Talk:Nougat

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[edit] Nougat in Antiquity?

User:81.242.243.90 added:

The first appearance of nougat was described in the "Istoria Naturalis" by
Plinius the Old. As for him it was in Augusta Taurinorum, the current Turin.

Pliny the Elder's Natural History is quite large, and difficult to search, but the only reference I was able to find to Augusta Taurinorum `in the NH is a passing reference that says nothng about confectionery:

oppida Vibi Forum, Segusio, coloniae ab Alpium radicibus Augusta Taurinorum - 
inde navigabili Pado - antiqua Ligurum stirpe...

I suspect that the idea that nougat was mentioned by Pliny is merely a folk etymology for turrón. If I am wrong, please do correct me.

For what it's worth, a mixture similar to nougat is described in the Dipnosophistæ of Athenaeus, in the recipe for "gastris."

...ἐν Κρήτῃ δέ, φησίν, πλα κουντάριον ποιοῦσιν, ὅπερ ὀνομάζουσι γάστριν. γίνεται δὲ οὕτως· κάρυα Θάσια καὶ Ποντικὰ καὶ ἀμύγδαλα, ἔτι δὲ μήκων, ἃ [ὃν] φρύξας θεράπευσον καλῶς καὶ εἰς θυίαν καθαρὰν τρῖψον ἐπιμελῶς· συμμίξας τε τὴν ὀπώραν μάλαξον μέλιτι ἡψημένῳ, προσβαλὼν πέπερι πλέον καὶ μάλαξον· γίνεται δὲ μέλαν διὰ τὴν μήκωνα. δια πλατύνας ποίησον τετράγωνον. εἶτα σήσαμον λευκὸν τρίψας μάλαξον μέλιτι ἡψημένῳ καὶ ἕλκυσον λαγάνια δύο καὶ ἓν θὲς ὑποκάτω καὶ τὸ ἄλλο ἐπάνω, ἵνα τὸ μέλαν εἰς μέσον γένηται, εὖ ῥύθμισόν τε αὐτό.’ ταῦτα καὶ ὁ σοφὸς πεμματολόγος Χρύσιππος.
'But in Crete, they say, they make a type of biscuit called "gastris." Here's how it's made: roast Thasian nuts (i.e. sweet almonds) and Pontic nuts (i.e. hazelnuts), and almonds (i.e. bitter almonds), also poppy, watching them attentively, and pound them carefully in a clean mortar. Mix together these nuts, then knead with boiled honey, add plenty of pepper and knead it it; it turns black from the poppy. Spread it out into a square. Then grind white sesame and knead it with boiled honey, and draw it out into two wafers, then put one on top and the other on the bottom so that the black mixture will be in the middle, and cut it up nicely.' So says the wise cake-ologist Chrysippus.
-Dipnosophistae 14:57

--Iustinus 18:45, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Latin

The "nougat" name originates from the Latin "nux gatum", "cooked with nuts". Source: Finnish Wikipedia - can this be verified elsewhere? --Janke | Talk 07:05, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

No. It looks like a distortion of "'nucatum', 'made from nuts'", which would be more accurate. The full story is that in Classical Latin the word nucatum never occurs, rather it's a back-formation from provençal nougat. --Iustinus 07:50, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merger with turrón/torrone/torró

Nougat is known as turrón in Spanish, torrone in Italian, and torró in Català. There are of course variations in the details of the recipe and of habits surrounding this food in various regions, but as Alan Davidson says in The Oxford Companion to Food:

Italian torrone and Spanish turrón are, essentially, other forms of nougat.

I was reminded of this identity because I just had a taste of Sicilian torrone this week, and last week, a taste of Montelimar nougat. Sticky teeth.

So I recommend that we

  • Merge --Macrakis 22:18, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
  • Merge --ProfMoriarty 20:27, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
  • (Don't Merge) Do NOT merge turron and nouget. It would be muy malo!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.63.43.49 (talk • contribs) 11:48, 25 April 2006
    • Could you please explain your reasoning? As far as I can tell, turrón is simply the Spanish word for nougat. The English-language WP always prefers to use English names for things if they exist. --Macrakis 21:44, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Torrone is more often of a hard variety (although soft varieties do exist), which nougat is not (nougat is predominantly soft). There are also ingredient differences, classic Nougat de Montelimar containing Almonds and Pistachios, while Torrone usually contains Almonds with Hazelnuts, plus candied orange or lemon peel. The two are related, but not the same.

