Nougat or not nougat, that is the question – what is the origin of the chewing confection and is the best one Italian or French?
The most common, the white nougat – made with beaten egg whites and honey – originated in Italy, in the early 15th century. According to a legend the confectionery was made for the first time for a wedding fest in Cremona in 1441 and had the shape of the city’s bell tower. And from there the name Torrone after the tower’s name – Torrazzo.
Though there is another version that similar to nougat confection was a traditional product of nowadays Beneveto region and was described by Latin authors under the name cupedia as early as 1st century.
And, logically, the first written reference to nougat, along with the first recipe in the English language come from 1827, The Italian Confectioner Guglielmo A. Jarrin and his Complete economy of desserts: “Cake Nogat, This nougat may be made in molds, or square pieces.”
Though a similar to nougat dessert was known to the Greeks since 9th century and wherever one travels though Italy would find many different varieties of it, it was the French chewing candy that won the world.
It is believed the in the beginning of 17th century, the sugar-nuts Oriental desert Halwa / Halva was imported to Marseille and the region started producing its own variety of it, consisting of mainly sugar and walnuts and called nux gatum (walnut cake).
At the beginning of 18th century, the walnuts were replaced by almonds, which production was wide-spreading across Italy, and the French nougat was born to conquer the world.
