Christmas and New Year's Eve on the table can only end by munching on a tasty nougat, with all due respect to our glycemic levels. On the other hand, it is well known that food transgression is a recurring and unshakable traction of the end-of-year festivities. Then, in January, we will think about getting back on track with some diet and nutrition that corrects the faults and, if necessary, a few visits to the dentist to check that everything is in order.
The production of nougat in Italy amounts to over 5.000 tons and seems to know no crisis of time or generation. It has an ancient history and is transversal to all regions. All the versions of the name seem to derive from the Latin torrere (toasted). Modern packaging could derive from an Arab recipe which is prevalent in some parts of Islamic Spain known as turun, or also from aancient greek recipe. There is a similar production called cupedia or cupeto which was produced in ancient Rome and reported by Roman writers, due to their highly energetic characteristic, they were often used by athletes before competitions in Greece or by Roman soldiers during their military exploits.
The nougat is not the same in all regions because the raw material that composes it or the shape that is given to it to symbolize the city to which it belongs changes depending on the territory. It can be said from this point of view that there is also an Italy of the bell towers of Torrone. For example, In Lombardy the classic Cremona nougat takes its name from the masonry bell tower that dominates the Piazza del Duomo of the Lombard city. Legend has it that the name "nougat" was born in 1441 on the occasion of marriage between Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti, the Dukes of Milan. For the celebrations, the dessert was prepared, modeled precisely according to the shape of the Cremonese Torrazzo and since then it became one of the sweet symbols of the city given to the politicians of the time as a sign of welcome and to facilitate negotiations.
In Liguria we find the Turun also called Cubaita, an ancient nougat typical of the extreme western Liguria, an extremely simple dessert made with a mixture of hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts cooked in honey, enclosed between two thin round wafer wafers made with a little flour, water and egg white on on which the coats of arms and initials of noble families were imprinted in ancient times. Unfortunately, it is a nougat that is almost endangered. Its peculiarity is the total absence of sugar, not so much by choice but by necessity as in ancient times it was an ingredient that not everyone could afford. In Piedmont the one with the inevitable hazelnuts typical of the region is historic. Very original the one traditionally produced in Friuli-Venezia Giulia with pumpkin seeds, soft with a particular aftertaste.
Arriving In Umbria we meet the agricultural nougat based on almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts. From Tuscany instead both the nougat and the crunchy peanuts arrive, smaller, darker and with a particular taste. This nougat - underlines Coldiretti - is very important because it demonstrates how the national peanut supply chain represents enormous development potential also in the art of confectionery. The territory is also the protagonist of the original nougat from the Marche region with sour cherries, typical black cherries of the region very similar in appearance to cherries. In Abruzzo the use of honey is preferred for a notably soft nougat. In Lazio instead we find the nougat of Alvito, small in size with a hard or soft paste, covered with a wafer or chocolate tail. The basic ingredients are almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate, caramelized sugar, dark chocolate also with orange, honey, cinnamon, natural flavourings. In Molise instead we find a very particular nougat with blueberries.
Moving on to Southern Italy Calabria it is an undoubted protagonist with a real excellence which – as Coldiretti underlines – is de facto the first nougat with community protection and it is that of Bagnara Igp, considered among the best in the whole south, made with egg whites, particularly aromatic and sugar-rich Calabrian orange honey and almonds ensured by the proximity of Sicily, the island of the famous almond of Avola. From Campania instead arrive the famous nougat of San Marco dei Cavoti, municipality of Beneventano, very crunchy and covered with dark chocolate called, precisely, "crunchy of San Marco dei Cavoti but very curious and new is also the nougat all'Aglianico typical wine bell.
Characteristics in Basilicata they are the artisanal orange, lemon and chocolate nougat which are real works of art because they are in medium-large blocks that are particularly spectacular to bring to the festive tables. Moving in Sardinia we meet the Torrone d'Ogliastra with almonds and myrtle both in the soft and crunchy version, born mainly to spread and give value to the tradition of Sardinian pastry, with great regard for the famous nougat of Ogliastra, famous and renowned for its fragrance and the delicacy prepared exclusively with precious honey and without sugar, glucose or other types of sweeteners. As for the almonds, those from the Triei area are used, where the almond trees in bloom are a feature of the hilly landscape. The tour of Italy thus ends in Sicily where the nougats with Bronte pistachios but also with Avola almonds particularly requested by the high Italian pastry shop cannot be missing.
Having said that, you are spoiled for choice.
To go without fail, however, you need to go to Veneto, to be exact in the province of Venice, in Dolo, where the Scaldaferro almond is produced, typical Venetian almond, included in the register of typical agri-food products of the Veneto Region, and awarded for two consecutive times as the best nougat in Italy by "Il Gambero Rosso". An experience that leaves its mark. The Torronificio Scaldaferro has a long food tradition, which dates back to the early 1900s, when in Mira Porte (Venice) the great-grandfather Marco Scaldaferro opened a small pastry shop that produced focaccia, mustards, biscuits, wafers, candies and nougat.
