Nougat

Nougat is a chewy or crunchy sweet made from sugar, honey or syrup combined with nuts, and often whipped egg white. The usual kind in western and southern Europe is a mousse of whipped egg white sweetened with sugar or honey, mixed with nuts or candied fruit and left to set: see how is nougat made?

From Baghdad to Montélimar

Forms of nougat are first recorded in Middle Eastern cookbooks of the Middle Ages, most securely in a 10th century book written in Baghdad, then the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Arab and Persian cooks often added spices and flower water, which European makers did not copy. In Iran, a soft pistachio nougat called gaz is still made, and the related sweet halva is recorded in Persia by at least the 9th century: see how is halva made?

The English word comes from French, which borrowed it from Old Occitan nogat, meaning nutty. Nougat is recorded in Provence in the 17th century, and Montélimar, a town in the Provençal interior, made it famous across Europe in the 19th century. Montélimar nougat is traditionally made with whipped egg white, sugar, lavender honey, roasted almonds and pistachios, vanilla, and a wafer of unleavened bread, and it received protected status in 2024. Spain has turrón and Italy torrone, names that come from the Latin torrere, to roast.

The accidental chocolate bar

The soft nougat inside many chocolate bars began as a mistake. In the early 20th century, the Pendergast Candy Company of Minneapolis made dark nougat for the German and Scandinavian immigrants of the American Midwest. In the early 1920s one batch was made with far too many eggs, producing a much airier sweet. Pendergast used it in a walnut flavoured bar called the Fat Emma, and Frank and Forrest Mars copied the idea for their 1923 Milky Way bar. Versions of this nougat are found in bars such as Snickers and Double Decker.

Nougat in Britain

In Britain, nougat is traditionally made in the southern European style and is commonly found at fairgrounds and seaside resorts. The most common factory made kind is pink and white, the pink often fruit flavoured, sometimes wrapped in edible rice paper with almonds and cherries.

What is in it

Peanut Nougat, as listed by Sweets and Candy. Sugar, glucose syrup, peanuts (19 per cent), water, palm and palm kernel fats, skimmed milk powder, chicken egg white powder, salt, honey, natural vanilla flavouring and sunflower lecithin. The retailer lists it as suitable for vegetarians and warns that it may contain pistachio and almond.

Allergy points

Nougat can carry several of the 14 major allergens at once. The recipe here contains peanuts, egg and milk, and may contain pistachio and almond, so it is unsafe for anyone allergic to any of them: see the 14 allergens explained for sweets and which sweets contain nuts?

In our pick and mix

We do not sell nougat. Our pick and mix is sold by the 100 g, and each sweet's card opens up to show its full ingredients and allergens.

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