It’s all Napoleon’s fault!
The birth of the Gianduiotto
The father of the Gianduiotto? Napoleon. The answer is not known exactly. However General Bonaparte did play a major role in the development of this chocolate.
Following the continental block imposed by Napoleon in 1806 in order to head off the English mercantile marine, it was difficult to receive commodities from the other side of the Atlantic. The block lasted for most of the 19th century, a period during which cocoa became a rare commodity in Europe and in Piedmont, making it difficult to continue the production of chocolate.
Michele Prochet never gave up and, in 1852, began adding chopped and roasted hazelnuts to the cocoa. The result of this mixture was the Gianduia paste, used for the production of the Gianduiotto. In the beginning, this special chocolate with its irregular boat shape was not called this, but rather givu, which in Piedmontese means “cigarette butt”. It would take until 1865 for this speciality to take its name from Gianduia, the typical Carnival mask of Turin. And it was Gianduia himself, during Carnival of the same year, who baptised the new chocolate: the first in the world to ever be wrapped in paper!
The Giangioiello
The imaginative master chocolatier, Silvio Bessone, once again amazes us with his creative talents: In the CioccolaTÒ Factory – a chocolate laboratory ...
The 2008 Golden Bar Award
The sixth edition of this prestigious competition organised by the Compagnia del Cioccolato in which the best chocolates available ...
Chocolate dinner amidst the stars
Friday, February 29, Alfredo Russo, Pier Bussetti, Stefano Gallo, Giovanni Grasso, Francesco Ciocatto – five stars of fine Torinese cuisine ...
Out to discover true cru, accompanied by François Pralus and Andrea Trinci
Cru, high quality cocoas from selected plantations, each of which is used for producing a special quality of chocolate, will be the subject of the lesson to be held on Saturday, March 1 ...
Torino is beauty + passion.
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