Inspired by @italianhomecooking’s post (see below). Only just the other day was talking about #Pernigotti #Cremino with @aman_venice’s pastry chef @michaelgram.85 (who makes his own cremino). It’s a sad day when an iconic regional food gets its production shifted out of the locality, a regular occurrence in English-language countries as the ubiquity of our mother-tongue means our beloved brand names could be made anywhere (hello Cadburys). And so it is happening to other countries, with the news that iconic #Piedmont chocolate maker #Pernigotti – who, at least originally, used the famed Piedmonte hazelnuts that today are hugely expensive – will probably leave it’s factory in #NoviLigure and move elsewhere: possibly within Italy, perhaps overseas (the company was bought by Turkey’s Toksöz Grup in 2013). For over 150 years @Pernigotti_1860 has been the #Piedmont maker of Gianduiotto, Crema Gianduia, Cremino, Nocciolato, and though I guess all the hazelnuts used come from overseas, the labour is local and that matters as much. ⠀ Here a #repost of @italianhomecooking: • • •⠀ This is an iconic piece of Italian popular culture: gianduiotto Pernigotti (est 1860): the little chocolate in the gold wrapping ..and “it is no more”. “Sold” to a Turkish firm that intends to close down the Italian factory and transfer the whole production in Turkey. Very sad for the workers first of all & sad for the whole nation: actually what is really sad is that Italy, as a society, as an economy, has not been able to keep, sustain & nourish this brand, which is part and parcel of our past & identity…on a more general level it makes u think: could we still call “Italian” a product that will be transplanted in a totally different environment & culture? I really do not know what to think, honest (could we call “digestive” a biscuit made in Italy??) / food has such emotional resonance that I find it hard to “accept” these economic transplants (or am I seeing through middle age induced rosy tinted lenses??) #gianduiotto #pernigotti #italianeconomy
