How to choose Confetti
At the time of the Greeks and Romans, sugared almonds were made from almond and honey. With the arrival of the cane brought by the Arabs, the experiments began which were only perfected at the end of the 1700s with the spread of sugar extracted from beets.
From those first confetti made with only almonds wrapped in a thin layer of sugar, we have come a long way.
The push and the needs of the factory have expanded the production, so much so that today most of the confetti producers operate on an industrial level.
What does this mean?
Many historical realities have kept the wonderful traditional plant but, to adapt to the massive production, they had to make important changes to the ingredients.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that confetti all look the same.
One way to compare two apparentlyidentical products is to stop and read the food labels, the identity card of a product.
What should you pay attention to?
- The use of starch, gluten and maltodextrin, useful only to speed up the manufacturing process.
- The spasmodic use of aromas, in particular, artificial ones. As attractive as the taste of ricotta & pear may seem, you will find no trace of ricotta or pear.
- Chocolate is not all the same. The percentages of cocoa and fat are fundamental. Often, cocoa butter is stretched with other vegetable fats such as palm oil or shea butter. There would be a lot to tell, perhaps in a piece dedicated to the very tasty chocolate.
We said that the food label or, alternatively, the Book of ingredients are the first tool you can use to inform yourself and make an informed choice.
Not all that glitters is gold!
I would like to say a few words on a topic that is close to our hearts and share the experience of recent years. Synonymous with quality is not only the ingredient itself but also its origin and the way it is processed.
How much did the place where you come from and the experiences you have lived in the person you are influenced?
I know, this question may sound out of context. Still, I find it the easiest way to understand what a great resource the ways, times and values behind things represent. Handwork, sustainable crops, seasonality, the environment and why not, the enhancement of the territory in harmony with tradition.
We have come to the point. How do you choose the confetti?
Trust the senses.
Don’t stop at the sight. Call all your resources to help.
- the sense of touch. in the pleasant sensation of consistency and quality;
- the sense of smell, that strong perfume that immediately recalls the ingredient;
- hearing, to catch the crunchy sound that suggests freshness;
- the taste, to let yourself be carried away by the flavor and pleasantness of the aromatic notes.
La Pelegrina believes in the experience of discovery; for this we have created different tasting solutions and we use to offer a small taste of sugared almonds and raw materials that we have selected with great care.
