Turrón
Encyclopedia
Turrón torró (tuˈro toˈro), or torrone (torˈrone), or nougat
is a confection, typically made of honey
, sugar, and egg white
, with toasted almond
s or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is frequently consumed as a traditional Christmas dessert in Spain and Italy. There are also some varieties in Latin America and the Philippines
. In other countries it often appears, sometimes chocolate-coated, in a mixed box of chocolates.
Turrón or Torró has been known at least since the 15th century in the city of Jijona/Xixona (formerly Sexona), north of Alicante
. The similar Torrone is typical of Bagnara, Taurianova
, Benevento
and Cremona
in Italy. Turrón is commonly consumed in most of Spain, some countries of Latin America, and in Roussillon
(France). There are similar confections made in the Philippines.
Variations are found throughout the Mediterranean basin.
s, with or without liquor, candied fruits or whole nuts; fruit pralines; and even sugarless variations (sweetened with fructose
or artificial sweeteners
).
This variation in ingredients and resulting dryness reflects a continuum that exists also in amaretto (almond flavored) cookies, from a meringue
to a macaroon
.
Other varieties include Torró d'Agramunt
from near Lleida
and torró de Casinos
.
In Peruvian cuisine
turrón generally is soft and may be flavored with anise
.
, Lombardy
, range widely in texture (morbido, soft and chewy, to duro, hard and brittle) and in flavor (with various citrus flavorings, vanilla
, etc., added to the nougat) and may contain whole hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios or only have nut meal added to the nougat. Some commercial versions are dipped in chocolate. The popular recipes have varied with time and differ from one region to the next. Torrone di Benevento from Benevento
, Campania
, sometimes goes by the historic name Cupedia, which signifies the crumbly version made with hazelnuts. The softer version is made with almonds. Although originally resembling sticky paste, it now differs only marginally from the varieties of Torrone di Cremona. Abruzzo, Sicily and Sardinia also have local versions that may be slightly distinct from the two main denominations from Lombardy and Campania.
of Pampanga
in the Philippines is a derivative. It is a bar of marzipan
made with cashew nuts, and wrapped in white wafer. It is, however, not associated with any particular holiday season. Another example is turrones de pili, made using the native pili nut
.
Perhaps unrelated is the turrón
de banana, which are sliced plantains dipped in brown sugar
, wrapped in spring roll wrappers and deep-fried.
. It is called Turecký med (literally "Turkish honey").
under EU law include:
Others, such as Torrone di Cremona (Italy) have protected status by (but not limited to) the country that produces it.
Nougat
Nougat is a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar and/or honey, roasted nuts , and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from soft and chewy to hard and crunchy depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and...
is a confection, typically made of honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, sugar, and egg white
Egg white
Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around either fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks...
, with toasted almond
Almond
The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is frequently consumed as a traditional Christmas dessert in Spain and Italy. There are also some varieties in Latin America and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. In other countries it often appears, sometimes chocolate-coated, in a mixed box of chocolates.
Recipe
The 16th-century Manual de Mujeres ("Women's Handbook"), a handbook of recipes for cosmetics and some foodstuffs, has what is probably the oldest extant Spanish turrón recipe. 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
All versions of the name appear to have been derived from Latin torrere (to toast). The actual confection might have been derived from the cuisine of Iberian Muslims during the Christian conquest of Spain, as they had a similar dessert named turun. One may also point to a similar confection named cupedia or cupeto that was marketed in Ancient Rome and noted by Roman poets.Turrón or Torró has been known at least since the 15th century in the city of Jijona/Xixona (formerly Sexona), north of Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
. The similar Torrone is typical of Bagnara, Taurianova
Taurianova
Taurianova is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 80 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 40 km northeast of Reggio Calabria...
, Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
and Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
in Italy. Turrón is commonly consumed in most of Spain, some countries of Latin America, and in Roussillon
Roussillon
Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
(France). There are similar confections made in the Philippines.
Variations are found throughout the Mediterranean basin.
Types
Turrón itself can take on a variety of consistencies and appearances, however they traditionally consisted of the same ingredients; the final product may be either hard and crunchy, or soft and chewy. Thirty years ago almost all turrón recipes followed the same specifications, but since the diversification of products there are currently dozens of varieties: chocolate with puffed rice or whole almonds; all kinds of chocolate pralinePraline
Praline is a family of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup.-Europe:As originally inspired in France at the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte by the cook of the 17th-century sugar industrialist Marshal du Plessis-Praslin , early pralines were whole almonds individually coated in caramelized sugar,...
s, with or without liquor, candied fruits or whole nuts; fruit pralines; and even sugarless variations (sweetened with fructose
Fructose
Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide found in many plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. Fructose was discovered by French chemist Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut in 1847...
or artificial sweeteners
Sugar substitute
A sugar substitute is a food additive that duplicates the effect of sugar in taste, usually with less food energy. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, called artificial sweeteners....
