A look at the range of nougats in any supermarket makes it clear that the classic versions have become almost minority within an offer where dozens of unique flavors and combinations coexist. It is hardly surprising anymore, but when a decade ago Albert Adrià presented his gin and tonic nougat together with Torrons Vicens, it was a true revolution. Since then, the range of haute cuisine nougats has not stopped growing and, in a way, has changed this product as we knew it.
“The best sellers are always the traditional ones, but it's nice to surprise the family with something new every year,” explains Ángel Velasco, the head of this nougat company from Agramunt. It may sound simple, but when you consider that this brand offers 300 flavors and 700 nougat varieties, you begin to understand the magnitude of the undertaking and the work done over these twelve years.
The best sellers are always the same, but we like to surprise the family with new products every year”
Velasco was one of the masterminds behind involving top chefs in this adventure. For many years, Albert Adrià along with his team and the team from Torrons Vicens have been in charge of creating new flavors for each Christmas. In fact, the chef has almost fifty varieties bearing his name.
This range, now named Sinergia, has recently been expanded with the addition of Ángel León, Quique Dacosta, Jordi Roca, and Nandu Jubany. Velasco explains that this is to ensure that some of the best chefs in the country can reach many more homes during Christmas.
Not everyone will visit their gourmet restaurants, but a tablet of nougat by Dacosta or Jordi Roca for less than 14 euros is a small luxury within reach of most. Additionally, profiles like Leon and Dacosta's help expand the brand's reach beyond Catalonia, where it is better known.
Nandu Jubany's handmade nougats
The latest news is signed by Nandu Jubany, who has introduced a range he calls “artisan nougat”. With expiration dates much shorter than usual - less than two months - and a production process that emphasizes craftsmanship, it includes a burnt egg yolk nougat made daily, a whiskey and truffle nougat, and a donut-based one inspired by the dessert traditionally prepared at his restaurant.
“It's like a pastry nougat, artisanal, but made in large quantities,” the Catalan chef tells us with his usual enthusiasm while burning some tablets of yolk nougat in the Torrons Vicens store on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. They have just been released for sale and they are already thinking about the next one: a natural truffle nougat that they will launch in February. Because yes, de-seasoning nougat to turn it into a dessert and not just a Christmas sweet is also part of the gourmet strategy surrounding this product.
Chef Nandu Jubany burns some yolk nougat tablets at the Torrons Vicens store on Las Ramblas in Barcelona
This is not about consultancy or just putting your signature on a nougat, emphasizes Jubany, but it is a proprietary product developed with this company and he will also sell it through the Ametller supermarkets during the Christmas season.
The key lies in the production system, as pointed out by the Catalan chef. He compares it to the one they use for their already famous croquettes: instead of making tons of dough, they make batches of a few kilos to ensure they turn out perfect. “We are not a nougat factory, we are the largest pastry workshop in Spain,” Velasco defends when talking about this way of working.
The R&D of nougat
The flavors proposed by Ángel León or Quique Dacosta for the Christmas release of a range they presented last spring are much bolder. They aim to bring flavors inspired by their dishes to nougat. “The saffron, orange, and rice nougat is like the Salmonete Mark Rothko, which, abstracted from the fish, represents a stable harmony that allows us to build a similar story on the nougat base. The pine one is inspired by the Bosque Animado (Animated Forest), a dish from 2003, the first landscape in the history of gastronomy,” explains Dacosta.
Plankton nougat by Angel León is an obvious choice when talking about this chef, but also a quite surprising flavor. “I think the first thing it will provoke is curiosity, but the result is tasty, it's really good, with a touch of lemon that contrasts with the white chocolate and the plankton... It's eye-catching, but doesn't disappoint,” promises the chef from Cádiz.
Ángel León
But how is a nougat made with plankton? Transferring such a marine flavor to the sweet world was a challenge, recognizes León, but they started from a dessert they already made in Aponiente with white chocolate to begin working on the idea with the R&D team at Vicens.
And that's where Fernando Millán and David Gil come in, who, in addition to their R&D project I+Desserts, are collaborating with Torrons Vicens on creating this range from the get-go. Millán was part of Albert Adrià's team at Enigma, where the first unique-flavored nougats, such as piña colada or freeze-dried raspberry with violet, began to take shape.
Rice and Saffron Nougat by Quique Dacosta
“Everything can be turned into a nougat treat,” Gil argues. Just in case there were any doubts at this point, after creating a ham nougat last year or a plankton one this year. It has been many months of hard work and numerous trials to capture the iconic flavors of the chefs in a nougat bar.
They also make sure to keep the chefs grounded to see what can be done and what is unfeasible in a process that involves large productions, not a small kitchen to serve two dozen diners. In fact, many ideas and flavor proposals are left by the wayside, as Quique Dacosta also recalls: “We did many more tests and nougats, we were very radical in some, but other dishes were very difficult to extrapolate to nougat.”
The level of detail with which Dacosta describes the ingredients used and the tests demonstrates that this is not just about signing the container and that's it, but rather the involvement of the cooks who have participated is key. In some cases - Gil comments- it's easier, because with Jordi Roca's turrones, it's about interpreting some of his desserts. But others involve many tests and errors.
Quique Dacosta
And kilos of ingredients used until finding the formula that works. Sometimes as expensive as plankton, which costs thousands of euros per kilo and represents, Velasco reminds us, almost 2.5 euros in cost per nougat tablet. The fact that haute cuisine has taken over the world of nougat is sometimes very literal. So be careful with making jokes about a future caviar nougat because it might just be a matter of time. Or of getting Rafa Zafra involved in the project.