Maille (company)
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
and pickle
Pickled cucumber
A pickled cucumber is a cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment for a period of time, by either immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation.-Gherkin:A gherkin is not only...
company. Founded in 1747, it is famous for its Dijon mustard and cornichon
Gherkin
The gherkin is a fruit similar in form and nutritional value to a cucumber. Gherkins and cucumbers belong to the same species , but are from different cultivar groups....
. The company traces its roots to Antoine Claude Maille. In 1720 Maille developed new forms of vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
to help stop the ongoing plague engulfing the south of France. Maille set up a shop in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1747 and in 1769 became the official vinegar supplier and distiller of the King of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
. Maille is currently a subsidiary of Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
.