Domori Gianduiotti, Casket of Italian Classic Gianduiotto Chocolates, 200 Grams / 7.05 Ounces

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Gianduiotto isn’t available all year round. Artisan boutiques halt production when spring is near to avoid selling melted chocolates, which is actually another gourmet delicacy made with the gianduia hazelnut paste. The Gianduiotto chocolate is made with a chocolate and hazelnut paste, the gianduja paste, and is wrapped in aluminum foil to improve its preservation. It’s a job only women can do, for it requires a lot of passion, patience and precision. A bit like hand stitching. It can be quite tiresome, I need to rotate my gianduiere in shifts otherwise their hands get muscle cramps.” They’re Piedmont’s gold, absolutely the best in the world,” he adds, before explaining that the hazelnuts are priced at €16 per kilogram versus €10 per kilogram for high quality cocoa. Gianduiotto chocolate is made from a paste of cocoa mixed with premium hazelnuts. A.Giordano Torino

After mixing them with sugar and the very little cocoa they still had on their shelves, they were able to create a rich paste that was eventually refined and honed into gianduiotto. The most savory artisan gianduiotti are those with the highest percentage, usually between 25 and 40%, of hazelnuts. Gianduiotto was originally born out of necessity – to overcome a cocoa shortage in mainland Europe. Initially called givù (or stubs,) gianduiotto became famous when the general public apparently got their first real taste as the treats were handed out during Turin’s 1865 carnival celebrations by an actor dressed as Gianduja.Rich in aromatic oil, they blend perfectly with, and exalt the flavor of the cocoa butter, creating a tender, voluptuous and creamy concoction. It’s a chocolate of prestige, I’ve always loved it,” says Nobili. “I’m filled with joy when after a hard day’s work, cutting and shaping 48 kilograms of gianduiotti with another gianduiera, I finally see how perfect and beautiful they look, and how I’m constantly improving.” The hazelnuts used to make gianduiotto can be found growing in the Langhe region of Italy. Cooper/ullstein bild/Getty Images

The secret of the craft, says Nobili, lies in the firm and rapid movement of the wrists and hands to scoop up the paste before it solidifies, smooth it over with spatulas and give it final cut with a butter knife to achieve the prism-like shape. Castagna has reinvented gianduiotto by creating a highly refined, roundish take called Giuinott (meaning “young lad” in local dialect) with premium Venezuelan cacao and sugar cane instead of sugar and 40% hazelnuts. Artisan chocolatier Guido Castagna has created a highly-refined version of gianduiotto chocolate called Giuinott. Castagna Turin's love for chocolate runs so deep it's no wonder locals found a way to blend it with their coffee. The city is home to il bicerin, a velvety beverage made from hot chocolate, espresso and whipped cream. It is said to be have been invented in 1763 at a shop by the same name. It's best to enjoy a nice cup of bicerin after you've taken a stroll through Via Roma and the nearby Turin Cathedral ( Duomo di Torino).The name gianduiotto is thought to come from carnival figure Gianduja, a jolly wine-loving peasant, popular in the 1800s, who embodied the epicurean nature of locals. To create gianduiotti, they press the gianduia mix into lasagne-like sheets. These sheets are then shredded and beaten into a paste on an old granite basin, just like those used in the past, says Faletti. Ask an Italian what giandujia (sometimes known as gianduja) is and they could give two different answers, depending their age, where they’re from and how much they love chocolate. The word refers both to a traditional Carnival mask – from the name Gioan d’la douja (‘John of the tankard’) – and to the delicious creamy paste made of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar and finely ground hazelnuts.

Making gianduiotto by hand requires painstaking precision. Ramella Alberto/AGF/Universal Images Group/Getty Images When Napoleon Bonaparte conquered northern Italy and declared war against Britain in 1806, he banned all English-imported goods, including cocoa beans. A century or so later, Pietro Ferrero, a confectioner from Piedmont, created Nutella based on that old recipe.As a consequence, pastry makers in Turin decided to switch to something a little closer to home – the hazelnuts that grew in abundance in the surrounding lush hills. According to revered artisan chocolatier Guido Castagna, gianduiotto is far more than just an iconic chocolate. It’s a symbol of Turin, and a big part of the city’s identity. Now there’s just one left – the A.Giordano boutique. Only a handful of gianduiere remain at the historic chocolate lab, which was founded in 1897. Castagna often holds wine tastings, pairing Giuinott with Piedmont’s Vermouth wines and other sweet alcoholic drinks like passito, which he believes complements the chocolate tasting experience. For those who prefer their chocolate in a Nutella-style spread, gianduiotto has its own version, “crema spalmabile di Gianduja,” with a slightly granular texture that tastes wonderful on bread.

Gianduiotti are produced from a paste of sugar, cocoa and hazelnut Tonda Gentile delle Langhe. The official "birth" of gianduiotti was in 1852 in Turin, by Pierre Paul Caffarel and Michele Prochet, the first to completely grind hazelnuts into a paste before adding them to the cocoa and sugar mix. [1] A six-times gold medal winner at the International Chocolate Awards, an independent competition recognizing excellence in fine chocolate making, Giuinott comes in a glossy copper-colored wrap.The idea of mixing hazelnut pieces to "standard" chocolates is said to have arisen during Napoleon's reign, when importing cocoa from South America became difficult. With "raw" cocoa's high prices, local producers started incorporating bits of roasted hazelnuts (which were locally grown and readily available in Piedmont) to make the final product more affordable. Gianduiera Ambra Nobili, 32, has been making A. Giordano’s gianduiotti ever since she graduated from a local pastry academy. Gianduiotto is now a specific chocolate type alongside dark, white, and milk chocolate,” says Castagna.