History
The Latin words, "mustum ardens", already rouse curiosity and encourage the palate to enter a world of grape must made spicy by the addition of mustard
Legend has it that mostarda was discovered in the Middle Ages when, in a spice-seller’s shop, a piece of melon fell accidentally into a barrel full of honey. Found some time later, the fruit was fresh and fragrant as if just picked and tasted exquisite.
History, the true story, shows that it appeared in many classic works by Latin authors as the basic accompaniment for important dishes. The first written document on the subject “Mostarda de fructa per feste natalizie” (Fruit mostarda for Christmas) dates back to 1393 and is attributed to Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, while the oldest recipe prepared with fruit, mustard and sugar, without must, is from seventeenth-century Belgium.
Mostarda in 93 different varieties is found in many renowned nineteenth-century recipe books. Expert pharmacists and grocers, the modern “spice-sellers”, prepared it.
Our story, that of Lazzaris, however, starts at the beginning of the 1900s.
Mixing sugar with quinces, candied fruit and mustard oil, Luigi Lazzaris, an enterprising confectioner of Conegliano Veneto, experimented a highly fragrant sauce that immediately won his customers’ approval.
It took very little time for this sauce to become well known even at great international exhibitions of culinary art. Just like a prominent celebrity, this mixture with a sweet-spicy taste was awarded no less than 6 gold medals in the century that followed, so that the quality of the Lazzaris brand became renowned worldwide.
In 1922 the first small factory for making Veneta Mostarda and quince jelly was set up at No. 37 in Via XX Settembre.
The tradition has been handed down from generation to generation, from Luigi to Eriberto, from Claudio to Alberto.
Wars have taken place, the places of business have changed and the brand has been modernised by experimenting new techniques and alternative products.
From the Mostarda Veneta to that of Cremona and Mantova, from the quince jelly to the delicious fruit sauces to accompany cheese: a success story backed up by continual research and innovation, new combinations and cutting-edge processing to meet modern market requirements. First and foremost, however, a success story that is based on the quality of the selected products that also come from the company’s own organic crops.
And the story continues...