I hadn’t tasted marzipan until I was an adult, the first time I visited Germany. I hadn’t encountered it before then. The Germans go nuts for the gently sweet, toothsome, clay-like paste made from almonds—and so does most of Europe, where it’s almost ubiquitous, especially around the holidays.
However, marzipan isn’t especially popular in North America. It’s not that we don’t like it—because unless you have a nut allergy, who wouldn’t like marzipan?—it’s just that we don’t eat it much. Often, we just sell it as an ingredient called “almond paste,” which strikes me as functional and lacking in romance. However, our paste exists on a marzipan spectrum that includes French pâte d’amande and countless variations with slightly different ingredients around the world.
Whatever you call it, our North American traditions generally don’t include it.