Turin/Torino is famous for a lot of wonderful flavours, probably the most popular of which is Bicerin, a hot drink made with chocolate, coffee and steamed cream. Almost every establishment you visit will make it slightly differently and will tell you that they like to keep their recipe a secret, but this hot delicacy is not to be missed by any visiting chocolate lover.
We tried the traditional version at CaffèAl Bicerin in the Piazza della Consolata. This establishment was founded in 1763, and claims to have invented the drink. They do a great job at it, as I found their Bicerin to be less sweet and less heavy than those sampled at other places. You can even buy chocolate pasta here! We tried a trendy new variation of the Bicerin called the Espressone Chocolate Mousse at Lavazza Espression on Via Garibaldi. It was a real taste treat that is eaten with a spoon as it’s ultra thick and super smooth. (Travel secret: if you take your Espresso or coffee drinks standing, establishments charge you much less than if you sit down. Many coffee bars only charge 1 euro for an espresso served to a standing customer.) You choose!
Continuing our exploration of Torino’s sweet scene, we stopped to enjoy another variation of the Bicerin at Gertosio Pasticceria, a business originally founded in 1880 by master chocolate maker, Pietro Viola. In 1961 the Gertosio family took it over and now have a father, mother, son and daughter-in-law team bringing taste sensations to everyone who walks through their welcoming doors. The Gertosios offer the il Sabaudo, a delicious drink of hot chocolate, coffee, crushed nuts and whipped cream. All I can say is … Wow! Truly decadent. They have plenty of amazing chocolate creations to take away, too, but you’ll have to wait for my book, Chocolatour, to hear more about those. Take a peek at this page on my website for more on that!
Pretty much every chocolate maker in Torino offers the city’s special creation: the Gianduiotti, three-cornered chocolates made of cocoa and hazelnuts. They are a bit sweet for my liking, but very smooth and creamy.
Cioccolato Peyrano offers a Torte Peyrano that is to die for: a dense dark chocolate cake made with hazelnuts and orange jam and covered with a layer of thin dark chocolate. A 600 gram Peyrano cake is pricey at 29 euros, but worth every cent. The flavour is truly out of this world. But don’t take my word for it, plan a trip to Torino!
Torino is one of three Italian cities (Rome and Florence are the other two) that will be celebrating Italy’s 150th anniversary this year, from March 15 until November 15, 2011. With any luck, I’ll get back there in time to help them celebrate!
Join me back on the blog the week of January 17th for a post on our next stop: Pistoia.
Doreen I almost want to climb into the email and press send to transmit myself over to Turin to be there tasteing all this with you. Thank you for sharing. That book is going to whizz off the shelves when it comes out
Veronica
Thanks so much, Veronica! I’m glad my enthusiasm is shining thru!
Hope to see you again here in 2 weeks when I’ll tempt you with the tastes of Pistoia!
Chocolate pasta. I’ve died and gone to heaven. Why isn’t this available in North America?
Will you be posting recipes for folks to make an attempt at recreating these wonders?
Marg
I do believe we tasted more chocolate in Turin then any other place. The hazelnut chocolates that Doreen mentions came about a result of Napoleon’s trade restrictions on cocoa beans – the nuts were added to stretch the beans, much like chicory is added to stretch coffee, but with a much tastier result. I really admired the woman we met from Naples who bought the Peyrano family business. She’s using new products such as the torte that Doreen mentions (agreed, out of this world) to shake up the century old patriarchal business and quite possibly Turin itself. It’s fiesty Napoli vs traditional Turin: may the best woman win!
I haven’t searched it out, Marg, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the chocolate pasta is available here. I’ll let you know if I find it. I won’t be posting recipes on the blog, but will include a few in the book.
Thanks for chiming in again, Virginia. Yes, we certainly did eat our share of chocolate in Turin! My favourite pic is the one of you with the chipmunk cheeks (filled with so much chocolate, you couldn’t swallow!) And yes, I’ll definitely be featuring Mariella in the book. She was amazing – and kind enough to send me a cake all the way from Turin!
Yummy post. Turin is an off-the-beaten path gem full of history and culture, which you capture so nicely. Love the caffes and the chocolate. We have a video of Turin’s caffes here:
http://www.webvisionitaly.com/category.php?id=273&ref_genre=&ref_item=336
Looking forward to your next post Doreen!
Virginia wrote: “nuts were added to stretch the beans, much like chicory is added to stretch coffee, but with a much tastier result.”
Oh, bliss!
Doreen, what an awesome trip! I’m positively greeeeen! Even though, we have nice chocolate shops and great coffee places here in Vancouver. I guess it’s the adventure; sounds so exciting!
Being such a connoisseur you must have seen the movie “La Chocolat” a few years back. When I saw that movie, I knew I was missing out… 😦
Esther
Thanks, Esther, for your enthusiasm. I’m glad you’re enjoying the journey.
I’ll have to re-watch the movie, Chocolat. I haven’t seen it since it first came out. I just remember scenes of molten chocolate dripping everywhere. Now that’s bliss!
And thanks to Deborah, for the terrific video link to all things Italy! I’ll have to spend some time perusing them. glad you enjoyed my post. Be sure to drop back again soon for the post on Tuscany.
Take me with you?!
Excellent post, I’ve bookmarked your blog.
Thanks for the support over at WTBG!
Thanks, Heather. You were actually an inspiration to me when I began blogging. Hard to believe it will be a year next month (that’s over on my original blog at:
http://doreenisthewizardofwords.blogspot.com.)
Hope you’ll drop in there again, too!
Doreen,
I enjoyed reading your post about Bicerin. I have enjoyed it on my travels to Italy and am always surprised that more people don’t enjoy it outside the country! Thanks for telling more people about it and I look forward to reading more about your chocolate adventures and replying to your posts on my blog at http://www.montblancgourmet.com/blog.
Cheers
Michael
Thanks, Michael. I’m sure we’ll share many more tasty travel tales together.