{{Short description|Northern Italian chocolate confectionary}} {{One source|date=June 2024}} {{Expand Italian|topic=cult|Gianduiotto|date=June 2024}} {{Italics title}} {{Infobox food | name = ''Gianduiotto'' | image = Gianduiotti.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Two ''gianduiotti'' | alternate_name = | country = Italy | region = Turin and Novi Ligure, Piedmont | creator = | course = | type = Chocolate | served = | main_ingredient = ''Gianduja'' (sugar, chocolate, hazelnuts) | variations = }}
'''''Gianduiotto''''' ({{IPA|it|dʒanduˈjɔtto|lang}}; {{langx|pms|giandojòt}} {{IPA|pms|dʒaŋdʊˈjɔt|}}) is a chocolate originating in the Piedmont region of Italy. ''Gianduiotti'' are shaped like ingots and individually wrapped in a (usually) gold- or silver-colored foil cover. They are a specialty of Turin, and take their name from ''gianduja'', the blend of chocolate and hazelnut used for ''gianduiotti'' and other sweets, including Nutella. This blend itself is named after Gianduja, a mask in commedia dell'arte, a type of Italian theater, that represents the Piemonte. Gianduja's tricorner hat inspired the shape of the ''gianduiotto''.
''Gianduiotti'' are produced from a paste of sugar, cocoa and hazelnut ''Tonda Gentile delle Langhe''. The official "birth" of ''gianduiotti'' was in 1852 in Turin, by Pierre Paul Caffarel and Michele Prochet, the first to grind hazelnuts into a paste before adding them to the cocoa and sugar mix.
Mixing hazelnut into "standard" chocolates began at an industrial scale in response to Britain's blockade of Napoleonic France and its allies in the early 19th century, which greatly limited Italian access to South American cocoa. With the high prices of raw cocoa, Turin's chocolate makers started incorporating bits of roasted hazelnuts, which were locally grown and readily available in Piedmont, to make the final product more affordable.<ref>{{Citation |contribution-url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/who-put-hazelnuts-in-my-c_b_4338508 |contribution=Who Put Hazelnuts in My Chocolate? The History of Nutella |date=25 November 2013 |last=Deitsch |first=Lauren |url=https://www.huffpost.com |title=Huffington Post |publisher= |location= }}</ref>
==See also== {{Commons category-inline}} {{Portal|Italy|Food}} * List of Italian desserts and pastries * ''Gianduja'' * Gianduja
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite news |last=Marchetti |first=Silvia |date=8 July 2022 |title=Why Italy's 'king of chocolate' is so delicious |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/why-italys-gianduiotto-chocolate-rules |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701183830/https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/why-italys-gianduiotto-chocolate-rules/ |archive-date=1 July 2022 |access-date=14 July 2025 |work=CNN}}
Category:Cuisine of Piedmont Category:Culture in Turin Category:Italian chocolate Category:European chocolate bars Category:Hazelnut dishes