Nougat recipe

So we have been discussing a nougat  recipe on the subtleties list.

Recipe for Mu'aqqad (Nougat) of Sugar
Dissolve a ratl of sugar in two ratls of aromatic rosewater on a moderate fire, and when it is dissolved, strain it through a woolen cloth. Then return it to the fire and stir it gently until it is well cooked. Then remove it from the fire so that it cools slightly. Beat the whites of a dozen eggs in a dish until they give up their foam, and throw them on the melted sugar. Return it to the fire and beat it with the confectionery cane  until it whitens and takes the consistency of 'asîda and remove it from the fire and put in half a ratl of pistachios, if possible, and half a ratl of peeled almonds, and serve it forth, God willing.

I have not been in agreement with some of the folks on there about telling the new person to "use a modern recipe".  I think we should be doing more looking at the period recipe and diagramming what is actually going on from a candy/chemistry perspective.  I believe that this would be a better learning opportunity for new confectioners if they start to understand what it is they are making.  In saying "go use the modern" we end up taking the lazy/easy way out.   We also point people to potentially the wrong, modern thing.

( Candy redaction/analysis... )

Divinity is probably closer in nature, cooking method and consistency than nougat. But I didn't look that up, until after I diagrammed the historical recipe.

White gingerbread

I am looking at recipes for River Wars cooking competition. If I do not end up judging, I want to enter things in the sweets category. I figure one should not just be all sculpture all the time. Candy making is actually kinda cool and interesting.  And tricky.  That makes it interesting. Here's recipe #2 (2 dishes per category can be entered).( Read on... )