February 5th: The World Nutella Day.

5^th February: the World Nutella. The most famous spread cream in the world. For more than seventy years the most preferred sin of gluttony. Today one of the most famous Italian iconic products in the world.

What world would it be without Nutella?

A famous famous commercial used to say about this cream which aims to be more than just a chocolate dessert. Quite a real lifestyle. Who invented Nutella? Everyone knows… the Ferrero family. A family of Piedmonts’ pastry chefs, natives of Alba. Over time, the Ferrero’s have been able to drive an important sector of the regional and national economy. Thanks to their creativity and international vision. At the beginning it was Pietro Ferrero who invested in the production of chocolate. Italy, in the second post-war period, was poor with a scarcity of raw materials. In 1946, refined and expensive foods like cocoa were missing.

The Langhe: a paradise of wine and hazelnuts.

Fortunately, the Piedmont is a very lucky region. It not only produces some of the best wines in the world, but also the best hazelnuts. So it was that, to make up for the lack of cocoa, the Ferrero’s decided to combine the hazelnut paste with cocoa, sugar and milk. They thus created a new recipe: the Giandujot, from the name of a cheerful and enjoyable carnival mask. Giandujot was a kind of soft, easy-to-spread dough. It can be considered the father of spreadable cream as we know it today. In 1951, in fact, the Giandujot gives life to a new product, a spreadable cream sold in a jar, called Supercrema.

“Nut-ella … it sounds good”

One evening, while walking through Frankfurt, Michele Ferrero, Pietro’s son, gets an idea. Changing the name of Supercrema, baptizing it Nutella. From the 1960s, Nutella began to appear on the shelves of French supermarkets, and shortly thereafter, it spread all over the world. A successful entrepreneurial bet, therefore. In the 1980s, Ferrero began producing hazelnuts in other countries, to have the basic ingredient always available. Probably at a lower price. It therefore appears that Ferrero has planted over 13 billion hazelnuts in the southern hemisphere of the world.

International mania

Nutella has been the basis for competitions, challenges and happenings of all kinds. on May 29, 2005, for example, nearly thirty thousand people met in Germany. The gather was to take part in the largest Nutella-based continental breakfast ever made in the world. In 2021, the 75th anniversary of its creation, a special silver 5 euros coin was even minted.

Nutella is a Movie star.

Is it addictive? For some it is a real obsession. Famous people, from footballers to stars of the big screen, from politicians to ordinary people, the army of Nutella lovers is numerous and expanding. Many have confessed their passion for this product. Immortalized in successful films such as Bianca by Nanni Moretti. In the unforgettable cult scene where the director / actor draws from a jar of disproportionate dimensions. Also, very famous Italian song writers, such as Giorgio Gaber and Ivan Graziani, sang about Nutella.

The devil and holy water at the tip of a spoon.

Today there is no place in the world where the cream is unknown. It is one of the comfort food par excellences. Able to bring joy and pleasure, followed soon after by hellish guilt complexes. Nutella can be tasted in many ways, as a filling or spread on baked goods. The most traditional way is spreading on bread, but many love it as a filling for crepes. There are also an infinite variety of Nutella-based packaged products. Each new launch on the market thrills consumers, as well as the shareholders of the Ferrero Company.

Loved by everyone, really everyone? maybe not

Although it is loved all over the world, as shown by the millions of followers and consumers, nutella, or rather, Ferrero, also has its heaters. In fact, it has been heavily criticized for some commercial practices such as the purchase of almost all Piedmontese hazelnuts. As well as the practice of producing hazelnuts outside the Italian borders, and the use of palm oil. The company has also been heavily attacked in America for the message expressed in its advertising campaigns. Which often presented the product as useful for a healthy lifestyle, falling into the category of misleading advertising. However, Ferrero is not the only company to present its products with similar marketing strategies.

Nutella roll. Easy recipe.

Today, therefore, is the right day to indulge in a Nutella dessert. One of the favorite recipes is the famous “nutella roll”. A rolled cake, similar to a log to be cut into slices. Here is the recipe, it is very easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Sugar

3 eggs

1 Cup of flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

½ cup of milk

Nutella cream

powdered sugar

How to make it:

Whip the eggs and sugar, add the sifted flour, stirring. Pour in the milk little by little, continuing to mix to obtain a smooth cream. Add the sifted yeast. Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake in a static oven for 10 minutes at 200 °. Wet a clean cloth by wringing it well. Remove the dough on the cloth by removing the parchment paper. Roll the dough on itself by incorporating the cloth. Wait 5 minutes, then unroll and cover with Nutella. Roll up again. Allow to cool completely and decorate with icing sugar.

Happy Nutella day everyone!