Confetti
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Confetti has continued to appear at Italian celebrations for centuries – but according to Italian tradition, confetti is much more than a sweet little treat.
The long held tradition of confetti in Italy, or sugar coated almonds as they are commonly known, dates back to ancient Roman times when they were consumed during birth and marriage celebrations as a symbol of good luck. This practice can still be seen today, with Italians throughout the world continuing to abide by this age old practice during each of life’s milestones.
Available in various colours, each representing different festivities, confetti in their usual form are almonds covered in a hard sugar coating. Interestingly, honey was used in place of sugar up until the renaissance period when sugar became more readily available.
White confetti is used for weddings to represent purity, green is used for engagements, pale pink or blue for christenings, red for graduations, silver for 25th anniversaries and gold for 50th anniversaries.
At wedding celebrations, it is customary to give five pieces of white confetti to each guest as a gift or ‘bomboniere’, either wrapped in tulle or made into the shape of a flower. The five pieces are said to represent health, happiness, longevity, fertility and prosperity. Although some may choose to give more or less than five pieces, the number of confetti given to each person must be odd as uneven numbers are believed to be lucky in Italian culture. Some also believe that the odd number represents the birth of a baby. Others say that the use of an odd number is important because it cannot be divided just like the couple who have promised to stay by each other’s side.
Confetti is also traditionally used to shower newlyweds after their wedding ceremony as a means of wishing them good luck – paper confetti or bubbles are however a common (and safer) alternative that has been widely adopted in recent times. The origins of this ritual can be traced back to the ancient Pagan rite of showering the couple with grain. It was believed that by doing this, the fertility of the seeds would be passed onto the newly married couple.
Created by dipping a whole shelled and peeled almond into a sugar coating several times to achieve the desired ‘shell’ thickness, confetti continues to be produced in Italy by skilled artisans. Although an almond is the traditional centre of confetti, other ingredients such as hazelnuts, chocolate, cinnamon, pistachios and dried fruit are also quite common nowadays. The confetti is coated in a sugar and water syrup through several dipping phases and a number of soaking and drying phases – a process which can take several days to complete!
Today, confetti production remains concentrated in Abruzzo, followed closely by Campania; while Sicily is noted for its delicious Avola almonds. Grown in the town of Avola, these almonds are famous for their fine taste and lack of bitterness. The town of Sulmona in Abruzzo is recognised as the ‘confetti capital’ and colourful ‘bouquets’ of confetti flowers can be found lining shopfront windows in the same way that flowers are laced along the shopfronts of florists.