Turr?n Or Not Turr?n

Thank god for turr?n (torr? in Catalan).  When you?re spending Christmas and New Year frantically slaving in a kitchen that feels like a blast furnace,  at least you can forget about whizzing up puddings and desserts for days or even weeks.

No one really knows how to translate ?turr?n?. ?Nougat from Spain? or ?almond honey brittle? don?t begin to do justice. What about the melting coconut variety, creamy marzipan studded with bright gems of candied fruit, melt-in-the-mouth egg yolk caramel, or my favourite, chocolate orange, that sells out weeks before Christmas? And what about that bewildering array at your local supermarket? The Nesquik ?turr?n? in its lurid yellow Bugs Bunny box is a sort of chipboard made of rice krispies glued together with milk chocolate. Isn?t it just a candy bar in Christmas clothing? And what?s the difference between Mars Bar turr?n and Mars Bar Mars Bar? Good question. Alongside citrus fruit, tiger nuts and rice, turr?n is one of the pre-eminent quality products of the Comunidad Valenciana. According to purists, the only stuff worthy of the name is turr?n blando, the soft kind also known as Jijona (Xixona), and turr?n duro (hard) known as Alicante (Alacant). These are characterized by their high content of locally grown sweet almonds and honey from bees that collect nectar from orange blossom in Valencia?s extensive orchards and from wild mountain rosemary. Crunchy Alicante contains whole peeled and roasted almonds, honey, sugar and egg white. For Jijona, the ingredients are the same, but the mixture is ground. Only Turr?n de Jijona and Turr?n de Alicante may boast the Indicaci?n Geogr?fica Protegida. To enjoy this official status, the turr?n must be produced within the municipality of Jijona and meet a bunch of specifications on raw materials, minimum percentages of almonds for each commercial category (Suprema, Extra, Standard and Popular), and so on. And it must comply with stringent production and quality control standards monitored by the Consejo Regulador de las IGP Jijona y Turr?n de Alicante, the regulatory council. There is also another less well known IGP, Turr?n de Agramunt, from the town of Agramunt in the Catalan province of Lleida. So look for the IGP seal. Apart from these, over the centuries creative maestros turroneros have dreamed up a mouth-watering and now classic array of textures and flavours in the catch-all category of turrones varios: yema (egg yolk), a la piedra (with lemon peel and cinnamon), coconut (the only one which does not use almond), marzipan with crystallised fruits, walnut cream, and chocolate truffle to name but a few. Nowadays, diversification is the name of the game. Every year brings new concoctions like chocolate and kiwi, pineapple pralin?, Irish coffee, tiramisu, rum ?n? raisin, cheese and blueberry praline, ?yogu-fresa,? white chocolate... And, knowing a gullible market when they see one, manufacturers have dreamed up ?turrones infantiles?, like Kellog?s Smacks, and Disney ?turroncitos?. And now there are more sugar-free / diet offerings than ever before: pralin? with red fruits and soya, for example or even fructose-free tiramisu truffle. The Asociaci?n Espa?ola de Fabricantes de Turrones y Mazapanes (TUMA) has also produced specifications for turrones varios, in which the almonds may be replaced wholly or partly by any other nut (fresh or roasted), or by coconut, cocoa, chocolate, egg yolk or other ?noble raw materials?. So, in principle, you can?t just flatten a Mars Bar into a 300 gram rectangle and call it turr?n. Despite all this, the traditional Jijona and Alicante are still the most enduringly popular. Even if you give in to whining kids and/or your own Inner Glutton and gorge on aberrations like cheese and blueberry praline or remain smugly virtuous with, for example, sugar-free chocolate praline with cherries and almonds, please don?t miss the real turr?n experience. In addition to IGP Alicante and Jijona, buy a selection of other varieties of turr?n artesanal made by the same companies from a reputable pastisser?a. Individually made with the very best raw materials on the market, the turr?n artesanal offered by some of these establishments is nirvana. A little of the really superb turr?n goes a long long way. Serve a selection cut into small cubes and savour every bite. Do check out your health insurance for dental cover before even looking at the Alicante, though. My Catalan father-in-law used to bring a hammer and chisel to the table. Valerie Collins is co-author, with Theresa O'Shea, of In The Garlic: Your Informative, Fun Guide to Spain.