Video: Torroporn: how to make D.Barbero hazelnut nougat
2024 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 12:26
The invention of nougat is disputed between Spain, France and Italy, but only with us does the dessert that implies Christmas boasts a parallel universe of interpretations, an indelible sign of our regional tradition. The list is long, the Sicilian nougats, the many from Campania especially in the province of Benevento, the Sardinian one made with only eucalyptus honey, strawberry trees and walnuts, to get to the Piedmontese, initially an alter ego of the highly sought-after Cremona nougat, with hazelnuts al instead of almonds.
To show you how nougat is made, we are at D. Barbero of Asti, which since 1883 has been producing chocolate and splendid artisan nougats with the same recipe and processing, as documented by the beautiful museum of vintage machinery (above a grinding wheel).
The Asti nougat, exclusively of the crumbly type, it is done with many Piedmont IGP hazelnuts (they reach 51% of the total) e wildflower honey coming from farms in the preapennine area, with a high percentage of acacia honey.
We start by putting the ingredients in the nougat boxes, first honey, then sugar, a small amount of glucose, fresh egg white, and finally natural vanilla. This mixture gives life to the "white" of the nougat, which represents 49% of the total.
The dough is cooked in copper nougat boxes built here in the 1960s, which heat the ingredients through a steam bath in the cavity. It is a slow process that takes at least 7 hours but allows you not to burn the aromas while preserving their flavor.
In the meantime they are peeled and selected hazelnuts, one by one to check the quality, and then they are roasted in the toasters, also these built around 1960 directly in the production workshop.
Once the dough is cooked to the right point, it is time for IGP Piedmont hazelnuts which represent the remaining 51% of the traditional recipe. Instead the Soft nougat it is obtained by cooking the dough for less time. This is the real difference from hard or crumbly, which is why it can also be done relatively easily by pastry chefs.
In other laboratories, nougat makers are used that are able to cook in a shorter time because in the dough, instead of the traditional egg white, it's used gelatin.
Gelatine is a less valuable product and therefore cheaper, even if, as we have seen, it allows quick cooking and the possibility of obtaining nougats that are better preserved outdoors, think of those on the stalls of fairs. It is no coincidence that egg white is a hygroscopic food, meaning it absorbs water and therefore moisture, to the point that the nougat, if not stored correctly, can even melt.
The cooked nougat, extracted with a shovel from the nougat makers, is processed entirely by hand since only manual pressure allows small air bubbles to be left inside, which are essential to obtain the classic structure of the Asti nougat. crumbly, not hard.
The dough ends up on a marble table to be dusted with corn starch so that it does not stick, then it is placed in the appropriate beech molds. Why beech? Because wood is a natural insulator, ideal for crumbly nougat which must cool slowly and then be cut and processed at the right temperature.
The characteristic host is fixed, which does not allow the dough to adhere to the edges of the drawers. Cooled to the correct temperature, the nougat is cut into formats suitable for sale, such as torronfette, the flagship product of D. Barbero.
But what are the tricks to recognize a good nougat?
1. Check the amount of dried fruit (hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios) which must be the first ingredient on the list. The higher the quantity, the higher the quality of the nougat.
2. Check that the second ingredient indicated on the label is the honey and not sugar.
3. In the Piedmontese nougat the egg white it is preferable to food gelatin.
As we have seen, the classic nougat of Asti is made with hazelnuts, wildflower honey and high percentages of acacia, but there is a grand cru line in which pistachios and almonds are used with particular single origin honeys. The maximum is the hazelnut grand cru: acaia honey from the Masio (AL) area combined with hazelnuts from Mombercelli (AT) here at 55% of the total, the limit beyond which the nougat blades would break.
Finally an indiscretion: also Grom he came back to buy nougat for his ice creams here. The famous chain of ice cream shops that started in Turin and is now widespread in much of the world required a customized production made with Sulla honey, without adding glucose.
Barbero Davide - chocolate and nougat shop
Via Brofferio 84
Asti
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