I recently visited the Szamos Marcipán Múzeum Cukrászda in the small quaint town of Szentendre, which is about 40 or so miles outside of Hungary’s Budapest. Muzeum Cukraszda is Hungary’s first marzipan museum showcasing the work of famous marzipan makers Mátyás Szamos and Károly Szabó. Its numerous marzipan marvels include a 1.6-meter long Parliament and a life-size, once-edible statue of Michael Jackson.
It all started with a rose. Raised without a father, a poor boy named Mladen Szavits, inherited his attraction to eastern sweets. He was a trainee pastry cook at the pastry shop of the famous Auguszt E. Jozsef, when one day in the early 1930s, a Danish pastry cook visited the shop and showed the apprentice how to shape pretty roses out of the sugar-almond paste.
Since then, many hundred thousands of marzipan roses have been formed. A marzipan production company “Szamos” was established by the middle of the nineties at Pilisvorosvar. The company now employees over 200 people, sells delicacies to the Hungarian market and exports them to seven countries.
Medieval marzipan sweets were brought to Europe from Persia in the 13th century. Tradition has it that around 1400 a Venetian pastry-old daughter was first created by accident. Crushed almonds and honey mixed game rárakta on top of a hot baking sheet. The home of marzipan recipes in the first 16-17. century is still unknown but it remains a favorite among Europeans and other nations alike.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
