Turrón

The story

Turrón, a nougat of almonds and honey, owes its origins to the Arabs and Berbers who, ruling large parts of the Iberian Peninsula around the year 1000, brought to Spain a tradition of confections based on honey and almonds—a cultural exchange that shaped the early recipes, even though the oldest surviving written recipes for turrón appear only in the late 15th and the 16th century. Today there are two main, almost rival varieties: the hard turrón de Alicante, with whole almonds visible in a firm, nearly translucent mass, and the soft turrón de Jijona, made from finely ground almonds, with a tender, chewy texture. Since 1996 both have carried the European Union's protected geographical indication, which means that production and packaging must take place in the Jijona area of the province of Alicante. Because of the precise technique of cooking honey and sugar to an exact temperature, turrón today is bought almost exclusively from specialized producers, and is rarely made at home from scratch. It is the main Christmas sweet throughout Spain, brought out after dinner on Christmas Eve and kept on the table until Three Kings' Day.