An essential dessert on Italian tables at Christmas, torrone (nougat) is a speciality with very ancient origins. According to some Roman hirstorians and writers such as Titus Livius and Martial, in ancient Rome, there was a very similar recipe called cupedia or cupeto. It is the same name by which nougat is known in Irpinia, coincidence? Absolutely not.

Because it is precisely in the historical region of Campania that this exquisite dessert probably originated. The legend says that after the Roman defeat in the Caudina Valley, the Samnites offered this delicacy to the Romans who, if they survived, would bear witness to their greatness. The cupedia in had the double purpose of feeding the Romans, who were about to die of starvation, as well as consoling them.