The “Gianduiotto”, King of all chocolates
Please tell me you have tried a Gianduiotto chocolate at least ONCE in your lifetime? No? Ok then read a little about it here and then RUN to get some to try!
The Gianduiotto is a chocolate created in the Piedmont area of Northern Italy and is a mixture of chocolate and hazelnut intertwined with sugar, cocoa and cocoa butter to create a creamy textured paste that is then made into a liquid form by a process called “conching” and poured into pre-shaped molds. Its shape is worldly recognizable as ingots or resembling an upside down boat.
The Gianduiotto will be presented in a gold or silver foil wrapping and its history is just as fascinating as the chocolate itself, not only in its luxurious appeal and unique flavor but also that is represents Giandoja, one of the more famous masks in the initial era of live theatre representing the Piedmont region and also a symbol of chocolate making in that particular area.
The name Gianduiotti was formally coined around 1852 in Turin when the grinding of hazelnuts into chocolate was officially starting to trend as less of a way to make chocolate more affordable and more of a delicacy and different way to present confectionaries to the consumer. But what is also noteworthy of the Gianduiotto is the hazelnuts that are used in its preparation, in fact you cannot properly describe a Gianduiotti without talking about the famous “Langhe Tonda e Gentile Hazelnuts”
The “Tonda e Gentile” hazelnuts from the Langhe area are truly one of a kind with distinctive characteristics and cultivated with the highest level of regard. Anyone and everyone that has an interest in Hazelnuts knows that the very best come from the Piedmont Region in fact, the area where the hazelnuts are cultivated is so concentrated in high quality land and cultivation of foods and wines that it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The specific Piedmontese soil is able to sustain the hazelnut trees producing a sweeter, more delicate hazelnut perfect for its purpose in the Gianduja making process. The ONLY region that is able to sustain these particular hazelnut trees is the Piedmont area.
Ingredients really DO matter. So next time you are having a bite of chocolate, take a quick peek at the ingredients list to see where the ingredients are being sourced from and what ingredients are in the food you are putting in your body! Having whole ingredients will also guarantee that the flavor will be more enjoyable and don’t we ALL deserve the best especially when it comes to our chocolates?
