Nougat is characterized by the attributes of the two candy "families" of milk sugar and praline candy: both milk components and a large number of dried fruits in it. Hence its awkward position in the confectionery world – which hill it goes to will "offend" the other. But if you list a "small fresh list" for candy, there should be a position for nougat on it, whether you are a "literary fan" or not, you will probably admit this. Nougat can be very noble, and it is not rude to use it as a gift for diplomatic relations between countries; it can also be very grounded, flaunting hand-made and exclusive secret recipes, and becoming a member of the characteristic food culture. In any case, people love its compound taste that mixes various ingredients and processes.
Only the legendary sugar
The birth and evolution of candy is mostly documented, there is a history, nougat may be because it is too mixed, the source of the origin is also a bit unclear, only various versions of the legend. However, its name is exactly what it says - the relationship between "cow roll" and cattle is limited to the occasional milk, and the sugar body is not made by rolling. Its name derives from the French transliteration of "nougat", which refers to the candy made of roasted nuts with honey or syrup, and is also translated as "bird knot sugar", "kink sugar", etc. Although it has different names in places like Italy and Spain, people translating it in French captures its roots. The Provence region of France, the world's most authentic producer of nougat, still produces more than 2,000 tons a year, followed by Italy and Macau, China.
According to legend, nougat is the trophy brought back from the East by the French during the Crusades in the 11th to 12th centuries, the original dried fruit recipe was walnuts and honey, but the French added pistachios, almonds and cherries to improve and upgrade the formula, and this new type of candy soon set off a boom in France. In the French sweet world held a firm place hundreds of years ago, when King Louis XV visited the Spanish royal family, he carried a gift not of gold jewelry, but 42 kilograms of nougat, which is enough to prove the value of nougat at that time. Hundreds of years later, nougat spread from the West back to the East. Another legend of its origin is that it originated in Italy. It is said that it was invented in 1441 by Cremona of Italy. The sugar later became a ceremonial item at the wedding feasts of the nobility, and the newlyweds were given this candy made of honey, almonds and egg whites, symbolizing combination, richness and sweetness. There is also a legend in China: during the Ming Dynasty, in order to thank Emperor Wenchang (Wenqu Xingjun) for his dream, he made a kind of food with raw materials such as maltose, peanuts, glutinous rice and so on, and pinched the appearance of cattle and named it "nougat". After the rumor spread, because it was really troublesome to knead the sugar into the shape of a cow during batch production, it was directly cut into rectangles and sold. Later, it was brought to the West by foreign missionaries, which became the most popular foreign candy. m i x is this rhythm
The most traditional and classic method of nougat is to boil it with cane sugar as the main ingredient mixed with honey, then beat the egg white, then mix it together and stir wildly, and finally add ingredients such as almonds, peanuts, preserves, etc., stir well and cut it. In this way, it can be said that it has collected the essence of several types of candy. Honey plays the role of syrup, preventing sugar from crystallizing - hard candy must; egg whites are similar to gelatin, so that sugar can quickly solidify - fudge must; whisked into a lot of air - marshmallow must-have; nuts and other excipients - shortening common means. Arguably, it is mix (blending) that makes nougat unique and unparalleled taste. Nowadays, this traditional material and process is less and less, and under the development of chemical technology, people have fully grasped the existence of each raw material and method, so they use something more direct and purposeful instead. For example, various syrups: starch syrup, invert syrup replaced honey, egg protein powder replaced egg white, manual whipping was changed to machine whipping to increase speed. This kind of industrially produced nougat may lose some of the "taste of mother", but the quality and taste will be more uniform, and the characteristics of each raw material can be exerted to the extreme. Because of the mix, it is changeable
A variety of raw materials in the nougat, each of which can be taken out alone can change the composition of the candy, produce different changes, and compound them together, just like the mathematical "permutation and combination" problem, which can make the number of candy shapes change geometrically. In fact, however, for the sake of taste, texture and appearance, only a few of them are retained. And the combination of these types of people needs to be controlled very precisely, otherwise, what you get may be another kind of nougat. Like all candies, sucrose needs to be boiled first to remove moisture. The moisture content in nougat is slightly higher than that of hard candy, which is about controlled at 6% to 12%, which can make its texture softer, and also has enough consistency and viscosity to maintain the strength and form of candy in the production. What kind of state it is in will also directly affect the "physique" and flavor of nougat. When the granulated sugar is completely dissolved to form a molecular state, the solution at this time can give the sugar body different viscosities, and the viscosity is increased with the concentration of the sucrose solution.
If this viscosity is explained by the concept in "fluid mechanics", it is the change of rheological properties during the boiling process - the more amorphous states of the sucrose molecules, the more smooth and dense the sugar bodies formed therefrom. If this texture is significantly changed, the original slight elasticity, chewability and toughness can easily be replaced by a brittle texture with fracture. This is essentially a change in the different texture characteristics of nougat toughness, brittleness and sandiness.
