Almonds, saffron and tradition: Corrado Assenza's newest nougat

Everyone knows it by now. Entering Caffè Sicilia, one of the 31 Tre Torte assigned in our Pasticceri e Pasticcerie 2024 guide and winner of the Gambero Rosso Bar of the Year award in 2008, is an experiential journey. Whether you choose a cassata or a cannolo, a cake or an almond paste morsel, a granita or a semifreddo, a praline or a breakfast pastry, the “gastronomic experience” is assured. Nougat is also of extreme quality, which literally hold sway during the festive season. A production that does not yield to fashions and trends of the moment, year after year always faithful to tradition and territory. And faithful to tradition and territory, sober but of substance and with the ineffable elegance that distinguishes all of Corrado Assenza's specialities, are also a line of new nougat bars for Christmas 2023: Sicilia d'Oriente and the one with almonds and saffron.

Sicilia d’Oriente

Sicilia d'Oriente is a soft nougat with hazelnuts, orange honey, thyme, rosemary and a pinch of salt “to round off and give snap to the taste,” adds Corrado Assenza, famous pastry chef. Hazelnut nougat is more unique than rare in these parts, an area by definition of almonds and for Caffè Sicilia, which has always bet on the local mènnula. The ingredients come from the eastern part of the island: the hazelnuts (a high percentage, at least 55%) are harvested in the Nebrodi Mountains; the orange blossom honey comes from the Etna area, as do the aromatic herbs, thyme and rosemary, which enrich the bouquet of the nougat, made without sugar, with a mixture of only egg white and honey capturing the nuts in the shell.

Almond nougat with saffron

The saffron almond nougat is also a soft nougat, as is customary in these parts, and is made without sugar. The orange blossom honey - the fragrant orange blossoms - also comes from the Hyblean area. The almonds are of the Romana di Noto variety, which is peeled before being dipped into the white mixture of honey and egg white. Giving sprint and an intense Asian aromas is the saffron, “the one from L'Aquila DOP, which guarantees continuity and reliability in terms of quality and supply,” Corrado explains.

The other nougats by Corrado Assenza

The new entry 2023 joins the five typical nougat by Caffè Sicilia, with almonds of the Romana di Noto variety and green pistachios from Bronte Dop. There is the Arab-style giuggiulena, heritage of the Moorish occupation in Sicily, with sesame, honey, lightly toasted almonds and orange peel. There is the soft, white nougat with a high concentration of large, peeled almonds, a small amount of pistachios and orange blossom honey from the Monti Iblei, of which a crunchy version is also offered, with toasted almonds and caramelised honey. Added to this trio are the soft white pistachio nougat, with orange blossom honey and candied orange peel, and the Blue Noto, soft almond nougat with roasted Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans from Caffè del Doge in Venice, to be paired with aromatic spirits.

Sweets and all-round goodness

Caffè Sicilia is a pastry shop and bar, refreshed by a recent 'maintenance' operation. But it is also - as it likes to define itself - "a school of thought represented by a manifesto that lies in a single word, Essenza. A philosophy that in semantics and substance - almost an omen nomen - merges with the founder's surname and puts the territory at the centre, enhancing its products and people. Corrado Assenza, for the past 15 years flanked by his son Francesco, an integral part of the Caffè Sicilia team, has a strong bond with the local farmers, "increasingly solid and unequivocal", and with the seasons, "at any time of the year we have fresh ingredients on our hands".

The strength of workmanship and ingredients

Rigour and processing techniques that respect the ingredients to maximise their characteristics are found in all the maison's specialities, always restrained, never cloying, incomparably elegant: sliced cakes, gelato, biscuits, mini-roasted meats, candied fruit, Frutta Martorana, almond milk and preserves under glass. Corrado Assenza's exclusive speciality Mielarò, aromatised honey in 9 flavours inspired by the territory, "with honey used as an extractor, container and vehicle for the perfumes of fruits, flowers, vegetables and spices, to be transferred into sweet and savoury dishes, of land and sea". On sale and for tasting in the pastry bar in the centre of Noto, pampered by the priceless Sicilian welcome: an experience within an experience. Some products can also be purchased online.

Caffè Sicilia | Noto (SR) | c.so Vittorio Emanuele, 125 | tel. 0931.835013 | caffesicilia.it