Legendary Sweet Delights of European Cities

Many European cities are known for their sweet creations. Many of them have their legends how those sweets came to be. Next time you have a marzipan or pretzel, you will know the story behind its origin.

  At the oldest pharmacy in Europe, Tallinn Town Hall Pharmacy, worked a bright apprentice named Mart. One day, one of the members of the city council got sick. He came to the pharmacist to make him a miraculous remedy. But the pharmacist himself got cold and asked Mart to prepare the remedy. Mart being not only a smart apprentice, but also with a bit of mischief up his sleeves, added almonds received from merchants traveling to the far lands, “Just to make it a bit sweeter and tastier.” Tastier it was, the council was so happy with the remedy that he ordered more on regular basis. The remedy was further modified into a paste of grinded almonds and sugar and in honor of its creator was called Mart’s Bread. Today known as marzipan.

More about the marzipan history at http://martsipan.ee/en/martsipani-ajalugu

Turin, located in the Piedmont region of Italy, is known for its hazelnut chocolate, which was created by necessity during Napoleon’s regency, when the import was under a blockade by the British. Due to the shortage of cocoa, it was mixed with hazelnuts from the Piedmont region. As a result manufacturer Caffarel invented Gianduia in 1852.

More about Gianduia at http://www.altagamma.it/img/soci/142_2.pdf

Paris, France, was home to Antonin Careme, who was abandoned by his parents as a young boy during the French Revolution at the age of 10 or 11. His passion for cooking and precision led him to cooking for high society of Paris and royalty including George IV in London and Tsar Alexander in St. Petersburg. Therefore, he is considered as the first international celebrity chef. He is credited with creating new sauces, dishes, and the standard chef’s hat. Some food historians also credit him with creating éclair.

Torun was once a major trade center in Poland thanks to its location by the river. Many ships passed through its port, bringing spices from different corners of the world. As Torunians developed a good taste for food, they also developed the best gingerbread, which is surrounded by many legends. Here is one of them.

There were many respected bakers in Torun. They baked gingerbread according to their original recipes, which they kept secret; adding some spices and aromas, creating unique signature. By tasting gingerbread, you could tell from which bakery it was. One of those bakers had a beautiful daughter, Katharina. There were many boys, who made advances towards her. One of them was Bartek, a young apprentice.

Katharina liked spending more and more time in the bakery, listening to Bartek’s humming as he was sifting flour through a strainer or mixing dough in a big bowl. During the night, he baked gingerbread in the shape of hearts to hand them to Katharina in the morning. Bartek in his spare time liked going to the nearest meadow, where he could feel the sun on his face, listen to the bird’s chirping and pick up some flowers for Katharina.

One day while sitting by a small lake, he heard a weak voice, “Please, help me.” He looked around and didn’t see anybody. He looked again and noticed a drowning bee. He reached for a leaf from the tree just above him and rescued the poor creature. “Thank you,” said the bee with fluttering wings shaking off the water.

He was about to return to the city when a queen bee sat on his shoulder. “You helped my bee sister and I’d like to return the good deed,” she said. “I’ll tell you a secret of how to make a sweet gingerbread. When making dough, add some honey to it.” And she was gone in a blink of an eye.

And that’s what he did once he got back to the bakery. The sweet gingerbread won him the heart of Katharina and the clients of Torun.

Full version at http://geowonderland.blogspot.com/2011/10/bartek-and-queen-bee.html

In the Netherlands, in the 13^th century, there was a family named Gouda. They settled by the river and built a fortified castle. As the Gouda family was the first one to settle in the area, the town was named after them.

Over the time, Gouda has become famous for trading cheese. Therefore, the cheese was named after the city.  The city is also known for something sweeter, which is made in the city and is well-known. It is stroopwafel or syrup waffle. It was created by a baker using leftovers from the bakery, such as breadcrumbs, which were sweetened with syrup.

The town of Jijona in Spain might be a small town, but it is famous for a sweet turron, which is a type of soft nougat. The oldest Spanish turron recipe dates to the 16^th century.

Legend has it that, when the Spanish lands were ruled by the Moors from North Africa, they brought almond trees from their native lands. The King of those times married a Scandinavian princess. The princess was sad that she could not enjoy the scenery full of snow as in her country. King desperate to see her wife happy had an idea to plant thousands of almond trees around the castle. So that when they flourished the landscape would be covered in white hues of petals reminding the princess of snow. The princess was happy for as long as the landscape was covered in white. One of the cooks learned to collect and treat almond produce, creating the first samples of nougat. The white nougat reminding the princess of snow made her happy throughout a year.

Vienna, Austria, is the creator of the original croissant more in a form of roll in a shape of moon. Legend has it, when Vienna won the siege over Ottoman Empire, one of the bakers noticed a moon on the retreating rival’s flag. And to commemorate their victory, the baker created a croissant in a shape of moon. When Marie Antoinette was betrothed to the King of France, Louis XVI, she introduced croissant to France. In France the roll was turned into a puff pastry, a soft croissant. (As Turks fled, they left bags of coffee behind them. The first coffee shop was born in Vienna).

The story of pretzel is more involved. It is a creation of a few countries and few travelers. It all started in the Alps between two countries of France and Italy. In those mountains stood a monastery. One of the monks living there liked children. He loved telling them stories from the Bible. The kids liked the monk very much and called him father, but they were not so eager to learn the Bible. So he created a pretzel in a shape of two arms crossed resting on shoulders as a reward for learning the Bible. The pretzels became so popular with children that they were introduced to travelers passing by the monastery, where they took rest and were always supplied with food by the monks.

The travelers introduced the pretzel to the bakers of the Bavarian Alps, southern Germany. One of the bakers needed to hire help before lent. The young boy who was supposed to watch the pretzel in the oven snoozed in the warmth of the kitchen. When he woke up and took out the pretzels they turned out to be hard. The baker tried the overbaked pretzel and to his surprised it was still tasty. And after a few days he noticed that the overbaked pretzels lasted longer. They were much better for the travelers passing through the Alps.

So the travelers further introduced the pretzel to the bakers in Hamburg, northern Germany. Over the time, one of the bakers specialized in baking just pretzels. He dusted the pretzels with salt or seeds of sesame, poppy and caraway. The pretzels were taking on different taste as well as shape. Some stayed in its original shape, the others got very tiny; some were straight sticks looking like fingers. His bakery was next to a confection store. He took the idea from the next door confectioner and covered the tiny pretzels in chocolate; some sprinkled with colorful sprinkles some with crushed nuts.

Istanbul, Turkey, is known for lokum or Turkish Delight. This sweet was developed by a confectioner Bekir Efendi, who moved to Istanbul.

Legend has it that in Istanbul a ruler called Sultan was known for a very sweet tooth and for having already the best collection of sweets. Rumor had it that he was looking for a new delicacy to add to his collection. Shortly before this a new baker, who was from a small town up in the mountains moved to Istanbul. Coming from a small town to a big city was a new experience. He didn’t feel welcome and on that note he thought to himself, “How can I welcome the people instead?” He pondered, “What better way to welcome somebody than with a sweet confection.” So he thought of inventing a new treat. The mixture of gel and sugar turned out pretty soft and yummy.” The new confection gained him friends, customers and became the favorite of the Sultan.