Traditional Italian Cremona torrone with toasted almonds, hazelnuts, honey and a firm white nougat structure made with precise sugar temperatures.

Torrone di Cremona is one of the sweets most closely identified with Lombardy. The famous Cremonese story connects the confection with the 1441 marriage of Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza and with the Torrazzo, the city's great bell tower. That account belongs to local tradition and should be treated as a legend rather than as definitive proof of the invention of torrone. Honey and nut confections existed around the Mediterranean long before the fifteenth century.

Lombardy, explored through its landscape, history, food traditions and local identity. Lombardy is often introduced through two images: the polished energy of Milan and the villas reflected in Lake Como. Both are real, but neither is sufficient. This is Italy’s most populous region and one of its great economic engines, yet its identity was built as much in Alpine valleys, rice fields, dairy pastures, medieval cities, monastic estates and lakeside workshops as in fashion hous