The History of Torrone, an Italian Christmas Dessert (2024)

Any argument worth debating is always undercut by a third option that tempers the hostility between the two opposing groups. On Christmas, staunch panettone fanatics and ardent pandoro supporters bond over their mutual fondness for torrone (nougat).

Different parts of the country lay claim to dozens of torrone variations, a common thread among regional Italian cuisines. From Cremona to Sicily to Veneto to Calabria, Italians just can't get enough of nougat.

The Romans invented it. Or did they?

Torrone's widespread popularity suggests Roman origins, as ancient Roman scholar, Marco Terenzio Varrone wrote about cuppedo, a term similar to cupeto or copeta, the Campanian name for torrone. Texts from the second and first centuries B.C. claim the Samnites, an ancient civilization of present-day Campania that battled with the Roman Republic, invented a delicacy comprised of seed oils, egg whites, and honey. While several scholars contest this, nucatum, a sweet made with nuts, honey, and egg whites described in the Apicius, an ancient Roman cookbook, bears a similarity to torrone.

The Arabs

Following the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D., cuppedo and nucatum vanished, which lends support to torrone's Arab origins, which would explain the spread of torrone in southern Italy, Sicily in particular. Yet in Cremona, a Lombard city southeast of Milan, Gerardo of Cremona, a 12th-century scholar who translated Arabic works, discovered turun and introduced it to his hometown. Other historians claim it arrived with Giambonino of Cremona, who translated works written by two authors from Baghdad.

Federico II, from Palermo to the Po River

Emperor Federico II of Swabia most likely brought torrone to Northern Italy during his military campaigns. He stayed in Cremona 16 times with his entourage of Sicilian cooks well-versed in Arab culture.

Though torrone already existed in Cremona before the 15th century, local lore states that torrone arrived on October 25, 1441, the wedding day of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti, Duke and duch*ess of Milan. It's believed that Sicilian cooks prepared a sweet made of almonds, honey, and egg whites in the form of the city's torrione (towers).

Hard and soft

Needless to say, a vast variety of nougats characterizes cities and towns all around the boot. Classic torrone from Cremona contains honey, almonds, hazelnuts, sugar, egg whites, and wafers, in hard and soft styles. The cooking times of the two differ—hard torrone bakes for up to ten hours, while the soft version doesn't exceed three.

The cubbaita

In Caltanissetta, a region of central Sicily, traditional cubbaita combines the colorful bounty of the countryside: green pistachio, yellow honey, and white almonds. This ancient recipe gave rise to confections that incorporate flavors such as lemon, oranges, walnuts, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and chocolate. Centuries later, in the 1970s, Francesco Condorelli invented the torroncini, small, individually sized portions, at his shop in Belpasso, a comune in Catania.

Sardinia

In Sardinia, the town of the Tonara is the epicenter of torrone production, its recipe most likely coined in the second half of the 19th century. It’s obtained by processing honey, egg whites, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and wafers. The absence of sugar differentiates it from the other torrone as does its four-hour cooking time, which results in a soft texture.

Campania

The torrone campano is found in the towns of Avellino and Benevento. In the latter, three varieties became popular in the 17th century: il perfetto amore (the perfect love), l’ingranito, and il torrone del Papa (the Pope's nougat). The first consists of honey, egg whites, and hazelnuts coated with mostly chocolate, lemon, or coffee. Ingranito contains egg whites, hazelnuts, and long, narrow sugared almonds called cannellini. A mixture of melted sugar, pine nuts, and syrup-soaked fruit characterized the Pope's. Years later, torrone della Regina (the Queen's nougat) arrived. Similar to the papal version, the regal delicacy has a naspro (powdered sugar) coating instead of granulated sugar. Afterward, the wafer-coated torrone became more widespread. While in Irpinia, a town in the Apennine mountains, various soft and hard nougats feature a hazelnut base.

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is home to torrone di Guardiagrele, a crunchy nougat made with whole toasted almonds mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and candied fruit. Gennaro Nurzia created a tender chocolate and hazelnut torrone in 1835, which today is produced in the towns Aquila and Sulmona.

Calabria

In Calabria, the torrone di Bagnara IGP stands out. Although several recipes abound, the original features honey, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, and cloves, all powdered and covered with granulated sugar or bitter cocoa.

The Veneto

This Northeastern region is home to the Cologna Veneta cake, which consists of almonds, honey, egg whites, cinnamon, and wafers. Instead of completely covering its irregular surface, the wafer reveals an almond mosaic immersed in a glossy white layer.