Torrone (nougat) is a big thing in our house at this time of year. When I was a child we would all fight over the torrone morbido – soft torrone – covered in chocolate. Even though the chocolate used wasn’t very good quality it was still highly covetable. We’d leave the regular weapons-grade torrone to the elders who still had teeth, or thought they did.
A few years ago I rediscovered pan torrone, which is a chocolate- covered softish nougat with a middle strata of booze-soaked sponge. (Don’t confuse this with panforte, which is something completely different.)
You can pick up all of these in an Italian supermarket for a few euros, but I’ve not been able to find a reliable source of pan torrone here in the UK, although do check your local Italian deli.
However, what I have found for you is, if you like nougat and you like chocolate, pretty unbeatable. A few months ago I mentioned the exceptional Pralus Barre Infernale range. At the back of my mind I remembered seeing the nougat version, but at nearly £16 a pop it seemed too much to spend on myself. On a recent trip to Paris, blinded by the glory of the Bonmarché food hall, I may have bought myself a bar.
What can I tell you? If I could swear, I would. Everything about this hunk of a bar is perfect, from the thickness of the chocolate to the glorious nougat, rich with honey, almonds and pistachios. It’s not a chocolate-covered torrone in the Italian sense. It’s so much better. Unfortunately, this is readily available in the UK.
