Talk:Marzipan

Comment 1
I removed the phase saying that marzipan was "from the baltic coast of Germany". Marzipan is made in many other places. Possibly what was meant to be said was that marzipan was invented originated there? If so, please say so more clearly, rather than saying that being from there is part of the definition of marzipan. Cheers, -- Infrogmation 18:08, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Australian slang?
An anon editor added the below text to the article. This isn't mentioned at http://www.aussieslang.com/ so I thought to be safe I'd move it here until this can be confirmed and commented on by an editor fluent in Australian slang. -- Infrogmation 07:51, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Availability
Marzipan is also available in other parts of Southern India. It is available in old city region of Hyderabad city in Southern India and considered an expensive sweet.The traditional "[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawab"]'Nawabs'[\url]" rich and elite families use it as wedding gifts. It comes in two varieties and uses almonds and sugar for one and Pistachios and sugar for the other. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.191.200.135 (talk) 15:42, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

Aussie Slang
The Australian slang 'Marzipan' is a term given to any Australian employee who exhibits any or all of the following workplace traits:

1. Extreme laziness and/or indolence

2. A morbid indifference to trait #1, and to his or any of his workmates' other deficiencies

3. A tendency to blather and indulge in situation comedy that is often only faintly amusing

The Marzipan of a company is visually characterised by a shambling gait and unkempt, Benita-from-Playschool style hair. He can be found wearing faded, ungainly and slightly outdated clothing, and is often to be discovered sporting a bottled nose, perhaps as a result of alcohol abuse at an earlier age.

Although seemingly harmless to those around him, due to his aforementioned nature the Marzipan can have devastating effects upon workplace morale and productivity. It is therefore recommended that all employers give this creature a wide berth.

The term itself is taken from the otherwise incoherent ramblings of one such individual.

8th century?
Lübeck and the surrounding area were Germanized by Henry the Lion in the 12th century. Please provide documentation - if possible - for this claim before putting it back. Septentrionalis 02:29, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Inability to eat / extreme aversion?
I personally like marzipan, but my father is totally unable to eat it or even get it near his mouth. He says that bringing it anywhere near his face results in retching and a perceived need to throw up. I've heard of others who say they can't eat marzipan, as well. Is this due to the chemical make-up of marzipan, say the presence of some chemical that only a minority of people are able to detect, or is it less interesting? Hammerite 20:28, 3 November 2005 (UTC)
 * Probably an allergy on nuts or almonds?--Kresspahl 20:46, 4 November 2005 (UTC)


 * I hate marzipan. It's got a horrible taste and smell.  I'm not alergic to it though.  My father is the same.--Strato 15:50, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
 * That's a shame. I love marzipan. Stochastic 23:44, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I have often commented how marzipan seems unique, in that there appears to be no middle ground. I personally just cannot stomach it - it makes me gag, yet my mother loves it. I did read somewhere that there's a genetic train in humans which can lead to being unable to smell cyanide (which made early pathological tests for poison where the doctor smells the stomach a hit and miss affair). I wonder if this is the same mechanism which makes marzipan so love/hate ... people who can smell cyanide (me !) hate the stuff, and people who can't smell it love it ? TheNoBrainer (talk) 10:21, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Is Persipan known in the English speaking world?
I'm from Germany and i noticed that in this article, and in the English wikipedia at all, there is no reference to Persipan. Is it unknown in the English speaking world? It is very widespread in Germany. The taste is very similar to marzipan, and most (German) customers are even unable to recognize persipan by taste. They think it's marzipan. It was originally a marzipan replacement, but became a normal part of German cuisine since WWII. Persipan is often used by German confectioneries, if they want a more "fruity" taste for their products. In fact persipan is a marzipan, were the almonds are replaced by the stones(!) of peaches or/and apricots.

