Traditional Persian nougat is one of the world’s oldest and most beautiful confections. It may also be one of the world’s most unusual delicacies.

Commonly known as gaz, this sumptuous nougat originated in Isfahan, a province in Central Iran that was so grand it twice served as the capital of Persia. The name gaz comes from the Persian gaz-angebin, meaning “sap of angebin”. Angebin is a kind of wild tamarisk tree that grows in the Zagros Mountains in Isfahan. Gaz is often assumed to be the sap of that tree. Gaz is also called manna, just like the food sent from heaven in the Abrahamic texts.