About
A hazelnut spread from Canelli in the Asti hills, built on 56 per cent Nocciola Piemonte IGP. The rest is sugar and cocoa, so it reads as roasted nut first rather than sweet chocolate. It is made in a small artisan laboratory on the family's own farm.
Canelli sits in the Asti hills a short drive from Alba, spumante country and hazelnut country at once. The nuts here carry the Nocciola Piemonte IGP mark, the round local variety rather than a cheap import. Sugar makes up 31 per cent of the jar and cocoa the small remainder.
Maddalena was selling vegetables off a patch of artichokes in 1940s Canelli before the preserves took over as her living. Her recipes went behind a brand in 2018, when Gian Luca Scaglione and his wife Patrizia set it up. Everything they make is worked in the laboratory at the farm, from produce taken straight off the harvest and kept without preservatives.
Have it on toast in the morning, folded through mascarpone, or off the spoon. It firms up when it is cold, so let a jar out of the fridge come back to room temperature first.
Producer note
Gian Luca and Patrizia Scaglione farm at Canelli in the province of Asti and put up jams, chutneys, vegetables in oil and this spread in a small laboratory on site, following his grandmother Maddalena's recipes.
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