Confetti di Sulmona: the sugared almond town

Sulmona, in Abruzzo, has made confetti, sugar-coated almonds, since the Middle Ages: the Poor Clares of Santa Chiara were tying the first confetto bouquets in the 15th century, and by 1846¹ the town had about twelve factories.

From a convent to twelve factories

In the 15th century the Poor Clare nuns of the Santa Chiara monastery made the first mazzolini, small bouquets of flowers built from confetti. Production was older still: in the Middle Ages it went by the name confettura.

The modern form arrived in the 17th century, when sugar was imported and a confetto was a luxury. By 1846¹ Sulmona counted about twelve factories.

All of this comes from Abruzzo's regional tourism body, which cites no primary source for the 1846¹ figure. Read it as a tradition the region records, not a number pulled from an archive.

What the Sulmona method claims

The local specialty, by the same account, is a patented way of working that fixes the sugar to the almond with no starch and no flour. That's the detail to look for on a label, because a sugared almond made elsewhere can look identical in the box.

The variety the source singles out is the Cannellino di Sulmona, known locally as the "di Leopardi". The anecdote behind the nickname is, again, the tourism body's, and it comes without a source.

The color code

The traditional code has three entries, and the color carries the occasion:

If you're bringing confetti to a family event in Italy, the color is the part people will notice first.

Sulmona and the emigrants

Sulmona's confetti became known abroad in the 20th century through Abruzzese emigrants in the United States, Canada and Australia, according to the regional tourism body.

For families with roots in Abruzzo, that turns a box of confetti from a souvenir into something closer to a family habit. If that's your reason for the trip, see roots travel and Abruzzo.

Saffron is the region's registered flagship

The agriculture ministry's register gives Abruzzo's flagship slot to a different product: Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP, saffron from the Navelli plateau, registered in the EU on February 5, 2005.

Sulmona is in the province of L'Aquila, the city whose name the saffron carries. Opening hours for confetti makers and any confetti museum in Sulmona are not in our sources: check with the producer before you plan a visit around one.

For more on the region's table, see food in Abruzzo.

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