The nougat of Caltanissetta is the first Slow Food presidium of 2023. The particularity of the nougat of the Sicilian capital concerns - informs a note - the recipe: the ingredients used are only three, honey, almonds and pistachios, all characteristic of the area.
The manufacturing process takes more than eight hours and has remained the same as it was over a century ago.
In the production there is no added sugar, zero egg whites and no preservatives, only "strictly Sicilian honey, almonds and pistachios, as established by the production regulations adopted by the four producers who adhere to the Slow Food Presidium".
"The almond tree and the pistachio - says Stefania Fontanazza, Slow Food coordinator of the newborn Presidium - are two rather widespread crops, if the first, in recent years,
it has experienced a period of growth in terms of hectares, of the latter there is not only the very famous one of Bronte.
Closer to us is in fact that of Raffadali, in the province of Agrigento.
And then there's the honey, a millefiori with a significant percentage of sulla and yarrow, two essences from our area". kept identical to that of over a century ago.
The honey is cooked over a very low heat for at least eight hours in the so-called quadara, i.e. a large copper cauldron.
Then, when the honey is cooking and the humidity of the honey has evaporated, add the previously lightly toasted almonds and pistachios.
The dough, called mass, is placed in wooden frames and later, before it cools completely, cut into the characteristic sticks".
