food, photography, italy
The Day of the Dead (commonly known in Italy as “i Morti“) is a Catholic festivity occurring on November 2nd, right after All Saints’ Day. This is when most Italians visit the cemeteries and bring fresh flowers — often mums, a flower representing mourning and death — to the tombs of their loved ones. Back home, my dad usually lights a few red candles (lumini) and puts them on the window sill as a way to remember those of our family who aren’t with us anymore.
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For those who haven’t experienced torrone before, you are in for a treat.Torrone is SUPER yummy and definitely one of the most traditional Christmas treats in Italy. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas, if we didn’t finish dinner cutting a big bar of torrone into small pieces so the whole family could enjoy it. When I was a kid, I regularly found a bunch of delicious little torrone bars (torroncini) in my Christmas stocking along with chocolate coins wrapped in golden foil and a pack of cigarette-shaped chocolate candies (…so wrong, I know).
Torrone is pretty much a white nougat, i.e. a mixture of honey, sugar, whipped egg whites and toasted nuts, all held together by sheets of flavorless wafer paper. It can vary in consistency, shape, thickness, and flavor. This recipe is for a soft and chewy torrone — it’s loaded with toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios, with small bits of candied orange….
