Jottings from the journals…

Nougat aux fruits des bois

… and I'm mostly in sweet shops today as I've been mapping nougat…

If you talk to a French confiseur about nougat and its origins he will say that this fabulous sweetmeat is French. Of course he will!  Chat to an Italian or a Spaniard who works in the same field and, naturally, they will also claim original ownership of nougat. When such confusion abounds - I just have to check it out, don't I?

So, spinning back a few years and checking my travel journals, I came across my notes from my wandering through France to the Ardèche.  I distinctly remember straying into the next-door département of Drôme for the sole purpose of visiting the city of Montélimar to get some 'totally authentic nougat'.  My thinking at the time was that the stuff we could buy in England could not possibly be as good as the real thing…

'… I'm here in the old heart of Montélimar.  It seems that the whole of the city centre is under construction.  Everywhere I go there are men at work signs, pavements that are in progress and, whole sections of roadways that are yet to be finished.  It hasn't stopped me discovering the oldest nougat shop in town, though!

From the research I did before I left, I know that there are two kinds of nougat : nougat blanc and nougat noir.  White nougat is what I'm after.  It's the scrumptious sweet that is made with honey, whipped egg whites and nuts and sometimes candied fruit, too.  This is also referred to as Persian nougat.  Black nougat is made without the egg whites and has a much denser and heavier consistency.  It only takes a guess to understand that Persian nougat (nougat blanc) is called that because Persia, the middle east, or an area close by, is where this sweet really originates.

The earliest records of nougat date back to a book from the 10th century in Baghdad.  There are later references in Spanish documents from the 15th century with the earliest published recipe appearing in the 16th century in Spain.  The earliest French records for nougat date from the 18th century.  And here in Montélimar, Arnaud-Soubeyran has been producing nougat since 1837.  The shop is also a museum.  In addition, both black and white nougat form one of the thirteen desserts of Provence - a sweet extravaganza that is served at Christmas.  Can't wait to taste one of these gorgeous little chunks of scrumptiousness…'

Market day, Villefranche-de-Rouergue

I seem to recall that the nougat lasted about two days.  Some years later when I was Villefranche-de-Rouergue, I happened upon a nougat seller by the cathedral on market day. According to him nougat could last 6 minutes, 6 hours, 6 days, 6 weeks or 6 months.  He went on to guess that the slice he had just cut for me would last for only 6 days.  He was clearly lining up a sale for the following Thursday!

 

And where is the best ever nougat to be found?  Montélimar or Villefranche-de-Rouergue.  It says so on my map!