Gianduia = Turin

Gianduia

Everybody knows Gianduia as the Turin's chocolate, but what does this name mean and who is Gianduia?

As we are approaching the Mardi Gras celebrations that closes the Carnival season in Italy, we felt the need to put all the puzzle pieces together: chocolates, Brachetto wine, Mardi Gras and Commedia dell'Arte 😎

Back in the Middle Ages, before actors where professionals, there were groups of people who impersonated characters and stereotypes and acted in the Italian piazzas. As there was no script, they usually improvised and took advantage of the regional dialects to add color to their interpretations.
This is very shortly how each Italian town got to be symbolized by a theatrical character who summed up in him or her the ways of his or her city.

Certainly, back in the 1200 - 1700, politically correctness wasn't an issue and little by little shows were organized where all these 'characters' acted together amplifying their own local stereotypes. Naturally these plays were funny, they were comedies and because they reflected the core of the Italian culture - at a time when Italy was still divided into many tiny kingdoms, republics, states - this is what came to be called Commedia dell'Arte - the true Italian essence of the art of the comedy.

Ivrea's cookies

Eporediesi

For all lovers of chocolate and hazelnuts out there, here's one more recipe from Piedmont. Eporediesi are the traditional cookies from Ivrea, a small town just 40min driving from Turin, famous for its carnival, tomini cheese and fairy tale wine: Erbaluce di Caluso - the only Italian DOCG wine in all 4 of its variants!

Bicciolani from Vercelli

Piedmont is famous for its many local cookies, some expanded over the regional borders and have acquired a national recognition becoming regulars on all Italian tables, others are still pretty much connected to their locality and you will find them only where they are produced.

artisan bicciolani

Mardi Gras fritters

Very few foods have a huge comforting power: home made Carnival fritters sprinkled with powder sugar are one of those, at least to all Italians 😍

In fact, Carnival like any other holiday is connected to a culinary specialty and wherever you'll go, in Italy as well as, in many other Latin countries, you'll find these fritters.

Piedmont canestrelli

Cookie lovers, Piedmont offers an endless list of delicious cookies and many share the same name like canestrelli!

In fact, according to where you'll visit, you can find waffle like cookies, thin wafers or wafer sandwiches, could it get anymore scrumptious?

Piedmont canestrelli from Val di Susa (the waffle-like ones) and from the Canavese district (the large holy wafers)

#FF #FunFebruary in Piedmont

Piedmont is a wonderful place to be 12 months a year and February offers many things to do in Turin too, also if you travel on a budget!

The weather changes every year, sometimes it may be colder and snowy, others milder, but no matter the temperatures, there are always many things to do, see, specialties to try and wines to sip.

Ivrea: THE Carnival in Piedmont

The battle of the oranges is the climax of the Carnival celebration in Ivrea, a small town in the Piedmont region, up in the Northwest part of Italy, at about 40 minute driving from Turin. This is also the area where Erbaluce di Caluso - the fairies wine is made. 

In 2014 the battle took place on March 2nd and it attracted up to 50,000 visitors worldwide.