A contingent of Medford residents and visitors from Alba, Italy, are feeling the love today after 50 years as sister cities.
Knowing Italians, they wouldn’t dream of celebrating any occasion without some great food, so I hope they’re getting the Rogue Valley’s best. What can Medford households do to feel the love from Alba? Crack open a jar of Nutella.
If you aren’t already a fan, Nutella is the trademarked chocolate-hazelnut spread that just so happens to be native to Alba. Baker Pietro Ferrero invented it in 1946 to extend cocoa rationed during and immediately after World War II. Plentiful in Italy’s Piedmont region, hazelnuts were a natural filler ingredient. Their combination with chocolate already was familiar in the form of “gianduja,” the Italian term for chocolate-hazelnut paste since the 1800s (named after a Turin commedia dell’arte character).
But Ferrero refined the concept by blending the heady mixture into a spreadable confection that was even more economical and easy to use. In 1964, the spread was officially renamed Nutella, and the food’s cult-like following was cemented in 2007 with the commemoration of Feb. 5 as World Nutella Day.
As the mock-holiday suggests, it’s not just Italians who are crazy for the stuff. Chefs of the highest caliber have created recipes to use Nutella — in fine restaurants, no less — although the most common method is simply smearing it on baked goods. The food has millions of Facebook fans and to some palates is so wondrous that bloggers have proposed forming their own NA — as in Nutella Addicts Anonymous.
Of course, true connoisseurs claim that the European and American versions aren’t in the same league. Nutella’s parent company, Ferrero Co., manufactures its U.S. supply in Canada. Each 13-ounce jar, according to the company, contains about 50 hazelnuts, plus cocoa, sugar, skim milk, palm oil, a few other flavorings and emulsifiers, such as soy lecithin.
Usually found near peanut butter in grocery stores, Nutella costs upwards of $5 or $6. The Italian import can be obtained for about $13 (if it didn’t arrive in a sister city-bound suitcase).
To me, it’s always seemed the height of irony that peanut butter is widely abhorred in France, but many French families gobble down great glops of Nutella every morning at breakfast. Nutella is not only less attractive than peanut butter, in my opinion, but it’s sickly sweet flavor overwhelms the vehicle for maneuvering it to the mouth. Some devotees avoid that inconvenience by eating it right off the spoon.
Averse to hazelnuts and milk chocolate, I managed to avoid eating Nutella for the first four months I lived in France as a student, despite its fixed position on my host family’s breakfast table right along with butter, honey and jam. But after enough lean meals and many miles walked around western Europe, my resolve wavered in an undeniable craving for fat and calories that mere butter couldn’t quell.
I ate my fill in that last month or so of breakfasts and can practically count on one hand the number of times I’ve eaten Nutella in the nine years since. I’ve occasionally made exceptions for Nutella in crepes, preferably with cherry jam, but that’s usually in deference to guests’ preference for chocolate.
I’d likely be more appreciative of homemade Nutella, which Los Angeles Times writer Amy Scattergood calls “glorious, neither as sweet as Nutella nor with that vague aftertaste that comes, perhaps, from the oils or emulsifiers. The hazelnut flavor is more pronounced and the chocolate is a little stronger, with notes that vary depending on which cocoa powder you use.”
Scattergood’s 2009 article emphasized the importance of purchasing the highest-quality hazelnuts from a reliable source. Because of their high fat content, many nuts turn rancid easily, and it’s often impossible to tell before you purchase them if they’ve gone bad. Store nuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator and taste them before you roast them.
I’ve heard some industry insiders say most hazelnuts purchased in stores already are rancid — a much higher incidence than for other nuts. That may explain why I’ve never cared for them.
For those of you who do, try your hand at the following recipes, courtesy of the Times, including an all-American take on Nutella for breakfast.
Hazelnut-Chocolate Spread (Homemade Nutella)
2 cups raw hazelnuts
1⁄2 cup good-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Scharffen Berger)
1 cup powdered sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil, more as needed
Heat oven to 400 F. Spread hazelnuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast until they darken and become aromatic, about 10 minutes. Transfer hazelnuts to a damp towel and rub to remove skins.
In a food processor, grind roasted hazelnuts to a smooth butter, scraping sides as needed so they process evenly, about 5 minutes.
Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt and oil to food processor and continue to process until well-blended, about 1 minute. Finished spread should have consistency of creamy peanut butter; if it is too dry, process in a little extra hazelnut oil until desired consistency is achieved. Remove to a container, cover and refrigerate until needed. Allow spread to come to room temperature before using, as it thickens considerably when refrigerated. It will keep for at least a week.
Makes about 1 1⁄2 cups.
Hazelnut-Chocolate Linzer Cookies
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1⁄2 cup sugar
Zest from 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar, for garnish
About 3⁄4 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread (or Nutella)
In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts until they are finely ground but not so finely ground that they are like sand or begin to clump together.
In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well-incorporated. Add the orange zest and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Add the flours and salt and continue mixing until dough is well-combined. Divide dough in half, press each half into a disk shape and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill dough at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Heat oven to 350 F, position a rack in middle of oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take 1 disk of dough out of refrigerator and let it soften slightly.
On a lightly floured board or a sheet of parchment paper, roll out dough to slightly thicker than one1/8 inch. Using a 21⁄2-inch, round cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can from dough. Using a 1-inch, round cookie cutter, cut out center of half of large circles, incorporating small circles back into dough. If dough becomes too soft, return it briefly to refrigerator. Repeat with second disk, then press dough scraps together and reroll to make more cookies. Make sure you have same number of cookies with cut-out centers as you do cookies without.
Bake cookies until they just begin to color around the edges, 14 to 16 minutes. Rotate tray halfway through for even baking. Cool cookies on a rack or slide parchment off sheet and cool them on parchment. Make sure cookies are thoroughly cooled before assembly.
To assemble, sift powdered sugar over cookies with cut-out centers. Spread about 11⁄2 teaspoons hazelnut-chocolate spread over cookies without cut-out centers, and carefully place sugar-dusted cookies on top to form sandwiches. Repeat with all cookies.
Makes about 27 cookies.
Hazelnut-Chocolate Oatmeal With Strawberries and Cream
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 cup whole milk
1 cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of sugar, unless using store-bought Nutella
Pinch of salt
1⁄3 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread (or Nutella)
1⁄2 cup hulled, sliced strawberries (may substitute bananas or other seasonal fruit)
1⁄4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed, coarsely chopped or broken up
4 teaspoons shaved dark chocolate
In a blender, in a food processor or by hand, whip the cream until it begins to thicken. Stir in the milk to thin as desired, mixture should be light with consistency of heavy cream. Set aside.
In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the oats, vanilla, sugar and salt with 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally until oatmeal is creamy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the hazelnut-chocolate spread until thoroughly combined. This makes about 2 cups oatmeal.
Divide oatmeal among bowls, sprinkle the strawberries on top, followed by a little cream, the hazelnuts and shaved chocolate. Serve any remaining cream in a pitcher alongside oatmeal.
Makes 4 servings.