).
Spanish turrón
Spanish 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; 60% almonds.
- Soft (the Xixona variety): Similar but the almonds are reduced to a paste. The addition of oil makes the matrix more chewy and sticky; 64% almonds.
This variation in ingredients and resulting dryness reflects a continuum that exists also in amaretto (almond flavored) cookies, from a meringue
Meringue
Meringue is a type of dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar, occasionally some recipes may call for adding an acid such as cream of tartar or a small amount of vinegar and a binding agent such as cornstarch found in icing sugar which may be added in addition to the corn starch which...
to a macaroon
Macaroon
A macaroon is a type of light, baked confection, described as either small cakes or meringue-like cookies depending on their consistency. The original macaroon was a "small sweet cake consisting largely of ground almonds" similar to Italian or Moroccan amaretti.The English word macaroon and French...
.
Other varieties include Torró d'Agramunt
Agramunt
Agramunt is a municipality in the comarca of the Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the north of the comarca, near the border with the Noguera....
from near Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
and torró de Casinos
Casinos, Valencia
Casinos is a municipality in the comarca of Camp de Túria in the Valencian Community, Spain.- Dragées and Spanish Nougat :Casinos is a village with a former tradition of production of Sugared almonds, dragées and Spanish Nougat, Turrón, Torró de Casinos.- See too :*Sugared almonds*Valencian...
.
In Peruvian cuisine
Peruvian cuisine
Peruvian cuisine reflects local cooking practices and ingredients—and, through immigration, influences from Spain, China, Italy, West Africa, and Japan. Due to a lack of ingredients from their home countries, immigrants to Peru modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients...
turrón generally is soft and may be flavored with anise
Anise
Anise , Pimpinella anisum, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor resembles that of liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :...
.
Italian torrone
Torrone is a traditional winter and Christmas confection in Italy and many varieties exist. Traditional versions from CremonaCremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, range widely in texture (morbido, soft and chewy, to duro, hard and brittle) and in flavor (with various citrus flavorings, vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
, etc., added to the nougat) and may contain whole hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios or only have nut meal added to the nougat. Some commercial versions are dipped in chocolate. The popular recipes have varied with time and differ from one region to the next. Torrone di Benevento from Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
, Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, sometimes goes by the historic name Cupedia, which signifies the crumbly version made with hazelnuts. The softer version is made with almonds. Although originally resembling sticky paste, it now differs only marginally from the varieties of Torrone di Cremona. Abruzzo, Sicily and Sardinia also have local versions that may be slightly distinct from the two main denominations from Lombardy and Campania.
Philippines
Turrones de casuy, produced in the provinceProvinces of the Philippines
The Provinces of the Philippines are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 80 provinces at present, further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are autonomous from any provincial...
of Pampanga
Pampanga
Pampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...
in the Philippines is a derivative. It is a bar of marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
made with cashew nuts, and wrapped in white wafer. It is, however, not associated with any particular holiday season. Another example is turrones de pili, made using the native pili nut
Pili nut
Canarium ovatum, commonly known as the pili nut , is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. Pili are native to maritime Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea, and Northern Australia...
.
Perhaps unrelated is the turrón
Turrón (Filipino cuisine)
Turon , also known as Banana Lumpia, is a Philippine snack made of thinly sliced bananas and a slice of jackfruit, dusted with brown sugar, rolled in spring roll wrapper and fried...
de banana, which are sliced plantains dipped in brown sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
, wrapped in spring roll wrappers and deep-fried.
Czech candy
A confectionery similar to the hard variety of the Spanish turrón and Italian torrone is produced in the Czech RepublicCzech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. It is called Turecký med (literally "Turkish honey").
Protected status
Various types of Turrón/Torrone that have Protected Geographical StatusProtected Geographical Status
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...
under EU law include:
- Xixona (PGI) (Valencian CommunityValencian CommunityThe Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
)EU Profile - Xixona (07/06/2009) - Torró d'Alacant (PGI) (Valencian Community)
- Torró d'Agramunt (PGI) (Valencian Community)
Others, such as Torrone di Cremona (Italy) have protected status by (but not limited to) the country that produces it.