Stories
Tonda Gentile hazelnut, the gold of the hills
Where the vines give way, the hazel groves grow. A single variety, an unmistakable aroma and a sweet tradition that runs from hazelnut cake to gianduja.
Climbing towards the Alta Langa, the landscape changes. The vineyards thin out, the air grows cooler and neat rows of low trees with wide, rounded crowns appear on the slopes. These are the hazel groves, and here they produce one of the most prized hazelnuts in the world: the Tonda Gentile, protected by the Nocciola Piemonte IGP geographical indication.
Why it is different
The Tonda Gentile has a thin shell, a regular shape and, above all, an extraordinary performance when roasted: the skin comes away easily and the kernel releases an intense, sweet, lingering aroma. That is why pastry chefs and chocolatiers have sought it out for generations.
It isn't picked from the tree: you wait for it to ripen and fall on its own. Then it is gathered from the ground, between late August and September.
After the harvest the hazelnuts are cleaned, dried and stored in their shells. Only at the right moment are they shelled and roasted, slowly, until the kitchen fills with the scent that in the Langhe announces the arrival of autumn.
From farmhouse to pastry shop
Hazelnut cake is the home-made dessert par excellence: little flour, lots of chopped hazelnuts, no pretence of elegance and a flavour you never forget. The same hazelnuts go into baci di dama biscuits, soft and crunchy nougat, and spreads.
And then there is gianduja. The most often told story has it that in the 19th century, with cocoa expensive and hard to find, Turin's chocolatiers stretched part of it with roasted hazelnut. A new flavour was born, today a symbol of Piedmont around the world.
Tasting it on site
Walking through the hazel groves of the Alta Langa, visiting a small roasting workshop, tasting a hazelnut fresh from the oven: it is the simplest way to understand why they call it the gold of the hills here. In LangheMyFood experiences you'll find routes that combine landscape and flavour, and in the future shop the hazelnuts and sweets of the producers we have chosen.