Is this really unknown outside Germany?86.56.0.159 11:00, 8 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Not exactly. I think the issue is the definition of Marzipan outside of Germany, Italy and perhaps a few other places. In those two countries, Marzipan is specifically defined as containing almond; outside those countries, it may contain apricot kernels. So, Marzipan, as it exists in other countries, may be equivalent to either Marzipan or Persipan in Germany. (This is mostly an educated guess, I'd have to research this to verify it. Note also that I'd never previously known the name Persipan.) Mind  matrix  14:19, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, marzipan candy in the US frequently has kernels in it. If it does, it tastes awful to me, but I wonder if that's the "bitter almond" flavor the article speaks of?Bonitakale 16:42, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

EU law
"Under EU law, marzipan must have a minimum almond oil content of 14% and a maximum moisture content of 8.5%." And how does EU law deal with marchpane that does not meet this requirement, does it simply classify it as "not marzipan" (or something else)? Myrtone


 * No need to deal with it. Calling it Marzipan would be against the rule, so the manufacturer would have to call it something else, like "almond paste" or something. Pipatron (talk) 00:21, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Mazapán
This article claims that marzipan and mazapán are the same thing. In México, mazapán is a type of candy that is made out of peanuts, and it's eaten all year round. I am mexican, and I grew up eating it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.86.123.180 (talk • contribs)
 * Quite probably its origin is the same but the almond nuts had to be substituted for whichever else what available in America (i.e. cacahuates). Regards, Asterion talk 07:37, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Nope. Mexican Mazapan and Spanish Mazapán are as different as Mexican tortillas and Spanish tortilla. One is named like the other due to a vague passing resemblance. Mexican Mazapan is not a paste at all. It's crushed peanuts and powdered sugar compressed into a crumbly hockey puck.2601:1C2:5000:1472:7D59:1F6D:8A31:F794 (talk) 21:26, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

The article does not reflect well other possible geographic origins, such as Toledo, Spain (850-900, though more probably 1150 during Alfonso VII period, then known as Postre Regio instead of Mazapán) and Sicily (1193, known as panis martius or marzapane, i.e. March Bread). In both cases, there is a reason to believe that there is a clear Arabic influence for historical reasons (both regions have recently been under Muslim control) and there are also mentions in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights of an almond paste eaten during Ramadan and as an aphrodisiac. Other sources establish the origin of marzipan in China, from where the recipe moved on to the Middle East and then to Europe through Al-Andalus. Your thoughts? E   Asterion  u talking to me? 20:50, 1 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, I didn't write this article, but I am watching it. My thoughts are that your sources are better than the article's! Please feel free to expand and correct it. Melchoir 21:51, 1 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm actually going to Luebeck in less than two weeks for a couple of days. I will wait until then before expanding the article. Basically, I will use this chance to try to find out more info on Luebecker Marzipan too. Cheers, E    Asterion  u talking to me? 16:58, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm agreeing with the OP IP user... Mazapán is not the same as marzipan. Mazapán is made of ground peanuts, it is not a paste, it is closer to a rough powder, it can't be shaped easily, can only be pressed into fragile shapes (typically as a hockey puck shaped disk) that explodes into powder chunks at the slightest disturbance. A reduced oil peanut butter is closer to marzipan than mazapán is, and I don't think anyone is going to claim that peanut butter is marzipan. — al-Shimoni  (talk) 21:32, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

US definition of marzipan
As far as I can see, there is no US definition of almond paste or marzipan. I've changed the article to reflect that. Wish there were one, kind of.Bonitakale 16:40, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

OLD JEWISH ORIGIN OF MARZIPAN
In my Family there was a story that the name "Marzipan" comes from two words MARZI & PAN. "Marzi" is the old Ladino (Jewish Spanish) way of saying the name Mordechai. "Pan" is bread. "Mordechai Bread" in ancient Hebrew would be "Pat Mordechai" which is the Hebrew name of Marzipan. In Hebrew letters:פת מרדכי The story was that the origin of Marzipan comes from Jewish sweet makers from Toledo, Spain.

