Marzipan Made by Nuns in Toledo

Toledo marzipan (mazapan de Toledo) has been made by the nuns of the Convent of San Clemente and its sister convents since at least the 11th century, using a recipe of ground almonds and honey (later sugar) that has not fundamentally changed since before the Moors left Castile. The EU has granted it Protected Geographical Indication status, and the real article — dense, slightly rough-textured, intensely almond, not too sweet — is entirely different from the smooth, rubbery marzipan manufactured industrially and sold in tourist shops across Europe.

The convent shops (clausura) operate through a revolving wooden shelf (torno) so that the enclosed nuns can sell their products without being seen by the public. You place your order at the window, the shelf rotates, and the marzipan appears, wrapped in tissue, from the other side. The transaction involves no human contact, only the shuffling of coins and the slow rotation of the wooden cylinder. It is one of Europe's most charming anachronisms and the marzipan, when you eat it outside in the cathedral square, is one of its most underrated foods.

Toledo is forty-five minutes from Madrid by high-speed train and entirely worth a day trip (or a night — the city empties of day-trippers after five and becomes a different place). The medieval city was simultaneously home to Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities for centuries — Toledo's cultural syncretism is visible in the architecture, with Mudejar Christian churches, a medieval synagogue (El Transito), and the remains of mosques throughout the old town. El Greco spent most of his working life here and the Museo del Greco has an exceptional collection.