Ingredients
200 grams (about 7 ounces) honey
200 grams (about 7 ounces) sugar
400 grams (about 14 ounces) almonds, shelled and blanched
200 grams (about 7 ounces) hazelnuts, shelled and lightly roasted
2 egg whites, beaten stiff
1 teaspoon candied orange peel, cut into small pieces
a touch of lemon rind, grated
hosts (thin white wafers for sandwiching nougat)
Original Italian text
Miele, grammi 200
zucchero grammi 200
mandorle grammi 400
Nocciole grammi 200
Chiare d'uovo due
Scorzetta di arancia candita, un cucchiato
limone
ostie
Directions
Put the honey in a saucepan, and then the saucepan with the honey in it, put in a larger pan filled with water [to make a double boiler].
Stir the honey with a spoon for about 1 hour or until the honey is cooked.
After the honey has cooked, beat two egg whites until they are stiff.
Incorporate the beaten egg whites a little at a time in the cooked honey, stirring constantly. The mass will swell to become white and frothy.
In another double boiler heat up the sugar with about 2 tablespoons of water.
When the sugar is caramelized, add to the honey and beaten egg white mixture.
Continue cooking for a little longer, you will see that the white mass is shrinking and hardening.
When the mixture is a bit hard, but not too hard, add the blanched almonds and hazelnuts and add candied orange peel if you like.
Keep stirring as the mass tends to harden quickly, be sure that almonds and hazelnuts are distributed well. You will know when it is fully cooked and hardened by the smell.
Place a large host (wafer) sheet on the kitchen table, making a rectangular shape about twenty centimeters to fifteen, and as thick as a a couple of fingers (about 1 1/2 inches deep). N.B. Lining a baking pan with the wafer sheet facilitates the process.
Spread the nougat mixture evenly on the rectangular-shaped host, place another host on top of the mixture, adding a heavy weight over it.
Leave the weight for about a quarter of an hour and then cut the nougat into long rectangular pieces, wrapping the pieces in wax paper which will help them keep better.
Original Italian text
Mettete il miele in una casseruola piuttosto grande e mettete questa casseruola in un altra piu larga posta su calore moderato e contenente acqua bolente. Incominciate a mescolarlo con un cucchiato nettissimo.
Dopo circa un'ora che il miele cuoce, montate in neve ferma due chiare d'uovo, e incominciate a provare la cottura del miee, che dovra esser portato alla caramella.
Allora metteteci le chiare montate, un po alla volta e sempre mescolando. La massa gonfiera a diventera bianca e spumosa.
Mettete a cuocere la zucchero, che cuocendosi a calore vivo e non a bagnomaria come il miele, arriva assai piu presto di cottura. Quando anche lo zucchero sara alla carmella, versatelo pian piano e sempre mescolando, nella grande casseruola a bagnomaria, dove gia sono il miele e la chiare.
Regolatevi a preparare lo zucchero, in modo da poterlo aggiungere nella casseruola grande poco dopo messe le chiare. Non vi stancate mai di p mescolare; e siccome le chiare diluiscono necesssariamente il composto, dopo fatto il miscuglio continuate un altro po la cottura.
Vedrete che la massa bianca si va restringendo e indurendo. Provatene qualche po nell acqua e quando constaterete che il composto e ben duro, senza tuttavia essere arrivato proprio alla caramella, mescolated dentro le mandorle gia spellate e le nocciole gia private della pellicola, calde, il candito in pezzetti queston non e indispendabile ela raschiatura d'un limone.
Mescolate in fretta perche la massa tende a indurirsi, e procurate che mandorle e nocciole si distribuiscano bene a indurirsi, e procurate che e cotto; e ve ne accorgerete dal profumo che sale dalla casseruola.
Mettete delle ostie sul marmo di cucina, e su queste versate il torrone, cercando di dargli forma rettangolare, aiuntandovi con una larga lama di coltello.
Dovrete ottenere un rettangolo di una ventina di centimetri per quindici, e alto un paio di dita. Applicate anche sopra delle ostie, e pressate il torrone con un leggero pesso. Lasciate cosi per un quarto d'ora e poi tagliate il torrone in pezzi lunghi, che incarterete in carta paraffinata per conservarli meglio.
Notes
The following text was taken from Wikipedia: "Il talismano della felicita" (The Talisman of Happiness in English), written by magazine editor Ada Boni and published by Italian publishing house Editore Colombo, is a well-known Italian cookbook originally published in 1929. It is believed to be the first Italian cookbook specifically targeted to housewives, and along with the work of Pellegrino Artusi and Editoriale Domus' Il cucchiaio d'argento is considered one of the defining recipe and cooking-advice collections in Italian cuisine. The standard edition is 1054 pages long and was last reissued in 1999; it was also available in an abridged version known as Il piccolo Talismano from the same publisher. An extremely abridged translation, translated by Matilde La Rosa, who also added some "American-style" Italian recipes, with an introduction and glossary by Romance linguist Mario Pei, was published in 1950 as The Talisman Italian Cookbook: Italy's Bestselling Cookbook Adapted for American Kitchens (Crown/Random House, 1950). La Rosa and Pei decided to leave out recipes that were not of Italian origin for the American edition, and also added a few Italian-American recipes that were felt at the time to be necessary in an Italian cookbook. The La Rosa translation is now out of print...." Photo: Mary Melfi.
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