“I don’t want to be presumptuous,’’ Murat says, about his “nougah,’’ as he pronounces it, “but I find it is great.’’ The candy maker should know. Murat’s childhood treat was nougat de Montelimar, a town known for its almonds and famous for the nougat made with them.
The Frenchman started his business two years ago. He makes about 30 pounds at once, usually on Sundays, when the chocolate shop is closed. “Even on an artisanal scale,’’ he says, “this is tiny.’’
In the back of the shop, Murat exchanges a black leather jacket for a white chef’s jacket and a pouchy hat with small black and white checks. With dark hair to his collar and sideburns trimmed close and to a point, Murat looks more like a rock star than a candy maker.
Murat came to this country 18 years ago. In 1996, he and his wife at the time moved to Vermont because they wanted to raise their then 3-year-old daughter, Annick, in a congenial place.
The Daily Chocolate kitchen is just below street level with one wall of exposed stone and brick and a dark tile floor. The space is pleasantly cool and quiet. Murat begins the nougat by toasting trays of almonds, and their aroma fills the open room. Then there’s the ping, ping, ping as he drops shelled pistachios into a bowl. He weeds out any nuts that don’t look right. “If there is a bad nut in two bars,’’ he says, “it’s quite a loss.’’
He buys organic nuts directly from California and Nevada growers. “Even with shipping it’s cheaper than buying from the distributor,’’ he says, “and you get to have a relationship with the farmer.’’
Other ingredients, also organic, are honey from Northwoods Apiaries in Westfield, Vt., and local eggs from the Fat Hen, a store across from the shop. With small batches, he only needs two dozen of the whites. The yolks sometimes end up used in the shop or at a nearby restaurant. “They sell my nougat,’’ he says.
