A sweet journey through the artisan nougat of Aragon
we tour the three Aragonese provinces in search of one of the most Christmas products that exist: the nougat. Hard, soft, yolk nougat...chocolate! The old classics and the new ones. All of them tremendously seasonal.
And to the guirlache, dear ones, we will open our own chapter, because it is not in vain that it is considered and l “Nougat from Aragon”.
We find **a lot of artisan nougat tradition throughout Aragón**, a region full of century-old pastry shops or almost. We have the ** Confectionery Echeto **, from Jaca ( Huesca ); the ** Alejos Bakery **, from Alcañiz; or ** Belenguer **, from Alcorisa, both in Teruel, which tell a story of a century of sweets and nougat within its walls. And many others that we will mention in the following lines, as we are going to review some of the best nougats that sweeten Christmas in Aragon.
Juan's nougat
**LET'S CALL IT 'JAN'S NOUGAT' FROM TOLOSANA (HUESCA) **
It is one of the best-selling nougat from this prestigious Zaragoza pastry shop. And what is this curious name? "Juan is a pastry chef friend of the house who gave us the recipe for this nougat" , its owner tells us. "So we decided that the nougat would be named after its author."
Juan's Nougat is made with u n toasted hazelnut and almond praline, cinnamon, natural vanilla and cocoa butter. These ingredients are mixed slowly and gently to achieve its delicate texture.
The following specialties accompany Juan's Nougat in the 'Five Stars of Nougat' ranking: crunchy nougat, Pine Nut Bread, black and white nougat (coffee) and Orange Cream with Praline.
MANUEL SEGURA'S SNOW NOUGAT **(ZARAGOZA) **
“It is white as snow” sources from the Segura family tell us. The snow nougat of this very veteran pastry shop is made with **the same ingredients that a meringue has (egg white and sugar)**, in this case bathing the toasted hazelnuts. is served between two wafers.
Chocolate praline with kikos truffle
Since its foundation in 1874 Guirlache and marzipan have been made in this Daroca pastry shop (Zaragoza) where today an appetizing assortment of nougats is offered, from the most classic toasted yolk, for example, to some more innovative ones such as peach.
** NOUGATS FROM THE BENABARRE CHOCOLATE STORE (HUESCA) **
Sometimes the clientele wants novelties and here the case has been observed. In bresco , for three years they have been making a chocolate nougat with corn (kikos) that has become the most popular. A chocolate praline with truffled kikos finished with a shower of Maldon salt flakes . Sweet and salty at the same time.
Their round bar shape it is also characteristic: "It is better served in nougat dishes!", they tell us in Benabarre.
Dark chocolate, toasted yolk and up to fourteen more nougat specialties coexist in this extremely busy chocolate shop in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
**THE TRUFFLES IN NOUGATS MARQUESÁN (TERUEL) **
From the Marquesán range in Híjar (Teruel) we are left with the truffle nougats, That's what they call those who have the heart of chocolate and cream with marzipan edges.
the of white truffle, made with White chocolate, It is one of the most liked. They have no other secret than that of use top-quality ingredients," Pascual Marquesán tells us when we ask him about the success of his truffle nougat.
The famous truffle nougat
They have always made shipments of their nougat to all of Spain and for a few years they have had a pop-up nougat shop that opens only in December in Madrid in the neighborhood of Prosperidad _(Calle Eugenio Salazar, 47) _.
** RED NOUGAT IN ASCASO ** **(HUESCA) **
Several nougats catch our attention at the Ascaso Huesca counter, both for their appearance and for their suggestive names: Yann, Camelia, Damasco and Dulcey. And in all of them the Marcona almonds of caliber s/16 , scarce and capable of giving the nougat a special unctuousness due to its oils.
Let's start with a red nougat... red! Is named Yann nougat and is composed of Natural marzipan, with arbequina extra virgin olive oil ganache and Ivoire white chocolate. It is covered by a paste of natural strawberry fruit, crispy white pearls and Valrhona's 'strawberry-inspired' chocolate , endowed with an intense fruit flavor. In addition to its striking color, the format is also innovative.
In the world of pastry making, many delicious discoveries have been accidental, such as the Dulcey, a white chocolate with an intense flavor of caramelized milk and biscuit that was born after an oversight of the French master chocolatier Frederic Bau that left white chocolate for more than ten hours in a bain-marie. What a happy oversight-discovery! Now, This blond chocolate is one of the main ingredients of Damascus nougat and Dulcey nougat itself.
With the Ascaso Camelia Nougat exoticism knocks at the doors of our traditional Christmas dessert: Japanese citrus yuzu and Matcha tea coexist with marzipan.
They attract attention for their appearance and for their suggestive names
GUIRLACHE: FANTOBA, MUÑOZ AND MANY MORE
Aragon is the main almond producing region in Spain so it is not surprising that this dried fruit is the main ingredient of most of the nougat that are made here.
In the guirlache, the almond appears whole and visible, glued to its equals by a coating of caramel.
This nougat so Aragonese It has always been handcrafted on stone tables that allowed it to be worked without adhesions. in Zaragoza Fantoba-The Flower of Syrup , one of the oldest sweet shops in Aragon founded in 1856 , they keep the Calatorao black stone on which the guirlache of the last century has spread.
In Muñoz Teruel, guirlache is shaped like a bar. They have always made it by toasting the almonds and melting the sugar at the same time. getting like this some crunchy bars in which the almond flavor predominates, in this case marcona almond from Teruel.
Knowing the guirlache: Who is satisfied now with another type of energy bar?
Guirlache