Tallinn
You know, Tallinn is also told to be te origin town of marzipan but i dont see anything about it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.196.77.150 (talk) 21:59, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, it is. It should definately be mentioned.
 * Find some credible sources for that random statement and someone will probably add it to the article. Pipatron (talk) 00:28, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
 * The main (or best known) source of claim 'marzipan was first created in Tallinn', is a story "Mardileib" (lit. Mart's Bread) by Jaan Kross. Whether the story has some real historic background or is a pure fiction, is unknown to me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.191.62.249 (talk) 20:24, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Winter cuisine?
Could anyone explain please why this category applies to Marzipan? There is no reason given in the article for this categorization. --Catgut (talk) 04:46, 8 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Further, aren't some of the articles listed in that category really just "Christmas foods", and Christmas just happens to occur in winter... Mind  matrix  14:33, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Marzipan museum
There is a claim "The only marzipan museum in the world was opened in 1988 in the Israeli village of Kfar Tavor, Lower Galilee". However, there is a picture in the article from "the Budapest Marzipan Museum". I think this is quite contradictory. I will remove the reference to the Kfar Tavor museum altogether. I think it would be pointless to state "There is a marzipan museum in Kfar Tavor," as there could in theory be hundreds of similar museums all over the world, i.e. some kind of citation would be needed to prove that this is really something special. I will also remove the claim regarding the "only marzipan museum" from the page for Kfar Tavor. --Ruebezahl (talk) 12:02, 9 September 2008 (UTC)


 * There is also a marzipan museum in Lubeck.86.184.68.196 (talk) 16:52, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Bitter almonds constituting 4% to 6% of the total almond content by weight
It's unlikely that this is true since bitter almonds are poisonous --83.57.62.116 (talk) 16:17, 20 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree it sounds unlikely and it contradicts the marzipan article. I'll change it.Francis Davey (talk) 13:14, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

The footnote numbers in the first paragraph are clearly wrong (way too high). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.205.11.218 (talk) 21:51, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Caption of EU Marzipan Picture
Would it be possible to change the caption from "the EU (before its latest expansion)" to "the EU" and then the year it was made in brackets? 151.226.208.98 (talk) 08:45, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

"Bread of War" etymology possibility?
A vague memory from grade school: story was that a besieged city was forced to make bread out of confectionary materials like a sugar paste or whatever rather than wheat. Maybe there was a bit about "ingenious" bakers.--Jrm2007 (talk) 16:25, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

Added 16 November 2021 -- I heard this in grade school, too. The city was Lübeck. The name supposedly came from Latin meaning "bread of war." But I haven't found anything to support that etymology. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1702:CC7:610:F462:940D:3573:D6D1 (talk) 15:01, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

Only almonds?
Why is almonds mentioned as the only nut used for marzipan? Is there any source for this narrow definition of marzipan?

Pistachios is used for making a green marzipan paste also. This paste is used for making pistachio ice cream fx., a very popular and well-known ice cream around the world.

In Denmark walnuts are sometimes used for making a quite bitter, but delicious marzipan. This walnut-marzipan is then covered in dark chocolate and sold in shops or exported.

I guess all kinds of nuts can be used with various success and that it will still qualify as "marzipan"? RhinoMind (talk) 18:25, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Pistachio ice cream isn't made from pistachio marzipan. It is usually made either directly using pistachios or commonly using a soft pistachio purée (do a google image search for something like "crema pistacchio" to see what I mean. It has a consistency similar to Nutella).217.42.103.229 (talk) 12:42, 3 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Links
 * Thought I would post some relevant links:


 * 
 * 
 * 


 * Kransekage


 * RhinoMind (talk) 02:07, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Original research
This article is full of unsourced speculation, marked with "citation needed" tags everywhere, some of which are years old. I propose to apply WP:TNT and blow up this horrible text. God is great. Some day there will be a Wikipedian who will be able to write a good Marzipan article. Until then I frankly prefer our readers not to find one here, if that would be the current text. Maybe we could save one sentence defining the sweet and leave it together with a picture album. My two cents. --Why should I have a User Name? (talk) 19:27, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

I was Reverted
...so I will Talk:

It is true, that what I put up would benefit from more in-line citations, but most of what I wrote, directed to existing pages with lots of sources. I cannot accept the revert.

