APULICA / FRESH PASTA, BREAD AND PASTRY
Torrone di Bagnara (nougat)
PGI · Fresh pasta, bread and pastry · Calabria
In brief
- A nougat of sugar, toasted almonds, honey, egg white, cocoa, essential oils and spices, made only in Bagnara Calabra. (Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP)
- There are two versions: Martiniana, coated in granulated sugar, and Torrefatto glassato, coated in sugar and cocoa. (Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP)
- Monks of the Bagnara abbey were already making it in the 18th century, and the first factory opened around the mid-19th century. (Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP)
History and origin
Torrone di Bagnara was born from the meeting of two local products, almonds and honey, with the sugar that arrived through the trade of this small seafaring town on the Costa Viola. Archive documents show that as early as the eighteenth century the monks of Bagnara's abbey were skilled at making sweets and above all torrone, then called «martiniana», the same name still carried by one of its two variants.
Around the middle of the nineteenth century the first real factory opened. Since then the story of Bagnara's torrone has been built by many family-run artisan workshops, which set the standard and over time created a craft culture of their own, with working techniques that set this torrone apart from others.
In 2014 Torrone di Bagnara was registered as a Protected Geographical Indication.
Sources: Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP · eAmbrosia — Torrone di Bagnara (PGI-IT-1101)
Area and method of production
The production area is the municipality of Bagnara Calabra alone, in the province of Reggio Calabria. The ingredients are sugar, toasted almonds, honey, egg white, bitter cocoa, essential oils and ground spices.
The process calls for precise dosing and a complex cooking stage over a high flame at high temperature. Refining steps follow which, in the torrone makers' jargon, give the sweet its traditional «monk's cloak» look; among the typical steps the product sheet also mentions the «glassy break».
Finally the surface is coated: with sugar grains in the Martiniana variant, with a mix of sugar and cocoa in the Torrefatto glassato. These two coatings give their names to the PGI's two types.
Sources: Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP
How to recognise it
Torrone di Bagnara comes in small pieces: 4 to 12 centimetres long, weighing between 14 and 35 grams. Outside it has a wrinkled brown surface, the «monk's cloak»; inside it is brown, with evenly spread almonds.
At the first bite the paste is crumbly and crunchy. Its sweetness is balanced by the taste of toasted almonds and a clear caramelised, brûlé sensation, with a slightly spicy finish; in the Torrefatto glassato the note of bitter cocoa is added.
It is sold in single-product packs, with wrapping bearing «Torrone di Bagnara», the words Protected Geographical Indication and the logos, or in assorted trays and boxes, where the same wording must appear both on the pack and on every individually wrapped piece.
Sources: Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP
In the kitchen
Bagnara torrone has always been part of the Christmas holidays, although over time it is increasingly eaten throughout the year. It keeps for a year, but is best enjoyed within three months of packing, stored in a dry place away from humidity.
The most typical pairing given by the product sheet is with passito wine from Zibibbo grapes grown on the typical terraces known as armacie.
Sources: Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP
Where to taste it
The torrone is tasted in Bagnara Calabra, the only municipality where it may be made. The town, on the Costa Viola, is also known as a small capital of swordfish and for its Costa Viola IGT wines. The seafront looks towards the Strait, and the historic centre, higher up, keeps the church of the Carmine and the ducal Ruffo castle, while among the oldest remains to survive the 1908 earthquake is the fifteenth-century Aragonese tower of Capo Rocchi. From the top of the hill the Marturano trail leads back down to the marina through the greenery.
Bagnara is a stop on a journey along the Costa Viola, the stretch of sea facing the Strait of Messina where, on clear days, the two shores seem to touch. On the same coast lies Scilla, our destination with the Ruffo castle above the sea: an itinerary combining torrone, armacie passito and fishing villages.
Sources: Qualigeo — Torrone di Bagnara IGP · Italia.it — Bagnara Calabra · Italia.it — Costa Viola in Calabria · Italia.it — Scilla
Protection
- Protected geographical indication (PGI) — PGI-IT-1101 (eAmbrosia — Torrone di Bagnara (PGI-IT-1101))
When
- The sources consulted give no months.
Where
Read more
Torrone di Bagnara PGI
Italy's first torrone with a PGI: Martiniana and Torrefatto glassato, high-temperature cooking and the glassy break, the port's history and the late-November festival.
Read the guide →