Travelling Kitchen: Turrón from Jijona

It is said that 'Turrón' was originated at the arabian peninsula, in the XI century a book called 'De medicinis et cibis semplicibus' was published, inside there is a recipe of a sweet called 'turun'. Later on, the arabs brought that recipe to Spain where it was changed a little.

The original recipe was more simple than today, it was a mixture of toasted almonds and cooked honey. Instead of almonds, it was possible to see the turrón made of hazelnuts, pinions or walnuts.

In the XV century it is possible to identify different types of turrón depending of the geographical zone of Spain. Hazelnut turrón was made at the north Mediterranean region, At the south plateau and Andalucía was the 'alajú' a turrón made of pinions, walnuts and almonds. In Alicante region was typical the turrón made of almonds.

The end of october is the end of the agricultural cycle , after that, farmers start the elaboration of the turrón to be ready to be sold at Christmas.

It is said that the turrón was known at the Royal Court thanks to Philip the Second. Also, the authorities from Alicante spent a lot of money to give turrón to famous people from Madrid and Valencia as a present , soon it became part of the salary at Christmas time.

In the XVII century the turrón started to be exported to Europe , at that time, the egg whites were added to the original recipe, this way, the turrón did not leak honey and its colour was clearer.

In the XVIII century , the honey started to be scarce, so farmers decided to add sugar to the original recipe, leaving the recipe as it is known today.

The first time when Turrón from Jijona was elaborated was in the XIX century, it is the result of grinding turrón from Alicante, it was specially made for children and elder people.

Ingredients:

2 rectangular tupperwares.

300 grams of marcona almond.

100 grams floral honey.

100 grams sugar.

1 egg white.

Ground lemon rind.

a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Method:

1- Take a frying pan, toast without oil almond flour or whole almonds, that you are going to grind later.

2- You can add some toast almond pieces to the mixture.

3- Take a casserole, add the sugar and honey, put on a low heat , and stir until all the sugar is disolved , then you add cinnamon and lemon rind.

4- Whisk the egg's whites until they go stiff.

5- Put the heat off , Add the whites to the mixture and stir with encircle movements. .

6- Put on a low fire , add the ground almonds , stir well during 2 minutes and let cool.

7- Put some parchment paper over one tupper. Knead the mixture with the hands, then put it in the tupper. Smash the mixture , this way the almonds will release its oil