Guido Castagna from the province of Turin in Italy is a master of his trade. He has been winning awards for his Giuinott - hazelnut nougat and his spreads for years. First and foremost is Crema di Nocciola +55, which has a whopping 68% hazelnut content, with only cocoa and cocoa butter used as ingredients.
The hazelnuts are the best in the world, IGP hazelnuts from Piedmont. The chocolate he uses for this is made from cocoa beans from Chuao in Venezuela. Chuao is the only area in the world that can call itself of certain origin for cacao, as it is for wine. Chuao is located on the coast of Venezuela and is surrounded by a cliff, so you can only get there by boat. So also the cocoa beans could be crossed only with difficulty with others.
The best hazelnut spread in the world: Crema di Nocciola +55!
The spreads of Guido Castagna, especially the Crema di Nocciola +55, are now legendary. It is one of the best, if not the best, hazelnut spread in the world. Guido Castagna has won for it at the International Chocolate Awards, an independent chocolate competition that takes place all over the world, has won World Gold several times. This year 2019 he has won the prize again.
The Giuinott are hazelnut nougat chocolates or gianduiotti, a specialty of Piedmont and its surroundings. They were invented at the time of Napoleon, when the duties on the import of cocoa increased immensely. The inventive confectioners, in need, stretched their chocolate mass with the best they had: Hazelnuts from Piedmont. This is how the famous hazelnut nougat was invented.
Guido Castagna also produces chocolate itself, from cocoa beans imported directly from him. The dark Bean-To-Bar chocolate bars he dedicated to his wife Cristina: LaCrí 76% Venezuela, Manabi, Sambirano Valley, Piura and some more. His raw chocolates MES have also won prizes.
His secret is respect: for all the people who work with cacao and treat it with such care that it can become one of the greatest gifts this planet has to give: CHOCOLATE!