Let's see in particular what the secrets of this nougat are and only after having learned them can we understand why it represents absolute excellence.
Let's start from the fact that Scaldaferro nougats are made with a very high percentage of honey and a quality that has no equal in the Italian market.
The company works, selects and uses i best monofloral Italian honeys, such as salt honey from Barena, Sicilian orange honey, Calabrian rosemary honey, Sicilian medlar honey, Apulian cherry honey, Sicilian almond honey, Tuscan coriander honey, Sulla honey from Abruzzo, Sardinian strawberry tree honey.
In short, almost all the regions and the excellence of Italian beekeeping are represented there! And this also applies to other raw materials. For the production of the Scaldaferro Mandorlato, ovoid-shaped Italian almonds are used, a variety without bitterness, with a soft and crumbly consistency on the outside and harder and crunchy on the inside, and with a sweet flavour. The almonds, harvested in the second ten days of August, are peeled and subjected to a triple calibration to arrive at a size that allows a homogeneous hot roasting. Depending on the honey used in the dough, “robuste” almonds are used, i.e. very tasty and rich in oil, or almonds with a delicate and velvety flavour.
It is used for the Hazelnut Nougat rosemary honey and three-lobed hazelnuts from the Langhe, a PGI product that stands out from other varieties due to its high oil content (about 70%), proves to be a valuable and quality food, able to meet the needs of a consumer who is increasingly attentive to nutritional and health aspects thanks to the contribution of antioxidant agents guaranteed by hazelnuts.
Finally, for the nougat with walnuts, they are selected exclusively the walnuts Lara of Adria in Polesine, which have the genetic peculiarity of having an internal hull completely separated from the external shell. Which is of no small importance because the walnut does not come into contact with the air and is protected from natural rancidity. The Lara nut also has a fleshy kernel with a reduced percentage of fat. As soon as it is harvested, it is frozen at 40° below zero and vacuum-packed to preserve its organoleptic qualities characterized by a high content of minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron, which tone the nervous system and strengthen the bones , while their essential oil is a powerful disinfectant and antiseptic. Once toasted, it is mixed during cooking with Sulla honey from Abruzzo, which has hints of red fruits and undergrowth.
As for the processing, one of the secrets of Scaldaferro nougat is slow cooking in a bain-marie, not found in industrial nougats, which makes the product crumbly and unmistakable, as it is whipped "to foam" in characteristic flakes and slightly amber in color.
Honey and sugar are poured into ancient copper pots equipped with a mechanical arm that stirs tirelessly for more than eight hours the dough, which during mixing is cooked in a "bain-marie". This cooking method is particularly suitable for foods that suffer exposure to intense heat, since it is easy to control the temperature thanks to the possibility of opening and closing the steam that feeds the pans. In this way it is possible to preserve the properties of the ingredients unaltered. During this process, honey and sugar lose most of their water. At this point the egg white is poured in which, in contact with the hot dough, swells with air and incorporates it inside, making the honey and sugar soft.
The most sensitive moment is the next agoif of the mount. The egg white is mainly made up of water and proteins, which can be imagined as very small balls of wool, separated from each other. Beginning to beat the albumen, due to the mechanical effect, some "balls" begin to "unroll": in this way an ever increasing number of protein molecules denature, being incorporated in the air. The coagulation process begins: the proteins unite in an irregular lattice which "imprisons" the water, which in turn captures the air bubbles. The more the egg white is beaten, the tighter this lattice becomes. However, particular attention must be paid: if too many bonds are formed, too much water will escape, causing the albumen to disassemble. Essentially, the beating or whipping of eggs results in the incorporation of air bubbles in the liquid ingredients, with the formation of a soft foam. As the whipping action proceeds, the structure of the foam changes. The trapped air bubbles decrease in size and increase in number, making the foam lighter and stiffer.
Finally, hand laying is still the secret to making Scaldaferro nougat so crumbly: instead of being mechanically pressed, rolled or stretched, each stick is placed piece by piece on a wafer bed, without the addition of colourings, preservatives or chemical additives.
In short, there is an astonishing and complex world, and little known to most, behind a carton of nougat and even more when it comes to Scaldaferro nougat.
And to amaze you even more, we also offer you the recipe for spaghetti with nougat. Seeing is believing:
The recipe for spicy spaghetti with nougat
Ingredients (for 4 people) • 75 g of nougat with walnuts and Sulla Scaldaferro • 1 tablespoon of anchovy paste • ½ chilli pepper • 1 sprig of parsley • extra virgin olive oil • 300 g of spaghetti • salt and pepper
Method
Cook the spaghetti in a pot with plenty of salted water. Meanwhile, with the aid of a mixer, reduce the nougat into small pieces and arrange it on a plate. Add 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste, the chopped chilli pepper, the chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. Then mix everything carefully. Pour six tablespoons of oil into a small pan and put it on the fire. As soon as the oil is hot, add the previously prepared mixture and mix quickly. When the spaghetti is al dente, drain it and dress it with this sauce.
