David Barbero’s family has been making torrone hazelnut nougat for five generations in the town of Asti since 1883, but neither the history nor repetitiveness seems to dull his passion.
When you ask him about what he makes, his eyes light up and he talks in fast, clipped English. “We don’t kill the torrone! Industrial makers use no egg whites and they crank out a batch in an hour. They beat the mixture fast and use lots of pressure. Ours takes seven hours. (We break for lunch.) And we also use egg whites. All of this makes our texture crumbly, not hard and tough. Here, take a bite, you can taste.”
He's right, and I love the fact that he mentions lunch. Barbero torrone is gently crumbly, delicious, spiked with loads of famous Piemontese hazelnuts. And in this classic Northern Italian graphic-designed tin (500 g tin illustrated), it makes a great gift.
The nougat is covered in thin, edible rice paper.