If anyone is unsatisfied with the text, citation needed tags should be inserted in the few places that does not already direct to wiki pages with sources. And best of all: help supply sources, as what I wrote is clearly and obviously not non-sense, original research or PR bullsh*te. RhinoMind (talk) 01:37, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Science
I have added some statements in the article and added a section for scientific analysis related to marzipan. I hope to add more on the section in the future, because marzipan has interesting molecular behavior, which leads to why it is so pliable and other physical properties. I feel other people should know more about the science that goes into marzipan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PenguinsEatingScience2 (talk • contribs) 20:34, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Origin Persia
The overwhelming evidence is that Marizpan originated in Persia, and this is the majority view by culinary historians. It's odd that there is no mention of Persia in the history section. I've gone ahead and added it and it was removed. I will re-add it with sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.121.72.7 (talk) 15:43, 10 May 2017 (UTC)
 * "With sources" is very much the key. Since the evidence is overwhelming, and it's the majority view, you should have no trouble finding really good sources. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106; &#x1D110;&#x1d107; 16:06, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

Indeed, there is a dozen times more sources for ancient Persia, than http://www.mazapan.es/historia.php, which is cited to vaguely suggest a "mediterranian" route. That being said, there is no valid reason that citing a few of those sources, should not be sufficient. 50.121.72.7 (talk) 18:40, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Marzipan. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20151208194457/http://www.kalev.eu/en/maiasmokk-cafe/kalev-marzipan-museum-room to http://www.kalev.eu/en/maiasmokk-cafe/kalev-marzipan-museum-room
 * Added tag to http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Gastronomia/Productos%20y%20Recetas/Productos/G/0/Mazapan%20artesano%20de%20Toledo?Language=ES
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010235/http://www.islamyal-andalus.org/control/noticia.php?id=373 to http://www.islamyal-andalus.org/control/noticia.php?id=373
 * Added tag to http://www.jccm.es/agricul/paginas/comercial-industrial/consejosreguladores/Mazapan.htm
 * Added archive https://archive.is/20130108031216/http://www.shakedtavor.co.il/home/doc.aspx?mCatID=23175 to http://www.shakedtavor.co.il/home/doc.aspx?mCatID=23175

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Marzipan figures and Sinterklaas
Why is a citation required here? This is completely obvious. Millions of people are participating in this tradition each year. 84.87.181.27 (talk) 16:56, 17 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Except, it is not just given with Sinterklaasavond (Saint Nicolas' Eve). It can be given as pressent before 5 December. Dqfn13 (talk) 11:58, 1 February 2019 (UTC)

HCN and blanching
Removed a claim that blanching reduces hydrogen cyanide content after checking the 2013 edition of the cited source on Google Books. Was unable to find support for the claim anywhere in the referenced text. The assertion might possibly be supported in a different edition of that reference, or elsewhere? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Durova 2 (talk • contribs) 22:54, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
 * That was inserted in these four edits by User:PenguinsEatingScience2 in December 2016. The text in "Production" that was added by me in 2012 in this edit and this edit were sourced to the 2009 edition of the book. I agree with the deletion of the text inserted afterward, but I'm restoring the portion of the deleted text that was properly sourced. Mind  matrix  23:37, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Sounds fair. Thank you. Durova 2 (talk) 23:53, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

The Mexican candy Mazapan is not Marzipan.
It's a completely different candy made from compressed peanuts and powdered sugar. That's all. 2601:1C2:5000:1472:7D59:1F6D:8A31:F794 (talk) 21:23, 13 February 2022 (UTC)