Sweet Spot

UP FRONTSweet SpotA migrant family brings hopes for a new life and an age-old recipe fortraditional nougat from southern Italy to Perth’s Swan Valley.WORDS BY JAN WALKER. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADRIAN LAMBERTMove over chocolate. Nougat is the new sweetheart ofsweets, especially in Western Australia’s Swan Valley. It’s here thatthe Italian-born Romeo family, headed by the father-and-sonteam of Alfonso and Andrea, recently opened Mondo Nougat.With a factory, retail showroom and café rolled into one,Mondo Nougat invites clients to experience their fruit and nutladenconfection, sandwiched between layers of rice paper, frompan to plate. One bite can transport you to southern Italy.That’s where the Mondo Nougat story began, explains Andrea,who looks after the marketing side of Mondo. As a teenager,Andrea’s father, Alfonso, was apprenticed to an uncle who rana little pastry shop in Calabria where he learnt to make cakes,biscotti, gelati and nougat, or torrone as it is known in Italy.Later he married Antonietta, a Perth girl of Italian extractionwho had returned to the old country. With a young family ofthree sons — Andrea, Simone and Marco — Alfonso decidedit was time to start up his own business. And, while he was at it,move to Australia.“Dad had been to Australia on holidays and absolutely lovedit,” Andrea says. “He saw a lot more opportunities than in Italy.He decided, ‘This is a place where I can see myself bringing up afamily... And if I’ve got to start from zero and start my own placein another town, I can do it in another country.’”In 1991 the Romeo family opened their first business inAustralia. It was a traditional Italian patisserie in Midland, whereAlfonso made cakes and biscotti throughout the year, and nougatat the customary time. (“In Europe you can have nougat atChristmas — like Easter eggs at Easter,” Andrea explains.) Butunaware of this, Alfonso’s Australian clients kept asking for it allyear round. There was an “Aha!” moment and Mondo Nougatwas born.“In 1999 we decided to do the nougat full-time,” Andrearecalls. The family shut the shop and opened a nougat factoryin the Perth suburb of Morley. The enterprise grew, based onexpanding local, interstate and export orders.“The space that looked so big when we first moved in becameAbove Alfonso Romeo and son Andrea with (centre) some ofthe fresh temptations on sale at their café and (right) samplesof Mondo Nougat’s packaged confectionery.COUNTRY STYLE APRIL 2006 33

UP FRONTtoo small, and it was a matter of deciding where to from here?”Andrea says. In 2005 they faced a choice between building a biggerfactory or diversifying. The prospect of adding a retail outlet anda café proved more appealing, and so the move was made to theSwan Valley, on the north-eastern fringe of Perth“It’s great to be able to welcome people back into our businessand Dad’s really happy because he’s been able to do his cakes andice-creams as well,” Andrea says.Visitors are invited to watch how the nougat is made througha viewing window and Andrea is on hand to answer questionsand offer free samples. The essential ingredients are honey,egg whites, sugar and glucose, slowly cooked for several hoursin an industrial-sized bain marie while being constantly stirred.There are two styles of nougat — soft andhard, also known as ‘crunchy’. Hard nougat iscooked for longer, taking up to seven hours tocrystallise the honey and create the crunch.The almonds, apricots and cherries —depending on the flavour — are added towardsthe end of the cooking process. The mixture isthen poured onto trays between layers of ricepaper and allowed to set.The origins of nougat are much debated,according to Andrea.“It’s obviously a French word but my researchshows there were references to nougat-styleproducts in Roman and Egyptian times,”he says. “There was a product in the MiddleEast called gaz. It appears to have gone from the Middle East tosouthern Italy, then into Europe.”The texture varies according to geography.“The further up north into Italy you go, the softer it becomes,”Andrea says. “In southern Italy, it’s sold in big blocks — likeconcrete — in the markets and they break it off with a hammerand chisel. You get to places like Belgium and Switzerland andFrance, and it’s so soft that people mistake it for marshmallows.”Mondo Nougat produces one crunchy nougat and various softvarieties, including lemon, cherry and cappuccino. Promoted asa healthy treat that’s gluten-, lactose- and cholesterol-free, therange includes chocolate-coated nougat and nougat bars, largechunks of nougat for cafés and restaurants, and jars of Creme deNougat for chefs to dollop on ice-cream or asponge cake. The simple wrapped sweets thatare Mondo’s mainstay are available in shopsthroughout Australia and via the internet.But it must be said that nibbling your nougatwith a belt of espresso while overlooking theSwan Valley takes some beating. &Mondo Nougat is at 640 Great NorthernHighway, Herne Hill, Western Australia. Telephone(08) 9296 0111 or visit www.mondonougat.com.auAbove, left Alfonso with a mass of freshlycooked nougat. Centre The café with itsviewing window. Right Marco Romeowith a tray of the finished product.34 COUNTRY STYLE APRIL 2006