Marzipan, the dessert at princely banquets

In Italy, there are numerous records of the consumption of marzipan in the 14th century. The costliness of this delicacy is indicated by the fact that Karl IV was presented with gilded marzipan loaves on his entrance into Siena in 1368. It is probable that by the 15th century, marzipan had already appeared on tables in Germany, although the first written record dates from the year 1509. From then on, references are so numerous, that it can be assumed that marzipan was always served as a dessert at princely feasts. At the Reichstag at Speyer in 1526, for example, there were "preserved pears in sugar, a martzepan of sugar, almonds and rose water, around it a border made of sugar and on the martzepan the gilded coat of arms of my most gracious Lord". At this time, the marzipans were not prepared by the court confectioner, but were obtained from the apothecary.

The energy bread marzipan as a medicinal substance

The processing of spices was the responsibility of the apothecaries. They manufactured the "confectiones", in which sugar at first served the purpose of making the bitter pills palatable. However, the pleasures of the palate soon predominated. As the Straßburg physician Gualtherius Ryff wrote with respect to marzipan in his "Confectbuch und Hausapoteck": "But at this time used more for pleasure at banquets, than by the sick". The fact that marzipan or energy bread was first used as a medicinal substance is indicated by the repeated references in recipe books to "heart sugar or marcepan for the sick" until well into the 18th century. Crushed gemstones and pearls, as well as supplements of thyme or other medicinal herbs were held to be effective in the case of particular illnesses.