Alternative names | Frutta di Martorana, frutta marturana |
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Place of origin | Italy |
Region or state | Palermo and Messina, Sicily |
Main ingredients | Marzipan, vegetable dyes |
Frutta martorana (also frutta di Martorana or, in Sicilian, frutta marturana) are traditional marzipan sweets, in the form of fruits and vegetables, from the provinces of Palermo and Messina, [1] Sicily.
Realistically coloured with vegetable dyes, they are said to have originated at the Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, Palermo, when nuns decorated empty fruit trees with marzipan fruit to impress an archbishop visiting at Easter. They are traditionally put by children's bedsides on All Souls' Day.