Lübeck is a seaside city in Northern Germany and famous for its Lübecker Marzipan. Marzipan has long been associated with Germany and Italy, but its roots are in the Orient. As far back as 850, a Persian doctor by the name of Rhazes praised the curative properties of almond and sugar paste. When the Crusaders returned to Europe from the Orient they brought this delicacy back with them. Initially only enjoyed by kings and the wealthy, but by the 19th century when sugar was being extracted from sugar beets, making it cheaper, marzipan became widely accessible. It has been a prized and popular treat ever since.

Marzipan is an easy to make almond paste which can be rolled into Marzipan potatoes. They are called potatoes as they look like small potatoes by rolling almond paste into small balls and coating them in cacao powder.

They can be found all over Germany during Christmas time and are an essential in the Nikolaus Stiefel - a German tradition. St Nikolaus comes out the night of December 6th filling shoes with sweets, nuts and oranges. Everyone is cleaning and polishing their shoes and putting these outside their doors to find some treats in the morning.