Giraudi

Castellazzo Bormida, a Piedmont town near Alessandria, is where Giovan Battista Giraudi opened a mill and bakery in 1907. The business turned to chocolate in the 1960s.

About Giraudi

Based in
Castellazzo Bormida, Piedmont, Italy
Founded
1907
Known for
Piedmontese gianduia chocolates and spreads

Giraudi opened in 1907 in Castellazzo Bormida as a mill and bakery, and the business has stayed in the family for more than a century. Giacomo Boidi, a relative of both the Giraudi chocolate makers and pastry chef Paolino Boidi, became owner of the Pasticceria Giraudi in 1982.

Giraudi says it works only with Tonda Gentile Trilobata, a round hazelnut variety from Piedmont.

Giraudi questions

What is gianduia?

Gianduia is chocolate blended with finely ground hazelnuts. Turin confectioners are credited with creating it in the early 1800s, when Napoleon's ban on British imports made cocoa scarce and costly, and they stretched what cocoa they had with paste from local hazelnuts. The result is a velvety paste, and its classic form is the gianduiotto, a small chocolate shaped like an upturned boat. Giraudi makes its gianduia with Tonda Gentile Trilobata hazelnuts from Piedmont.

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