Scandinavian expat, Thea Tammeleht, uses her family recipe to bring to India the perfect gourmet marzipan. Navneet Mendiratta samples a mix of flavours at Neel Sutra Bridal lounge in Khan Market, where she has set shop
Sixth generation Marzipan maker Thea Tammeleht is busy indulging the seventh generation in the making, if you could call it that and a taster at the moment, seven-year-old Mia with the candy samples as I walk into the Neel Sutra Bridal lounge in Khan Market. This is where Thea and her husband Thomas Abraham have set up the first retail counter for Nordic Kandie Magic, an exclusive Marzipan treat for festive and special occasions in Delhi.
Beautifully crafted and colourful marzipan candies stare out of the glass display, tempting the guest to pop each one of them into their mouth. On the counter top are the same candies, cut into pieces and labelled so you can try and decide what flavours to opt for — the idea being to get them to customise your boxes.
There is choice aplenty — 16 flavours in all. There are fruit flavours and then there are the spice flavours, including chilli mango, figs, mint, orange chocolate, lychee, cherries, rose cardamom, and cinnamon among others. Some Indian flavours like the chilli mango have been curated by Vicky Ratnani. “We plan to add flavours as we get along, as the process to include flavours requires a lot of research and hard work,” shares Thomas.
I love the burst of flavours as I pop my first candy into the mouth. “It’s not your typical India sweet that takes your teeth away but a typical European flavour where the aftertaste lingers,” agrees Thea, as I share with her my first impressions. “You don’t need to eat more than one candy. That is how we eat back in the Europe,” she smiles.
And then I learn something very interesting about Marzipan. “There is history and story to every piece. This one starts at a pharmacy in our hometown. The town was called Rävala (now Tallinn), a Hanseatic town,” says Thomas as begins one story. “Somewhere in the 15th century one of the members of a royal family fell ill. So they called up this pharmacy. The head of the pharmacy was also sneezing. So he sent a young apprentice called Mart to attend to the patient,” he goes on.
In the 15th century it was compulsory for the pharmacist to sample the medicine before the nobleman could eat it, to check for any poisoning. And just so he didn’t have to consume the bitter pill, Mart decides to add almonds and sugar to it.
“The royal got well, he loved this whole tasty thing that Mart prepared and decided to call it Mart’s bread. Bread in French is called Pane. So it became Mart’s Pane and over the period Marzepan. A delicacy in guise of medicine,” he concludes. The Marzipan soon caught the fancy of the entire Europe and later the world.
“We can only produce 300 candies per day,” shares Thea, about her painstaking and time consuming labour of love. “It takes time. We don’t have machines. Everything is handmade, ingredients imported and the process controlled by strict quality checks. We constantly run food tests to ensure we abide by the European standards,” she says.
The gold and silver covered candies come with a certificate. “We get our gold and silver foils from Giusto Manetti, who have been supplying to the Royals and noblemen across Europe including the Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Versailles,” shares Thomas. And the buyer also gets a certificate of proof to authenticate the source and the quality checks it conforms to.
“The same for the almonds. We choose our almonds the way grapes are chosen for wine,” says Abraham. “We use Mamra almonds from Iran. They are known for their high nutritive qualities and fibre content. The best in the world these almonds are exclusive and contribute to only four-five per cent of the total almond produce.
“The best part about Nordic Kandies is that these are 100 per cent vegetarian and gluten free, perfect for the Indian markets,” Thea smiles.
Setting up shop has not been easy for the couple. Even as the production happens out of their Hiranandani, Powai factory, retailing so far was mainly through word of mouth and social media. “It is amazing how word of mouth works especially in case of exclusive products. We are really happy with the response by the way of orders that we have received on whasapp so far!”
While Neel Sutra Bridal Boutique is the first public space they start to retail out of, they are ready with their flagship store at Peddar Road as well.