AI-generated illustration
Martinique
Roasted peanuts set in cane sugar caramel, nougat pays is crunched just as it is, along a beach or at a market vendor's stall, throughout Martinique.
Confectionery from Martinique.
AI-generated illustration
In the French West Indies, roasted peanuts are commonly called ‘pistaches’: peanuts were already present before the arrival of the first colonists, and as early as the 17th century accounts compared them to pistachios, whilst acknowledging that there was no connection between the two, which did not prevent the name from taking hold. This is where the confectionery's second name, ‘nougat-pistaches’, comes from: in Martinique, nougat-pays is a nougatine made with peanuts, called pistaches in Creole.
AI-generated illustration
Nougat pistache is thought to have been known since the 18th century, coming to light in a literary work around 1827 under the names ‘sucres pistaches’ or ‘nougat pistaches’. Even today, the food brochure of the Comité martiniquais du tourisme lists it among the treats to nibble whilst strolling: it invites visitors to ‘bite into the nougat pays and tablettes coco of the traditional market vendors’, alongside coconut water, cane juice and the fried balaous of the beach bars.
Appearance
A slab of peanuts coated in dry caramel, roughly 2 to 3 cm thick, cut into squares or any other shape.
Taste
The aromas of peanuts and dark caramel, both distinctly present.
the traditional version.
a variation also made in Martinique.
the recipe can also be made this way.
the cane sugar melts completely over a low heat, without stirring, into a smooth, lump-free golden caramel.
off the heat, the unsalted roasted peanuts are quickly tipped into the caramel and stirred.
the nougat is poured onto an oiled work surface and rolled out with an oiled rolling pin into a 2 to 3 cm slab.
before cooling completely, it is cut into squares; it is then kept in a tin.
AI-generated illustration
Nougat pays is simply eaten by hand as a snack, just as the market vendors sell it alongside tablettes de coco. In cooking, it is chopped and slipped into a dark chocolate ganache tart (between 56 and 66% cocoa): the aroma of peanuts and dark caramel pairs wonderfully with the bitterness of the chocolate.
Nougat pays carries no official quality mark: a popular West Indian confectionery, it does not fall under any PDO (AOP), PGI (IGP) or Label Rouge scheme known to date.
No producer is listed for this product yet.