Cremona
Food Tradition
TORRONE CREMONESE
Cremona is known as torrone’s hometown. Torrone “cremonese”, or classic torrone, was invented in the XV century, for the wedding of Francesco Sforza, the governor of Milan, and Bianca Maria Visconti. We think the name “torrone” was inspired by the bell tower of Cremona, the Torrazzo, which is, with its 112 meters of height, the highest brick tower in Europe. In spite of its simple recipe, torrone is a Christmas pastry appreciated worldwide, and the major torrone industries have their head office in Cremona.
The origin of Torrone has always been a subject of controversy between various cities mainly because of the lack of information. His history probably dates back to Roman times; a legend tells that the Romans were defeated at the Battle of Irpinia, then they were taken prisoner and fed with Torrone. Another version is the one that wants Torrone of Arabic origin, although it is not easy to identify an analogy of ingredients as the recipe over the centuries has undergone substantial changes. While in Cremona, the origin of Torrone is dated October 25, 1441, on the occasion of the marriage between Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. To celebrate the wedding some confectioners realized the famous sweet shaped Torrazzo, which is the tallest church tower in the city. The reason for the success of this pastry in ancient times could be due to the ease of maintenance. In an era when there were no fridges and conservation of Foreign ingredients was problematic, a food made of hazelnuts (which once dried could last a whole year) honey and flour (available all year) was a very good source of food.
Today there are many varieties of this candy, which mainly are divided into soft and hard. The consistence of Torrone depends mainly on the cooking mode which in some cases can even reach 12 hours. The second big difference is between Torrone with almonds or nuts. In addition to these first major distinctions there are lots of variants that affect the "coverage" that can be of chocolate (white fondant milk) or almond paste or marzipan. In Cremona is still held every year the “Festa del Torrone”.
THE HISTORY
PRODUCTION
For classic torrone’s production are used only this ingredients:
-White sugar
-Egg white
-Honey
-sweet shelled almonds
-Aromas(Vanilla, cinnamon)
-Thick and white foil, made with white flour, which generally covers both top and bottom side.
There are two types of torrone recipe: soft torrone’s recipe and hard torrone’s recipe, and the main difference is in the cooking time, which is longest in hard torrone’s recipe.
Torrone’s producting process expects these phases:
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Almonds’ drying.
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Almonds’ reduction
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Honey and egg white amalgam at elevate temperatures.
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almonds’ addition to the amalgam.
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Addition of aromas;
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Torrone passes on a tape, where is divided into large pieces;
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possible coverage with host;
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Cooling
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possible chocolate coverage.
In Cremona we can find 4 main producers of torrone cremonese: Sperlari, Vergani, Rivoltini e Fieschi.
The first two companies are among the most important producers of Torrone from Cremona, and currently also rely heavily on the export of Torrone and other confectionery products abroad. Both have undergone incredible changes from the technological point of view, from the production of hand crafted Torrone in 1800, when they started. In order to emerge on the market they had to be updated, taking care of the healthy aspect of products. In fact, after a meeting with Vergani managers, we found that there is a growing demand for quality controls, in particular for raw materials used and for the storage of various items.
In addition to technical and technological innovations, we must also underline the expansion of productive chains, which now no longer exclusively dedicate to the Torrone in all its forms and varieties, but also to other confectionery products such as chocolate, candies and the traditional Cremona’s Mustard.
Rivoltini and Fieschi remain two important names in the production of Torronw as usual. Indeed maintain workshops, adapted and updated according to modern needs.