Sardinia: local specialities and "torrone" or nougat

Last night I went to dinner at a friend’s place who has just gotten back from a sailing trip in Sardinia (yes, life is tough, isn’t it?).
He had brought back one of the many local specialities you can find from Italy’s island, and that was “torrone”.

“Torrone” is nougat and is traditionally eaten at Christmas time in Italy, though this was nougat not as you know it.
While you normally have to watch out you don’t break off a tooth when eating this stuff, or it’s gooey and glues your jaw together for the next few hours, this was smooth, melt-in-your-mouth nougat.

The nougat from Sardinia has no sugar in it, but instead uses honey and while sweet, you get that slight edge of spicy bitterness that some honey has.
Other ingredients include egg, and almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts.
They have a special way of cutting this nougat so that it doesn’t crumble which is not what happened to us last night, but it was still good eating.
The nougat is often sold at market stalls to passersby in blocks or bite-sized pieces if you want to eat it while strolling along.

For more information go to Il Torrone.