If you think that the above statement is too profound, then its most popular explanation is: in the process of boiling sugar, the concentration, temperature and time of sugar are different, the molecular state inside it is different, the crystallization state is different, and the effect of the syrup is different, which makes it produce different textures after mixing other raw materials, resulting in different tastes. In general, the boiling sugar should not exceed 140 ° C, the water content should not be much, and the number of crystals must be monitored at all times.
Syrup in nougat actually has more than one use, in addition to preventing sucrose crystallization, it can also help protein absorb more air, so that sugar is more loose. Before there was no syrup, people used honey, and after having syrup, people repeatedly compared and found that starch syrup was the most suitable because it was less viscous, conducive to expansion, and the final candy was also relatively hard. At the same time, its most shining quality is that sucrose can overcome the appearance of crystals during the inflation process of withstanding violent mechanical whipping, and hinder the "Maillard reaction" between sugar and protein, so that the sugar body remains as white as possible.
Egg protein is extracted from eggs, its role is somewhat similar to gelatin, but the biggest advantage is that it can adsorb more air, form fine bubbles, and the texture is white, the foam body formed has a certain stability. Of course, the abundance of egg resources makes it no longer stressful in supply, so it is still popular among candy makers.
Gelatin and other substances, as long as the hot water can be added to stir, and the egg protein is not, it must be sent first, into a white foam, although troublesome, but this can make the nougat eat delicate, but not very urgent. Because the egg whites made from egg whites have a short shelf life and are easy to spoil, most of the egg protein powders used now are dried egg protein powder, similar to soy protein powder and whey protein powder (when the family makes it itself, if there is no egg protein powder, you can also use them instead), but it has a strong custard flavor.
Nuts, the most important addition to nougat, are crispy and delicious to eat, and the proportion is usually higher than 15%, and may even reach 50%. In fact, it also has another effect - to provide fat. Fat can play a lubricating role in the matrix of nougat, which is conducive to roll pressing and cutting in the later stage. But the presence of fat also weakens and destroys the stability of egg protein expansion, so the greater the amount of added fat, the less fluffiness of the sugar body, and the greater the density. Therefore, the fat addition of nougat should be controlled at a low level (2%), which is exactly what can be provided by the nuts, which is why the nougat looks smooth and oily but does not need to add additional oil.
In addition, from the process point of view, the traditional nougat is completed in two steps when stirring and pumping, and this experience obtained after exploration is especially in line with its step-by-step inflation principle. Even though the technical means of inflating today have greatly improved, there are still many candy makers who are willing to use the two-time inflation method to make nougat, because it can make the bubbles of candy smaller and the taste is smoother. The first aeration is not when stirring the ingredients, but when the egg protein is whisked. Quickly agitate the egg protein solution with a blender for more than 10 minutes until a very light, white bubble body is formed. However, the stability of its foam is very poor, in order to remedy this defect, it is usually added at the same time to add a certain amount of syrup to improve the viscosity and concentration of the foam protein, so that it can stand for a while. The second pumping is the real stirring and inflating, but the sugar solution is not mixed with the egg protein at one time, but the sugar solution is first added to a part at 120 ° C, and when it is almost stirred, the remaining sugar is heated to 140 ° C, and then all mixed together to form a denser sugar body. The purpose of this is to allow sugars to bind better to proteins, while also slowing down the occurrence of the Maillard reaction. Tough · Crisp · Sand – The three sides of nougat
The differences in the composition of nougat recipes and the differences in operation, such as the ratio of sucrose to syrup, starch syrup or malt syrup; the way and conditions of inflation, such as whether it is inflated once or twice, at what temperature; the procedures and conditions of operation, such as the temperature at which the sugar is boiled, are the most suitable; and the level of residual moisture in the candy, etc., forming the "three brothers" of nougat with different tastes: tough nougat, crisp nougat and sandy nougat.
Of course, the main thing is the difference brought about by the sucrose content. When the proportion of sucrose in the ingredients is 46% to 50%, the nougat is crisp and slightly tough. If the share of sucrose is reduced, the toughness tendency of candy will be strengthened, and conversely, if the share of sugar is increased, the sandy tendency of candy will be greatly enhanced due to the greater risk of crystallization.
Introduction: Life is inevitably bitter, so we all love to eat some sweetness. This is a sweet cheatbook that makes you understand, sweet and straight, and talks about it. You can use it to "raise your posture", pass the time, tease yourself, and read everything about sweetness from it. this paper
Photo excerpt from: Guo Yicheng's "Love: The Sweetness That Can't Be Quit" Compilation Editor Shen Xiaogu | Unauthorized reproduction is not permitted
The Beauty of Heaven and Earth reads on paper
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