[Sca-cooks] nougat pstmortem

[david friedman]

>As you all may remember, I've been fiddling with nougats recently. We had
>our baronial A&S championship this past weekend, and I entered a soft nougat
>from the Manuscrito Anonimo, among other things.  The dish is called
>mu'aqqad of sugar, and calls for a syrup of rosewater and sugar in a 2:1
>ratio.  Heat the syrup, then whip the eggwhites until they are foamy. When
>the syrup is ready, toss the eggwhites in the pot on top of the syrup and
>beat steadily until the mixture takes on a pasty consistency.  Add equal
>weights of almonds and pistachios, and serve.
>
>The resulting nougat was very soft, and did not harden much even in the
>freezer.  It was a rather humid night, which may have had some effect.
>Also, modern white nougat recipes involve adding the syrup to the eggwhites
>in a slow stream, rather than dumping the eggwhites in on the sugar.  From
>what I understand of sugar syrups, the hotter the syrup, the harder the
>resulting candy.  I had the syrup at about 330 degrees.


I don't think that can be right. Note that the recipe specifies
removing the syrup from the fire so as to let it cool slightly. I
would think that a syrup at 330 would crystalize under those
circumstances--am I wrong?

The Hulwa from Ibn al Mubarad as I do it seems much more like what
you are trying to do--essentially a divinity. I do that with a much
higher ratio of sugar to water (5 parts sugar to 1 of water). I can't
imagine anyone first mixing rosewater with sugar at 2:1 and then
boiling away most of the rosewater, which is what you seem to be
describing--what's the point?

Of course, that raises the possibility that I might be
misinterpreting the Hulwa. Maybe these are really the same recipe
("Hulwa" is a very broad term, so that Mu'aqqad might be considered a
hulwa--note the name of the implement used for the beating--and the
recipes are fairly similar), with the Andalusian giving the
proportions, the later middle eastern recipe not. Back to the kitchen.


>I beat the
>eggwhites to the hard-peak stage,


The original says "until they give up their foam." For Hulwa I beat
them foamy, not stiff.

--
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/