  • Don't Merge -- Turrón in Spain also can be chocolate with puffed rice in it which is definitely not nougat. If you go to a spanish supermarket near Christmas you will see that there are many different varieties and flavours, including toasted yolk! Rosa.blaus 14:57:03, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Don't Merge -- The consistencies, preparation and consumption of turrón do not emulate those of nougat. In Spain, turrón is synonymous with almost every Christmas candy and is generally consumed at this time and at no other, elevating the candy to a cultural icon. To merge it with nougat would not only simplify it's existence as a food, but also demean it's cultural value. (unsigned comment by User:66.152.212.201 2006-06-05 18:28:21)
  • Don't Merge -- Turrón refers to a very precised cultural tradition: it's a sweet or a class of sweets (there are several different varieties) eaten traditionnally at Christmas, and made in the small town of Jijona, in the southeast of Spain. Turrón is not the spanish name for nougat, but a word referring to this food. --Rodriguillo 22:52, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
    • Comment I can't say I have a strong oppinion one way or the other, but if what you are saying is true, then what is the Spanish name for nougat? So far as I can tell (and my knowledge of this subject is not exactly vast) turrón is it. --Iustinus 04:54, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] From the article

Someone wrote, "The picture (right) is not the typical nougat, made with egg-white and nuts. It appears to be the German-style Schmelz-Schokolade. A better, more typical, picture is needed." Tom Harrison Talk 19:50, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

I completely agree. I see no reason to keep this picture, which appears to show some kind of praline. The picture is now removed. I will look to find a replacement. [[user:jimjamjak]] (talk) 14:00, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Clarity Issues

I found some issues with the clarity of this article. I came here because I don't know what nougat is, so I can't fix these problems myself.

Australian nougat is produced by a similar method to French nougat but usually has a 50% almond content and no pistachios, although it can contain Macadamia nuts, apricots, or other texture modifiers.

The article never says what French nougat is like, so comparing Australian nougat to French nougat isn't useful. Spanish and Italian nougats are discussed, but not French.

The making of Nogha is very much the same as any other Gaz. The difference is that Nogha is usually spread between two very thin layers of wafers & cut into 10x5x5 cm cubes which are larger than ordinary Gaz cubes.

Again, this is referencing something that isn't explained in the article. How is other Gaz made? There's a list of ingredients but no real explanation. Also, anything that's 10x5x5 isn't a cube. That might be nitpicking too much though.

There are two types of African nougat, or, 'nougati', ranged from the white (kurtzati) to a black (baxtiti), mainly consistent of fruits rather than pistachios or other nuts. The higher fruit-to-nut ratio can be most prominent in the brown (simchati) nougat variety. Nougat that is fruit-filled is considered to be most desirable in Africa.

It mentions that there are exactly two types of African nougat, then goes onto use the word "ranged" which suggests multiple types in between the white and black nougats. It even mentions a third one with it's own name so it seems that there must be at least three.

I wish I knew enough to fix these myself, but I am clueless about this confectionery item. :) Hopefully someone else can step in and make it a little clearer.

76.243.92.2 (talk) 21:38, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Iranian pistachio based nougat introduction

Hi, I try to add this link in Nougat article to introduce persian sweetmeal Gaz more: http://www.nougaz.com/default.cfm?IDDR=1&IDLA=1&IDSE=2&IDSS=9 but i couldn't add due to advertisment and spam alert from moderator!—Preceding unsigned comment added by Hadins (talk • contribs) 12:27, 18 April 2008

You were actually linking to the main page of a confectionery retailer, rather than a specific URL. Links to commercial sites are discouraged under WP:EL ("Links to sites that primarily exist to sell products or services").
The URL you mention in your comment is more useful, but it still fails WP:EL for being a site "that does not provide a unique resource beyond what the article would contain if it became a Featured article". If it provides any information about nougat which is not already present in the article (although I'm not sure that it does), we should simply add that information to the article, rather than linking to a commercial site. --McGeddon (talk) 12:32, 18 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] No peanuts?

What about Damascus "Traditional French Nougat" bars? They contain peanuts. Who's in the wrong here? — TooLazyToLogin —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.57.136.187 (talk) 12:42, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

It could be that there are some common varieties of nougat that have peanuts, but the example you give here does not seem to be a common variety of nougat. A google search for Damascus and "Traditional French Nougat" came up with only 8 results, all South African. So I would be skeptical that "traditional french nougat" is an accurate description of the product. Also, in none of the results did they actually mention peanuts, though that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't have peanuts. If a more famous, internationally-known version of nougat (not nougat candy bar, but straight nougat) includes peanuts, then it would be a good idea to change the wording from "but not peanuts" to "but usually not peanuts" or "but rarely peanuts". Or better yet, if a reliable source describes nougat as having peanuts sometimes. -kotra (talk) 17:49, 30 May 2008 (UTC)