Gianduiotto

The Gianduiotto (Piem., Giandojòt) is a Piedmontese chocolate whose shape is similar to an upturned boat. Gianduiotti are individually wrapped in a tinfoil cover, usually gold or silver-colored. It is the speciality of Turin, and takes its name from "Gianduja", a Carnival and marionette character who represents the archetypal Piedmontese.

Gianduiotti are produced from a paste of sugar, cocoa and the hazelnut "Tonda Gentile delle Langhe". The official “birth” of Gianduiotti is set at 1865, by a Michele Prochet, the first to completely grind hazelnuts to a paste before adding them to the cocoa and sugar mix.

Apparently, the idea of mixing hazelnut pieces to “standard” chocolates was born during Napoleon’s reign, when importing cocoa from South America became extremely difficult. “Raw” cocoa was extremely expensive, so local producers started incorporating bits of roasted hazelnuts (hazelnuts are locally grown and were easy to come by in Piedmont) to make the final product more affordable.

The Gianduiotto Code

In May 2006, the well-known writer and broadcaster from Asti, Bruno Gambarotta, produced a comic gastro-thriller entitled "Il codice Gianduiotto" ( _en. The Gianduiotto Code). The novel, published by Morganti Editori (ISBN 88-87549-74-5), is a parody of the bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" and centres on the mysteries of the secret formula for the Gianduiotto.