Turron in Jijona

In the province of Alicante is the city of Jijona, which is home to more than 30 turrón factories (a traditional Christmas sweet, a kind of nougat with almonds). The two classic types of turrón are called just “Jijona” (soft, like halva) and “Alicante” (hard, white, correctly supplying dentists with clients who broke their teeth on it), their composition is simple: almonds, sugar, honey, egg white. Today there are dozens of varieties of turron with fruit, other nuts, air rice, chocolate and so on. The sweetness has Arabic roots, while the Spanish version is considered to come from the province of Alicante. The biggest selection is before Christmas, when turróns are in every supermarket, with many budget options priced between €2 and €4 per bar (usually 400g). At other times of the year you can buy tourrons in Alicante in some cafes specialising in ice cream (especially Café Xixona), in a couple of sweet stalls at the main entrance to the central market and in a few tourron shops in the old part of town.