Making Marzipan
by Joan Carroll
Title
Making Marzipan
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
In Toledo Spain, I had churros and chocolate for breakfast at a place called El Cafe de Las Monjas (which doesn't get great reviews on Trip Advisor) and this was part of their wonderful window display depicting the making of marzipan. Marzipan is a very typical sweet in Spain. This product is made mainly in the province of Toledo and can take a variety of forms. It is also typically made by the religious orders, and you can buy some in the shops or you can be more adventurous and buy directly from the convents. There you knock or ring at a door that has only a small little sign indicating what lies beyond the door. After you are admitted, you walk down a dark hallway to a place where you make your selection from the samples that you see in a case. A small door in the wall opens and a disembodied voice within asks you what you want. You tell them, you wait, and then the door slides open again and your selection pushed out. You pay. It's way more fun than buying at the shops! And it's one of the best things you will EVER eat! There are several possibilities for the origins of marzipan. Some put its origins in China. From there it was Spain. In Toledo, one of the main production centers, its origins are attributed to the nuns of the convent of San Clemente: following one of the famines that often affected the population, they created a dough with the only products that they had in their food stores: almonds and sugar. Marzipan is understood to be the paste, cooked or raw, obtained from the mixture of raw peeled almonds and sugar. The varieties of almonds used are: marcona, largeta and planeta, originally from Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The resulting dough is used to make a wide variety of sweets, some of which are filled with 'cabello de angel' (pumpkin strands in syrup), cream, or even dipped in chocolate. The most well known are the marzipan figurines or the 'Saint's bones' (filled marzipan rolls).
Uploaded
April 1st, 2014
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