaped matrix to create the shapes. The strips of candy are still stuck together but hardening quickly. The confectioner then breaks them into pieces and covers them in icing sugar.
The large cupboard on the left contains glass jars with natural flavourings and colorants. It also houses metal moulds, templates and other utensils. Spatulas, measuring spoons, cutters and rollers similar to a rolling pin are suspended on the wall on the right-hand side.
The small cabinet on the right contains an assortment of boxes and bags used to wrap the confectionery.
Has this tickled your taste buds? Why not call in at the museum inn later on to buy a small bag of ‘spekken’ confectionery…