The gianduiotto, or the first individually wrapped chocolate in history is Italian! This delight is indisputably the king of chocolates and precisely it is mainly presented in gilded paper and vaguely resembles an ingot.
The gianduiotto
The gianduiotto represents the confectionery industry more than any other product, and alone on a tray it is “tradition”! Some see in its shape an overturned boat, a parallelepiped, but that unique and particular dimension derives from craftsmanship.
It seems that in the pastry shops, to give shape to the Turin chocolate par excellence, give a "spoon stroke" to the pasta being processed. That skill gave birth to the typical Piedmontese chocolate. The first name attributed by the Piedmontese to the new cioccolatino fu "Givù", that is "morsel". Known today all over the world, the gianduiotto was officially born in 1865; when the Piedmontese chocolatiers saw a sharp decrease in the import of cocoa.
The price of this nectar of the gods literally skyrocketed. However, the crisis meant the actual birth of the gianduiotto. The almost "alchemical" balance of the ingredients of this heavenly chocolate, derives from these very specific historical reasons, dating back to the Napoleonic era.
History of the gianduiotto
The blocking of cocoa imports changed everything. Michele Prochet, a famous chocolate artisan, to remedy the situation decided to replace part of the cocoa with an extremely widespread and valuable local product.
We are talking about the round and crunchy hazelnuts from the Langhe, with an intense and delicate taste; shortly after, the launch of the chocolate! It is said, in fact, that in 1866, during the traditional Carnival party, an actor dressed as Gianduja, the characteristic Piedmontese mask, had a greedy idea. The genius consisted in giving the cheering crowd poured through the streets of the city, the new confectionery goodness. This gesture of goliardic generosity was interpreted as a sort of baptism, which tied the mask to the chocolate.
From one moment to the next, Gianduja called the new chocolates by their own name. Nevertheless, the gianduiotto or (in Piedmontese giandojòt) was the first individually wrapped chocolate, back in 1865, a real novelty for those times.
Hazelnuts and cocoa
Even today it is wrapped in golden or silver paper, which embellishes it and preserves its fragrance. Produced for the first time by the well-known Turin confectionery company Caffarel, today other confectionery companies also sell gianduiotti; such as Pernigotti, Novi, Venchi, among others, as well as all the small Turin chocolatiers, especially at Christmas. Therefore, that providential and wise balance between dark chocolate, milk chocolate and hazelnut paste immediately made the fortune of this exquisite chocolate. However, once upon a time the high quantity of hazelnuts present in the dough did not allow the chocolate to be produced in forms. For a long time the gianduiotto was cut by hand, precisely with a "spoon stroke".
Once the gianduiotto was consumed only during the Christmas period, but today it is easily found all year round. “Il ingottino” is always a delicious sweet, pleasant to eat at any time of the day, even with a good coffee.
Production of gianduiotto
Today, however, there are two methods most used for its production: extrusion and conching. Extrusion is the method that provides for pouring of the dough on plates without molds, with the help of specific machines designed ad hoc. This is a technique that allows you to produce gianduiotti with a consistency that is neither too soft nor too compact. The conching method refers only to the molded gianduiotto, a more industrial production technique. Even today, however, many in Piedmont make these chocolates by hand, even at home. Several varieties of fillings popular on the market: milk, dark, coffee, chilli pepper, pistachio.
photo source - Facebook
