In the medieval hill town of Erice in Trapani, Sicily, Maria Grammatico makes her exceptional torrone in the traditional manner, following several precise steps.
She slowly cooks honey in a double boiler to concentrate the flavor and reduce it to a dense syrup, then whips egg whites until stiff and folds them gently into the honey. This mixture becomes a foamy mass as it cooks over low heat. During this time, she cooks sugar until it reaches the soft ball stage, then adds this sugar syrup to the honey-egg white mixture and stirs it to blend. Just as it starts to harden, she folds toasted whole almonds and pistachios into the mixture. This torrone is then poured into a rectangular pan. A wooden board is placed on top and weighted with bricks. The rich, nut-studded torrone cools until it is firm but still sticky and pliable. It is then hand cut and wrapped.
