The origins of the gianduiotto , like those of many other confectionery creations, are rooted in history, which however, often and willingly, ends up in legend.
The history of gianduiotto , in fact, in addition to numerous certainties despite being relatively recent, also presents a series of unknowns, some of which will perhaps never be fully clarified.
Leaving aside the details that emerged ex post, here is a brief history of the origins of the gianduiotto, to be read while tasting one of these traditional confectionery creations in the versions reworked by the pastry chef Enrico Rizzi .
Origin of gianduiotto
To explain the origin of gianduiotto, we must first reveal its composition. And to do so, we must necessarily talk about gianduia .
Gianduia: what it is and where it comes from
The "precursor" of gianduiotto is the cream known as gianduia (or gianduja). This consists of a mixture of chocolate (i.e. cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter in varying proportions) and hazelnut cream .
The hazelnut oil present in the latter is responsible for the consistency of gianduia, which is creamier than "simple" chocolate. Gianduia is used not only in traditional gianduiotti, but also in numerous creams and pastry preparations.
Gianduia ( whose name derives from the popular Turin mask Gianduja ) is a typical Piedmontese cream, and more specifically from Turin, whose origins are thought to derive from the economic blockade imposed by Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th century against raw materials coming from England and in particular from its colonies.
One of the main targets of this measure was cocoa, whose price skyrocketed , thus relegating it to the luxury category. To avoid its cost, the creative pastry chefs of Turin chose to partially replace the cocoa with the cream of hazelnuts from the Langhe , much more easily available and therefore cheaper.
The recipe was later improved in collaboration with Caffarel by the chocolatier Michele Prochet, who had the intuition to toast the hazelnuts and grind them finely before obtaining the mixture .
Some doubts remain about the historical reconstruction of the motivations that drove Piedmontese master pastry chefs to create gianduia, because in reality the Napoleonic embargo affected another fundamental ingredient of chocolate, namely sugar, also used in gianduia.
Although unconfirmed, this theory about the origin of gianduia (and therefore of gianduiotto) remains perfectly plausible and is still the most widely accepted today.
Read also: The origins of cocoa and chocolate
History of gianduiotto
Having explained what gianduia is and how it probably came into being, we can now continue to tell the story of gianduiotto.
The transition from gianduia cream to the actual gianduiotto took place within the Caffarel factories , the brand that plays a leading role in this story: here, in 1865 , the first examples were packaged in their characteristic shape called "a givò", similar to an upturned boat.
To launch the new creation, Caffarel relied on Gianduja , a bon vivant and pleasure-seeker, but at the same time a gentleman and generous: during the local Carnival, the masks on the floats threw the sweets to the crowd, thus making them known to the people of Turin.
Caffarel also had the intuition that gave gianduiotto another of its typical characteristics, distributing its new product not pre-packaged, but individually, wrapped in gold paper on which Gianduja was depicted.
Soon, other confectioners in the area also began to prepare their own version of giandujotti, which over the decades became known in Italy and beyond.
The history of gianduiotti thus arrives today, with the sweet that has now become a cornerstone of the Italian chocolate tradition. And it is ready to leave an even more marked mark thanks to the reinterpretations of the most capable Italian pastry chefs, starting with those of Enrico Rizzi .
Enrico Rizzi's Gianduiotti
Enrico Rizzi, always attentive to combining tradition and experimentation, has decided to "get back to work" on gianduiotti inside his open-view artisan laboratory located in via Correnti 5 in Milan .
To succeed in this undertaking, as always he took care to personally select the highest quality ingredients , starting with the best varieties of cocoa, up to a specific Piedmont IGP hazelnut that allows him to give a marked local note to his gianduiotti.
Unable, due to his characteristic creativity, to limit himself to simply reproducing gianduiotti as they are, Enrico has also experimented with a series of courageous combinations, recreating traditional Piedmontese sweets through his famous Symphonies that harmonize different tastes and aromas.
Thus, alongside the gianduiotto with Piedmont IGP hazelnuts or Colombian dark chocolate , the pastry chef also offers his gourmet customers the versions Sinfonia Aomori (white chocolate with Japanese Mat-Cha green tea and toasted black sesame seeds), Sinfonia dei Golosi (caramel chocolate, cocoa beans and Maldon salt), Sinfonia di Sicilia (white chocolate, orange blossom almonds, candied citrus fruit and jasmine) and Sinfonia Rosé (ruby chocolate with lychee, raspberry and rose).
The history of gianduiotti thus comes to an end, at least temporarily, with the past and future of these confectionery creations meeting inside Enrico Rizzi's boxes.
The best way to taste Enrico's gianduiotti is to come and visit him directly in his boutique on Via Correnti in Milan, or to order one of the elegant gift boxes available in the online shop .
