Nutella inspires sighs and kisses
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Romeo's Sighs and Juliet's Kisses cookies. -
Banana Nutella Crepe Cake.
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Some insist that chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven, but we Nutella lovers know better.
To spy a jar of the tasty chocolate-hazelnut spread on my kitchen table drives me crazy with anticipation. Should I slather it on a piece of toast, or stir it into a bowl of oatmeal? Drizzle it on ice cream? Stuff it into a crepe?
My favorite way to eat the stuff is straight out of the jar with a spoon -- or index finger, if no one's looking.
I'm not the only one who's nuts about Nutella. It's loved by so many the world over that fans have set aside a day to celebrate its creamy, lip-smacking, finger-licking chocolatey goodness: World Nutella Day, which this year is Sunday, Feb. 5.
This sixth annual day of homage might be relatively new, but Nutella has been a runaway hit ever since pastry maker Pietro Ferrero mixed up the first batch in the Piedmont region of Italy more than 40 years ago. Today, Nutella arguably is one of the best-known products in the world, with the Ferrero company each year packing almost 400 million pounds of the chocolatey spread into 1 billion (with a "b") glass and plastic jars and single-serve packets.
Nutella is a pretty easy find even here in Pittsburgh, and not just in the Italian specialty stores you'd expect, such as Pennsylvania Macaroni in the Strip District and DeLallo Italian Marketplace in Jeannette. It's also in grocery stores such as Giant Eagle and Shop 'n Save as well as at Sam's Club and Walmart, where a 13-ounce jar costs you just a little over $3. But it doesn't have a complete corner on the market.
At East End Food Co-op in Point Breeze and certain Giant Eagles, you can find Rigoni di Asiago's Nocciolata, a certified organic chocolate-hazelnut spread that's made from a family recipe in Italy. (Hate to disappoint all you Italophiles, but Nutella sold in the U.S. actually comes from a manufacturing plant in Canada.) It's a little creamier than the Ferrero product -- think "sauce" instead of "spread" -- and because it has a bit more toasted nuts per jar, a more pronounced hazelnut flavor. My daughter Olivia, a Nutella-lover like no other, also declared it less "chocolatey." A deal-killer for a picky teenager, but I liked the fact it contains no artificial ingredients or palm oil. Plus, it's 30 less calories per two-tablespoon serving than Nutella, in case you're counting. (I don't, but probably should given how much I love this stuff.) A 9.52-ounce jar runs between $4.69 to $5.99, and you also can get it online at http://en.rigonidiasiago.com.
First Published February 2, 2012 12:00 am
