Turrón
Turrón (Spanish), torró (Catalan), or torrone (Italian) is a nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. Nowadays it is mostly consumed as a traditional dessert for Christmas in Italy and Spain.
Recipe
The 16th-century Manual de Mujeres (a handbook of recipes for cosmetics and some foodstuffs) has what is probably the oldest extant Spanish turron recipe (also available in English). It calls for honey and some egg whites, cooked until it becomes breakable once cooled. Once the honey is caramelized the recipe suggests adding pine nuts, almonds or hazelnuts, peeled and roasted. The mix is then cooked a bit further, and finally removed from the heat and cut into slices.
History
Nougats in different forms have existed in the Mediterranean region since Roman times. Turrón is definitely known since at least the 15th century in the city of Jijona (formerly Sexona, or Xixona in Valencian), north of Alicante. Turrón is now commonly consumed in most of Spain, some countries of Latin America, and in Roussillon (France). The similar Torrone is typical of Bagnara, Taurianova and Cremona in Italy. There are similar confections made in the Philippines, a notable example being Turones de Pili, made using the native Pili nut.
Variations are found throughout the Mediterranean basin.
Types
Turrón may be roughly classified as:
- Hard (the Alicante variety): A compact block of whole almonds in a brittle mass of eggs, honey and sugar.
- Soft (the Jijona variety): Similar but the almonds are reduced to a paste. The addition of oil makes the matrix more chewy and sticky.
The quality of the product is determined by the quantity of almond in the mix. Genuine Jijona turrón must contain 64% almonds, the Alicante version 60% almonds. Apart from the traditional Alicante and Jijona varieties, one also finds torró d'Agramunt near Lleida, torró de Casinos and torró de gat, a variety from Cullera made with popcorn and honey, both from near Valencia.
There are many variations on this product. Marzipan (mazapán) with candied fruits, and yema (egg yolk and sugar) are the most well-known, but in recent years there has been a great diversification and nowadays it is possible to find a great variety of flavours: chocolate with puffed rice or whole almonds; all kinds of chocolate pralines, with or without liquor, candied fruits or whole nuts; fruit pralines; and even sugarless variations (sweetened with fructose or artificial sweeteners).