I can still clearly remember the delight I experienced as a child when my grandmother produced a hexagon-shaped, wine-coloured box from her handbag.

She had just returned from Austria and had brought back with her these chocolate and marzipan delights for my family.

It was the first time I had ever tasted Mozart Balls (or Mozartkugeln as they are known in German).

They were delicious and I did my utmost to make them last as long as possible, rationing myself one every few days.

In a family of five, the chocolates did not last very long and I was soon left, for a good 20 years, with but a distant memory of the chocolate delicacies that had once melted in my mouth.

It will come as no surprise for you to learn that, come my trip to Austria last year, the procurement of Mozartkugeln both for my own consumption and as gifts was among my top priorities.

Following rewarding trips to the Secession building, a visit to the Albertina Museum and a tour of Haus der Musik (Music House), boxes of Mozartkugeln were purchased and eaten.

Yet it was only once my travels in Austria took me to the western city of Salzburg that I made an important discovery.

In Salzburg I was lucky to chance upon a special sweet shop whose effervescently charismatic saleswoman convinced me to try a special, blue-wrapped version of the balls made by Josef Holzermayr and which, she claimed, were far better than the red commercial ones.

She was right and yes, more Mozartkugeln were bought.

The original sweets were made by Paul Fürst in 1884 and are still made today, by hand, to the initial recipe

You see, while many of us are familiar with the gold-wrapped sweets with a picture of Mozart on them, not many know that this brand – Mirabell – is just one of many imitation products.

The original sweets were made by Paul Fürst in 1884, and are still made today, by hand, and according to the original recipe and technique (see box).

The company reputedly produces approximately 1.4 million hand-made Mozartkugeln in the same house every year.

They are sold exclusively in just four Salzburg patisseries.

The Reber shop in Salzburg. Photo: Julia Kuznetsova/Shutterstock.comThe Reber shop in Salzburg. Photo: Julia Kuznetsova/Shutterstock.com

Fürst chose the name Mozartkugel because of (the then-not-so-popular) Mozart, son of Salzburg.

It was, however, the quality and the fine taste of this new speciality that brought the Mozartkugeln such great success.

And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then these sweets were flattered to high heaven – and to the courts.

The numerous imitation Mozartkugeln led Fürst’s descendants to initiate a court process.

At stake were the rights to the name, not the Mozartkugeln recipe itself, with the dispute spreading to include the competition from Germany.

The result was an agreement that obliged Fürst’s competitors to use other names.

The Mirabell firm, based in Grödig near Salzburg, chose ‘Real Salzburg Mozartkugeln’ and the Bavarian producer, Reber, ‘Real Reber Mozartkugeln’.

Fürst products may be called original Salzburg Mozartkugeln.

Today there are at least nine known varieties.

In addition to individual wrappers, each has a different constituency and a cross-section view of the sweets reveals various arrangements of the marzipan and chocolate ingredients.

I have tasted the Fürst, the Mirabell and the Holzermayr varieties and hope to eventually try all of them, but until then, my favourite most definitely remains Holzermayr’s creations.

Top of the chocs

Veronica’s top picks of where to buy Mozartkugeln:

Salzburg:

• The Fürst variety can be bought from the following places: Café Konditorei Fürst, Alter Markt, Mirabellplatz, Ritzerbogen and Getreidegasse.

• The Holzermayr variety can also be bought in Salzburg – in the Alter Markt, beside the old court pharmacy.

Vienna:

• The Mirabell brand is the most well-known and can be found in all tourist areas in Vienna, including the airport and even outside the city itself.

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