Mässmogge are thumb-sized,

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...

praline-filled sugar candies. They are a regional and seasonal specialty of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where they are made and sold at around the time of the autumn fair.

Name

"Mässmogge" and its spelling variants "Mässmögge", "Mässmocke" or "Messmocken" are words in

Basel German Basel German or Baseldytsch (Standard German: ''Baseldeutsch'') is the dialect of the city of Basel, Switzerland. The dialect of Basel forms a Low Alemannic linguistic exclave in the High Alemannic region. Phonetics and phonology Consonants ...

, the local dialect. "Mäss-" refers to the ''Messe'', the

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

at which the candy is sold, while "Mogge" is derived from the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

word ''Mocken'', meaning "big piece" or "lump".

Description and economic significance

Mässmogge are about long, wide and weigh about . They consist of a striped, colored, rather soft sugar candy shell in various flavors (chocolate, lemon, strawberry, etc., corresponding to the shell's color), and of a soft hazelnut praline mass at the center, which has a more pronounced flavor than the shell. A variant, the Glasmogge ("lump of glass") has no hazelnut filling. It consists only of a piece of sugar candy, which is normally green and peppermint-flavored. As of 2008, about one million Mässmogge are produced annually,Another 2008 source indicates two million: of which 70% are the hazelnut-filled variant. Half of the production is sold to market traders visiting fairs across Switzerland, although most Mässmogge are sold at the Basel autumn fair. The other half is produced for retail and specialty stores mostly in and around Basel and Solothurn.

Production

Mässmogge are produced largely by hand in a complicated process. The candy mass, made of sugar,

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...

and water, is warmed to 134 degrees Celsius, agitated in order to become airy and white, colored and folded into a striped, layered paste. The filling, consisting of roasted and ground hazelnuts with some fat and sugar, is then spread over the candy mass. The paste is wrapped into a roll, which is drawn out by a machine to a length of about , and separated into the individual Mässmogge. The whole process must take no more than 25 minutes, in order to keep the candy mass warm and malleable.

History

Candy canes were first introduced by French confectioners at Basel fairs in the 1860s, and sold in the form of thick candy lumps since about 1879. The confectioner Leonz Goldinger invented the current Mässmogge, with a hazelnut filling, at around 1900. At that time, the candies were produced directly at the fair and sold while still warm. Up until the 1960s, several confectioners produced Mässmogge for the Basel fairs. Because of the expense of producing the candy, the number of manufacturers has since dwindled to one, ''Sweet Basel AG''.

References

External links