Dragées

one of the many usages of dragées....

What is dragées? Dragées (pronounced "Dra-jeys"), you may remember them as those little metallic balls on holiday cookies, wedding cakes and birthday cakes. However, they come in an array of colors and various shapes. Dragées are mainly use for decoration and is advised by the FDA to not to consume them. For people reside outside of California, dragées are something that you can pick up from any of the baking specialty stores. As for a Californian, this is on the hard-to-get list. First, I want to thank my pal, Linda (How can I repay you?), for getting me these banned decorative sugars on her recent trip to New York (I hope this is not an illegal act?!).



You see, ever since I see these decorative sugars featured in the holiday issues of Donna Hay to Martha’s magazines, I have been on a hunt for them. I shopped from my local baking stores to specialty chains like Sur La Table to Williams-Sonoma. They were nowhere found. I thought I probably have better luck on the internet and I was right. However, every site that I visited has a side note informing customers that they won’t ship to California address. At this point, I was a bit paranoid and have lots of question marks in my head. If I don’t find out the reason behind this unreasonable treatment, I would go banana. Here is what I found: apparently, it was banned since December of 2003 and California is the only place on the planet where using dragées could land you in court! The story was that a Napa lawyer sued dragées suppliers, alleging that the shimmery mini-orbs are toxic and need to be remove from the shelves and the suppliers plus retailers settled with the lawyer because a trial would cost far more than settling.

Interesting! I don’t see how this law was passed. No consumers was involved in this case and apparently people in France been using this for hundreds of years and they were fine. I guess I have to visit out of state to restock. What a bummer!