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A sweet wedding gift

The chocolate of the Savoy Family

“Long life to the bride and groom!” How true it is! The history of chocolate in Turin and in Piedmont would probably have had a different ending - and another flavour - without the marriage (1587) of Caterina, daughter of Philip II of Spain, and Carlo Emanuele I, son of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy.

For the occasion of this wedding, the cooks of the Royal Palace made much ado about preparing and serving hot chocolate to the guests.

Actually however, the history of chocolate in Turin began a few years earlier. Following the peace treaty of Chateau Cambrésis in 1559, Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, general of the Spanish army under the Emperor Charles V, returned to his homeland bearing cocoa seeds. The following year, to celebrate the transfer of the capital of the Kingdom of Savoy from Chambéry to Turin, he symbolically served all the city a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

It was to be during the wedding feast of his son, Carlo Emanuele I , that the remaining diffidence of Turin’s aristocrats concerning the “food of the gods” would be done away with. Chocolate not only conquered Turin, but also insured itself a place in the history, the customs, and the economy of the city, which was destined to develop over the centuries.


Photo: Carlo Emanuele I











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