The controversial origin of marzipan eel

If you have ever passed by a bakery in Toledo, or by Casa Mira’s bakery, in the heart of Madrid, you will have seen a curious sweet in the shape of a curled eel, it is a marzipan eel.

For those who have never tasted or seen it, I will tell you that it is a huge marzipan on the outside, usually filled with candied egg yolk or angel hair. Its eyes are sugar balls, and it has flakes of almond slices covered with powdered sugar or candied fruit.

This traditional sweet is one of the most typical of the city of Toledo, although its popularity has led it to cross borders and nowadays, fortunately, it can also be tasted in other regions.

If you are curious about the origin of marzipan, don’t miss this post.

Where does the marzipan eel come from?

Marzipan is one of the most typical sweets in Toledo. It is sold there throughout the year and, although most of the marzipan is still presented in the form of small figures, we can also find marzipan eels in the shop windows.

One of Toledo’s legends tells that, in the 19th century, eels were a highly appreciated delicacy in the city. They came from the Tagus River and, in addition to being consumed regularly as a typical dish, they were also used to purify the water in the cisterns of the area.

The fact is that the eels disappeared from the Tagus River. And, as the saying goes, “for lack of bread, cakes are good”, one of the city’s bakeries decided to revive them, but in the form of marzipan, so that they would not be missed so much on the tables of the region.

However, there is a very different story about the marzipan eel that makes everyone’s hair stand on end.

Marzipan eels and their relation to Jewish converts

There is another much more obscure story about the marzipan eel, which dates its creation to the 15th century.

In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs decided to expel the Jews from the Peninsula. Many of these Jews converted to Catholicism in order to avoid having to abandon their homes and belongings. When converting to the new religion they had to abandon their old customs and assume the Christian customs and traditions.

At that time, the Inquisition was in charge of making sure that the converted Jews had indeed abandoned their faith, continually testing them. For this reason, they commissioned the Toledo confectioners to make a sweet in the shape of an eel, since the Jews could not eat any fish that did not have scales or fins, as it resembled a snake, an impure animal.

In this way, they could see who would gladly eat the eel and who would reject it. It is said that the eel scales were later placed on the eel by confectioners who took pity on the Sephardim so that they would no longer be persecuted by the Inquisition.

A handmade candy

The marzipan eels have reached our days much improved, and their popularity has traveled to other European countries, including Latin America.

At
Casa Mira
marzipan is handmade in their bakery with ingredients of the highest quality. Far from marzipans made with potatoes, Casa Mira’s marzipans use only Marcona almonds.

If you are in the center of Madrid, you can visit us in our store and, if not, you can also find us in our online store.

A sweet to share, if we do not want to have a diabetic attack, but well worth trying, even if we put a few extra calories in the body.