Abby Haight
During the Olympics there were daily reports in the Oregonian Sports section under the title of Abby's Diary. I enjoyed them very much so I thought I'd share my favorite with you. It's about chocolate. Better yet, it's about DARK chocolate.
Chocolate is in all its divine forms here: Warm bicerin thatmust be the nectar of the winter gods, cold gelatto, perfectly formed fondant, lumps of chocolate and hazelnut exquistiness, the baci di damathat are little almond cookies sandwiched around a pungent layer of dark chocolate.
Turin is Europe's chocolate capital. Forget the Swiss. Milk chocolate? Pah! Turin has milk (ital.)cream(endital.) chocolate.
Turin is chocolate.
Walk the streets and every few shops is a cioccolateria. Most of them tiny places with a few perfect displays and a selection of handmade heaven. You don't even need to buy anything. The perfume of chocolate clings to your skin.
You can buy a 24-hour Choco-pass here for about $19. It lets you taste goodies at about 25 shops around the city. I thought about getting the pass, then figured I'd be sick _ or jittery with sugar overload _after a couple of stops.
So I've been eating a little chocolate, here and there.
Every day.
Sometimes twice a day.
I see it as part of the food triangle _ the little lumpy side that is hidden behind the vegetables and fruits. Because in Turin, breakfasts start with toast spread with Nutella. I tried it once, but it was too much, even for my sweet tooth. I prefer to wait for what Winnie-the-Pooh called Elevenses for a warmed chocolate croissant.
Lunch means Novi fondente nocciolato _ a dark chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts from the Piedmont region. Novis are grocery store chocolate bars _ their motto, "cioccolato passione dal 1903" _ but they have as much in common with a Hersey's bar as Aretha Franklin has to Brittany Spears.
Every once in awhile, I do slum. The Happy Hippo is a bar of crispy cookie around a cream swirl of dark chocolate and vanilla. The Happy Hippo also is what I would risk becoming if my stay here was longer.
The first chocolate bar was made here in 1802. There's got to bea statue to the creator somewhere.
A friend just brought over a bag of chocolates from Peyrano,which he said is the shop for chocolate _ but I think everyone here has their favorite shop. The chocolates, little dabs with chopped hazelnuts, were indescribably good.
Of course.
When it comes to chocolate in Turin, you are left with a dreamy look on your face and "mmmmm" in your mouth. The most famous chocolate here is bicerin, a drink of equal parts espresso, warmed dark chocolate and heavy cream. Alexandre Dumas pere sipped bicerin. So did Giacomo Puccini and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Mine was, indeed other-worldly. Sweet and rich, with the edge of espresso. I managed half of it before my body said, "Too much." Probably because I'd already had a chocolate chip gelato. But in Turin, there's always tomorrow for cioccolato.
Abby Haight (abbyhaight@news.oregonian.com)
TURIN _ Cioccolato
Chocolate.
Chocolate is in all its divine forms here: Warm bicerin thatmust be the nectar of the winter gods, cold gelatto, perfectly formed fondant, lumps of chocolate and hazelnut exquistiness, the baci di damathat are little almond cookies sandwiched around a pungent layer of dark chocolate.
Turin is Europe's chocolate capital. Forget the Swiss. Milk chocolate? Pah! Turin has milk (ital.)cream(endital.) chocolate.
Turin is chocolate.
Walk the streets and every few shops is a cioccolateria. Most of them tiny places with a few perfect displays and a selection of handmade heaven. You don't even need to buy anything. The perfume of chocolate clings to your skin.
You can buy a 24-hour Choco-pass here for about $19. It lets you taste goodies at about 25 shops around the city. I thought about getting the pass, then figured I'd be sick _ or jittery with sugar overload _after a couple of stops.
So I've been eating a little chocolate, here and there.
Every day.
Sometimes twice a day.
I see it as part of the food triangle _ the little lumpy side that is hidden behind the vegetables and fruits. Because in Turin, breakfasts start with toast spread with Nutella. I tried it once, but it was too much, even for my sweet tooth. I prefer to wait for what Winnie-the-Pooh called Elevenses for a warmed chocolate croissant.
Lunch means Novi fondente nocciolato _ a dark chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts from the Piedmont region. Novis are grocery store chocolate bars _ their motto, "cioccolato passione dal 1903" _ but they have as much in common with a Hersey's bar as Aretha Franklin has to Brittany Spears.
Every once in awhile, I do slum. The Happy Hippo is a bar of crispy cookie around a cream swirl of dark chocolate and vanilla. The Happy Hippo also is what I would risk becoming if my stay here was longer.
The first chocolate bar was made here in 1802. There's got to bea statue to the creator somewhere.
A friend just brought over a bag of chocolates from Peyrano,which he said is the shop for chocolate _ but I think everyone here has their favorite shop. The chocolates, little dabs with chopped hazelnuts, were indescribably good.
Of course.
When it comes to chocolate in Turin, you are left with a dreamy look on your face and "mmmmm" in your mouth. The most famous chocolate here is bicerin, a drink of equal parts espresso, warmed dark chocolate and heavy cream. Alexandre Dumas pere sipped bicerin. So did Giacomo Puccini and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Mine was, indeed other-worldly. Sweet and rich, with the edge of espresso. I managed half of it before my body said, "Too much." Probably because I'd already had a chocolate chip gelato. But in Turin, there's always tomorrow for cioccolato.
Abby Haight (abbyhaight@news.oregonian.com)
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