Last night my oldest daughter got home from cheerleading at 8:00 pm, went upstairs to do her homework by 8:05 and was back downstairs asking me if I thought we could find some Ossau Irraty style cheese for French Class tomorrow. Mmm... in our little Midwestern Mayberry town with one little Mom and Pop grocer?
Uh, I don't think so. And since it was now about 8:15 pm there wasn't time to scour the metro area nearby hoping to find it either.
She brought out her list of foods and her second choice (purely by mistake on her part) was Black Pudding. I smiled. "I know what Black Pudding is and I really don't think you want to make it for class tomorrow...."
After she learned it involved thickening blood she decided that perhaps she would save that one for another time.
I glanced over her list of French foods from the Basque area and saw one I thought was do-able.
Basque Touron. A candy made from honey and almonds similar to almond paste or marzipan.
Looking online I found a site that offered images of brightly colored touron (or sometimes spelled Turron) candies. Many times red, but other brightly colored versions, some with nuts added or sometimes chocolate... pressed into a loaf pan and sliced to serve.
A quick trip to the grocery netted me the almond paste, but at $5 per small can I decided the kids in French Class could get a tiny smidgen of a taste - not a whole slice!
To make the Touron Bites you see above;
1 can almond paste
food colors
Divide the almond paste into 3 or more portions, depending on how many colors you want to use. I used three.
Work a bit of color into each portion.
Roll each into a log with your hands and then gently roll out each log into a strip about 2 inches wide and 10 inches long. Stack the colored strips on top of each other, gently roll them again to bond and then using a sharp knife, cut lengthwise down the center making two strips and lay one on top of the other doubling it's height.
Again, gently roll a rolling pin on top to bond them, flipping the strip over to each side to roll. When you have a finished strip, cut into bite sized portions.
I got 29 bite sized samples from 1 can.
*You could add some coconut, crushed pistachio's or other nuts or chocolate to this recipe too!
