The first commercial import of cocoa beans in Torino dates back to 1606. This city grew to become one of the main Italian capitals of chocolate and developed very characteristic recipes destined to earn international success.
The queen of Turin’s chocolate delicacies is gianduia, a heavenly mix of hazelnuts and chocolate that inspired the formula of the most commercially successful hazelnut and cocoa spread you can think of.

We all know how the best inventions are often triggered by necessity. Especially in Italian history, recipes can stem from a twist of political change. The birth of gianduia is a brilliant example of this.
In 1806 Napoleon imposed the infamous Continental System, in an attempt to boycott English economy. The blockade on European harbours under French control starved the continent of British colonial goods like coffee, sugar, tobacco, cotton and – guess what? – cocoa.
Opposite to Napoleon’s popularity, the price of cocoa rapidly skyrocketed due to scarcity of supply, but chocolatiers in Turin didn’t lose heart. They turned to one of the most available and delicious product of their land – specifically of the nearby Langhe region: the tonda e gentile hazelnut (today a Protected Geographical Indication product, renown worldwide for its excellent quality).
They managed to replace about 30% of the cocoa with hazelnut paste thus inventing a chocolate that started selling in small wrapped pieces called gianduiotti.