The capital of Piedmont is also, in Italy, the capital of chocolate. It was in Turin, following a permission to sell and exploit chocolate granted by the regent Jeanne Baptistine of Savoy Nemours in 1678, that the chocolate adventure began and developed.
In the 17th century, the widow of chocolatier Giambone imagined chocolate eggs for Easter. At the dawn of the 19th century in 1802, laboratories managed to make this product solid, which was previously liquid. It was then made into bars, either dark or milk chocolate, according to the customer’s taste.
The Gianduiotto, well-known among gourmets, owes its existence to Napoleon I’s continental blockade. Faced with the scarcity of cocoa, Turin chocolatiers added hazelnuts. This new, revolutionary, and unprecedented product was quickly adopted. It was nicknamed ‘Givo’ or ‘Givu’ in Piedmontese, meaning cigarette butt. Its name, Gianduiotto, is inspired by the Piedmontese mask Giandua.
Piedmont had its ‘doping’ product in the noble sense of the term. A mixture of chocolate, coffee, and milk: Baveresia. Alexandre Dumas père discovered it in 1852. It was served in small glasses, the Bicerins. The great novelist praised it, and it is known that Cavour was a great enthusiast. Closer to our time, in 1935, Pépino, a master ice cream maker, created the Pinguino, a chocolate ice cream in his shop at Carignan Square. Turin is a city full of treasures, and chocolate is a unique and pleasant way to discover it.
From square to square, you will stroll through its streets, its avenues, the banks of the Po, and like in the story of Hansel and Gretel, you will leave traces of your passage in the various shops and workshops where chocolate is handcrafted. If Paris has its bistros, each more famous than the other, Turin has its chocolate, with a more refined ambiance.
We leave the capital of Piedmont with regret as we cross Charles Félix Square, a well-known king among the people of Nice, and arrive at Porta Nuova station. The train, through Piedmont and its fertile plain, will take us back to Nice.
Thierry Jan
