That is no well being farm. Piedmont – beneath the Alps, within the prime left-hand nook of Italy – launched the world to Nutella and Martini.
It’s additionally the place chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick was invented, 50 years earlier than any lolly-eater had ever heard of a Magnum.
So it’s no shock that my first cease in Turin, Piedmont’s most important metropolis, is Gelateria Pepino, the place the Magnum’s forerunner first went on sale in 1939.
Pace break: Turin is 90 minutes from London, placing it in vary as a weekend vacation spot
The town continues to be curiously happy with the Pinguino (penguin) lolly, which was, till the patent lapsed within the Eighties, the one product of its kind on the earth.
Edoardo Cavagnino, grandson of the inventor, nonetheless runs the household enterprise, the oldest ice cream producer in Europe.
The primary look of the chocolate-covered ice cream: The revolutionary Pinguino (penguin) lolly went on sale in 1939 at Turin’s Gelateria Pepino, and got here in a number of flavours
In his tweedy go well with and neatly tailor-made waistcoat, he’s a dapper chap, speaking proudly of how a couple of miles away, excessive up within the mountains, a staff of 15 folks nonetheless stir and mix substances within the conventional method.
I’m consuming gelato, not ice cream. Massive distinction.
I nibble on triangular Giandujotto candies and drink bicerin, a conventional scorching drink with layers of chocolate, espresso and cream
‘Ice cream makes use of cheaper substances. Extra fats, extra sugar,’ says Edoardo, passing me one flavour after one other.
‘You understand why you are feeling so full up after consuming industrial ice cream? They pump it up with air.’
Turin is simply an hour and a half from London. That places it in vary as a weekend vacation spot.
I keep within the Grand Resort Sitea, a five-minute stroll from the centre of city. It’s conventional, however not stuffy.
I’ve come right here for the meals. For a begin, Turin calls itself the ‘world capital of chocolate’.
Tasty: Italian gelato is a giant hit with guests
This dates to the native ruling household within the seventeenth century, the Savoys, who introduced cocoa beans from the Americas and went on to export chocolate to the world.
The town’s artwork nouveau grand cafes convey this chocolate obsession to life.
There are dozens of them, with excessive ceilings, oak-panelled partitions, marble flooring and sparkly chandeliers.
I nibble on triangular Giandujotto candies and drink bicerin, a conventional scorching drink with layers of chocolate, espresso and cream.
I dunk my biscuits, as instructed by the locals.
Whereas the remainder of Italy feasts on the Mediterranean food regimen, Piedmont doesn’t. When you’re watching your weight, neglect it.
