Gianduiotto

Gianduiotto (Italian: [dʒanduˈjɔtto]; Piedmontese: giandojòt [dʒaŋdʊˈjɔt]) is a chocolate originating in the Piedmont region of Italy.

It is a specialty of Turin, and takes its name from gianduja, the preparation of chocolate and hazelnut used for gianduiotti and other sweets (including Nutella and bicerin di gianduiotto).

This preparation itself is named after Gianduja, a mask in commedia dell'arte, a type of Italian theater, that represents the archetypal Piedmontese.

The official "birth" of gianduiotti was in 1852 in Turin, by Pierre Paul Caffarel and Michele Prochet, the first to completely grind hazelnuts into a paste before adding them to the cocoa and sugar mix.

The idea of mixing hazelnut pieces to "standard" chocolates is said to have arisen during Napoleon's reign, when importing cocoa from South America became difficult.