(also ''frutta di Martorana'' or, in
Sicilian, ) are traditional
marzipan
Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract.
It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...
sweets, in the form of fruits and vegetables, from the provinces of
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
and
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
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, demographi ...
.
Realistically coloured with vegetable dyes, they are said to have originated at the
Monastero della Martorana, Palermo, when nuns decorated empty fruit trees with marzipan fruit to impress an archbishop visiting at
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
. They are traditionally put by children's bedsides on
All Souls' Day
All Souls' Day, also called ''The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed'', is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and ...
.
See also
*
List of Sicilian dishes
This is a list of Sicilian dishes and foods. Sicilian cuisine shows traces of all the cultures which established themselves on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilia ...
*
References
External links
Martorana fruit{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050227233539/http://regnodelsole.it/english/prod_martorana.htm , date=2005-02-27 Commercial page with image
Italian confectionery
Cuisine of Sicily
Marzipan