As a chocoholic I had read, with eyes the size of chocolates, about the Story of Nutella Chocolate Spread in a UK newspaper obituary after the demise of the founder of the company, from the Ferrero family.
Before that I had not even registered that Nutella was of Italian origin. I vaguely thought that peanut butter and chocolate spread must be from the USA, invented by a marketing team who said, "What else can we do to sell chocolate and peanuts? Make them into spreads." I was wrong. Yes, eventually companies spread worldwide and you can find a company which started in one country is now under a global umbrella. But the origin of Nutella is very Italian and very interesting. It's a story illustrating the well known principles of 'necessity is the mother of invention' and as Dale Carnegie said, 'if you've got a lemon, make lemonade'.
The story of Nutella starts in north Italy in Piedmont which means foot of the mountain. In 1946 at the end of WWII chocolate was in short supply, rationed and taxed. But hazelnuts where plentiful in Piedmont. First the father of the company, Pietro (Peter) made solid chocolate blocks.
Reverse 46 and you get 64 - in 1964 his son Michele (in English Michael) issued a spread which he named Nutella. It is now both produced and sold worldwide, consuming a quarter of the world hazelnuts, and in 2014 an Italian postage stamp was issued featuring a jar of Nutella.
I saw Nutella on the breakfast buffet table in the Castello di Monterone, a castle hotel which is a couple of miles outside Perugia. Perugia is the capital of Umbria which is known as the heart of Italy.
Upstairs, in my grand, countryside castle hotel, hidden in a wooden box in the hotel bedroom, was a local chocolate, containing a nut, a hazelnut. This chocolate was invented in the Perugia area, a story very similar to the story of Nutella.
The Story of Chocolate Kisses with Hidden Hazelnut Umbrian
The lady was making chocolates with soft creamy filling, called praline, and wondered what to do with her leftover hazelnuts. She tried placing them stuck on top of an individual chocolate, but people were afraid of swallowing the nuts and choking. So she then placed the nuts hidden underneath, encased in the chocolate shell. Customers were surprised - and delighted!
The name of the chocolate was changed. The chocolates are now called Baci, meaning kisses (like Hershey's kisses). The shape and the name and the foil wrap have been a great success. Now the little domed and foil wrapped chocolates, a Perugia speciality, are a favourite throughout Italy.
Later, in 1982 along comes another Ferrero chocolate with a hidden nut, Ferrero Rocher, rocher being French for rock, named by devout Michele after the rock cave in Lourdes and the shape of the chocolate like a big boulder or rock.
In England my favourite bar was always Cadbury's fruit and nut. Why do I prefer this to plain chocolate? Solid chocolate is hard to break and gives you an overdose of sugar. With fruit or nuts you are getting protein and something to sustain you as well as the immediate sugar rush. Plus the fun and slow down effect of the crunch crunch, munch munch on the nut, as well as the suck and swallow of the chocolate. Lick the chocolate, crunch the nut, swallow slowly, long lasting and doubly satisfying way to eat chocolate.
If you visit Perugia, there's a chocolate factory. If you miss it, like I did, you will still enjoy seeing the chocolates in the windows of the shops. Go inside and look around.
If you have time, try the chocolate factory tour. The factory is about 15 minutes drive from Perugia.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1186124-d196147-Reviews-Perugina_Chocolate_Factory-San_Sisto_Perugia_Province_of_Perugia_Umbria
www.castellomonterone.com
https://www.baciperugina.com/uk/en/
www.umbriatourism.it
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Follow me on Facebook and like me on LinkedIn. Read about my books on YouTube. Come back tomorrow and the day after for more posts about Umbria and other destinations and inside stories and humorous comments.
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