Marzipan - Around The World

Around The World

In Italy, particularly in Palermo, marzipan (marzapane) is often shaped and painted with food colorings to resemble fruit—Frutta martorana—especially during the Christmas season and on Il Giorno dei Morti (All Souls' Day) on November 2. May 9 and 10 are also special days for eating marzipan in Sicily. In Portugal, where the confection has been made by nuns since olden times, traditional marzipan (maçapão) fruit-shaped sweets made in the Algarve region are called morgadinhos. There are other regions, as Toledo in Spain in which marzipan is shaped into simple animal shapes, and usually filled in with egg yolk (yema) and sugar. In Greece and Cyprus, marzipan is made in a variety of shapes and sizes and is almost always left white. In the islands of the Aegean in particular, white marzipan is considered a wedding treat and is served to guests at wedding feasts. In Latin American cuisine, marzipan is known by the Castillian word of mazapán and is also traditionally eaten at Christmas, though mazapán is generally made with peanuts in place of almonds. In Mexico, it is often hand made as an artisan treat with either peanuts, pistachios or pine nuts. In the Netherlands and Belgium, Marzipan figures are given as presents to children during Saint Nicholas's Eve. In Germany, it is common to give marzipan in the shape of a pig as new year presents, known as a Glücksschwein ("lucky pig"). In Norway it's common to eat marzipan shaped as pigs for Christmas, and shaped as eggs for Easter. In Geneva, a traditional part of the celebration of L'Escalade is the ritual smashing of a chocolate cauldron filled with marzipan vegetables, a reference to a Savoyard siege of the city which was supposedly foiled by a housewife with a cauldron of boiling soup. In India, a similar traditional sweet Kaju Barfi is made of cashew nuts and sugar.

In the Middle East, marzipan (known as lozina, which is derived from the word لوز lawz, the Arabic word for almonds) is flavored with orange-flower water and shaped into roses and other delicate flowers before they are baked. Marzipan can also be made from oatmeal, farina, or semolina.

In the Indian state of Goa, the Goan Catholic dish Mazpon replaces almonds with cashew nuts. In the Philippines, mazapán de pili (Spanish for "pili marzipan" is made from pili nuts.

In Iran, marzipan fruit is a traditional Passover treat, replacing cookies and cakes. Similarly, in Norway chocolate-covered marzipan eggs is a common treat during Easter.