Torrone, Turron, Nougat: Whatever You Call It, It's Sweet!

I've been eating my way to Christmas Eve, one tasty treat at a time. Cultures around the world celebrate the holidays with a wide assortment of sweets, and I like to try them all. Marrons glacés from France. Panforte, panettone, and pandoro from Italy. Lebkuchen from Germany.

One of my favorite holiday confections is made of honey, sugar, egg whites, and nuts, and is enjoyed all over Europe. In Italy it's known as torrone. In Spain it's called turron. And in France it's nougat. 

Torrone, turron, or nougat can be soft and chewy or hard and crunchy. Sometimes it's flavored with orange or lemon or vanilla (as here), or dipped in chocolate.

If you're a fan of 3 Musketeers bars, you've tasted an American version of nougat, made with cocoa powder and corn syrup. If you enjoy a Swiss Toblerone, you're eating bits of nougat in milk chocolate. But if you love nougat like I do, you love it in all its incarnations, whatever it's called, and you eat it in quantity, especially at Christmastime.

--Tracy Schneider