Nougat

nougat the French and also English name, derived from the Latin nux (nut), for a confection of boiled honey and/or sugar syrup, mixed with beaten egg white, nuts, and preserved fruit. The ancestry of nougat can plausibly be traced back to medieval times and, beyond that, to early Arab sweetmeats.

Since the beginning of the 18th century, and possibly earlier, production of nougat has been particularly associated with the French town Montélimar (Rhône-Alpes); hence the occasional use of the word ‘Montelimar’ as a synonym for ‘nougat’ in English. This association has been the subject of a study by Durand (1993).