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Focus on Gianduia, Part 17: Il Duce e il Dolce

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May 022011

Most efforts to historically contextualize gianduia focus solely on the era of its presumed invention in the mid-1860s. However, as we’ve seen, many components of the gianduia myth first arose in the 1930s, through Cagliano’s article in Il Dolce (1932), Succ. Caffarel Prochet & Co.’s “Gianduia 1865” marketing campaign (1936), and the booklet Il Cioccolato ed il Suo Valore Alimentare (1933). The 1930s witnessed a confluence of factors favorable to increased prominence and production of gianduia—a perfect storm, with Benito Mussolini at the eye.

Focus on Gianduia, Part 15: So When was Gianduia Invented and by Whom?

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Apr 182011

The Napoleonic myth does not hold water (Part 4). The thirteen-year-old Michele Prochet did not invent gianduia in 1852 (Part 9). The best evidence for Prochet, Gay & Co.’s invention in 1865 is an unsubstantiated statement by Prochet’s company over thirty years after the fact, which openly acknowledges that the claim was contested (Part 13). The tales of gianduia’s naming first appeared over sixty years after the fact and are riddled with internal and external inconsistencies (Part 14). So where does that leave us?

Focus on Gianduia, Part 13: Michele Prochet and the 1865 Birth of Gianduia

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Apr 042011

If the first gianduiotto appeared during the politically pivotal 1865 carnival season, it would contribute significantly to the confection’s legend, associating it with Gianduia’s symbolic reconciliation of the Turinese with Vittorio Emanuel II in the interest of the Risorgimento. But did it? Continue reading »

Focus on Gianduia, Part 8: Rise of the Waldenses in Mid-nineteenth Century Turin

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Feb 282011

Following the 1837 death of the Bleniese inventor Giovanni Martino Bianchini, Paul Caffarel (pictured above) continued to manufacture chocolate using the same machine Bianchini had installed in the Watzenborns’ converted tannery. He was to be the first of a wave of Waldensian chocolate makers in Turin. Because of the Waldenses’ importance in the rise of gianduia, we will briefly introduce some of the key individuals and companies that will figure into the story ahead.