Italy is known worldwide for their creation of the delicious chocolate spread, Nutella. Although we all know that it is a delicious treat, you may not realize why Italians love Nutella. You can’t go to any city in Italy without being able to buy a delicious pastry full of Nutella from nearly every cafe or bar which is great for anyone who has a sweet tooth. Although, most Nutella lovers might think this is kind of an easy answer. Why? Because it’s the most spectacular chocolate spread to ever be invented! Peanut butter just doesn’t cut it for the Italians the way it does for Americans. This discussion could go on forever about Nutella, but it’s time to narrow down a few in search for the reason behind why Italian’s love Nutella.

Why Italians Love Nutella?

Nutella is one of the most famous food items that Italians are known for besides the pasta and pizza, of course. As you might already guess, Nutella was invented in Italy…Shocker, I know. The delicious chocolate spread has actually only been around for a little over 50 years. Nutella was actually created because there was a shortage of cocoa in the world during World War 2. The Italian pastry chef, Pietro Ferrero, realized that it was becoming more and more difficult to purchase cocoa for his pastries so he decided to create a mix of a little bit of cocoa, hazelnuts & sugar and with that the well known Nutella spread was created! Although it hasn’t been around for an incredibly long time, it definitely feels like it’s been a huge part of the Italian culture for a lot longer with many people starting & finishing their day with it. Since Nutella was introduced to Italians, they have fallen deeply in love with the sweet taste of it with people choosing to have it every day!

How do you use Nutella?

One of the big reasons that why Italian’s love Nutella is the ease of eating it – no matter where you are in Italy you will be able to find it in every cafe & shop! Italian’s start their morning a little different to how Americans start their morning. You may be used to starting your morning with a savory breakfast of porridge or eggs, but here in Italy we do it a little different. It’s very normal that when you pass cafe’s you’ll see a group of people sipping on their morning cappuccino with a cornetti (croissant) stuffed with the delicious chocolate spread. Now we know that may not be to everyone’s taste, but another great way to add in some more Nutella is by adding it into your coffee – we definitely recommend that you try this if you’re feeling a little tired in the morning and want a pick me up. If you’re visiting Italy then you need to try the Nutella gelato that is sold in many of Italy’s gelateria’s! It is the perfect treat to have after a long day of walking around the city or a quick sweet treat before your tour. This is just a small fraction of the huge amount of recipes that you can create with Nutella, just imagine Nutella brownies & cakes! Nutella has slowly taken over the world over these past 50 years and people  have come up with all sorts of new ways to use it.

The Magic Ingredients in Nutella

Now of course, the big reason that Italian’s love Nutella is obviously the taste of it! When Pietro Ferrero created it, he may or may not have realised that he was creating one of Italy’s most loved products. In 1925 when he first created the mix, he created it by mixing hazelnuts, cocoa and sugar which of course is already a delicious mix, but he soon figured out that this was hard to transport due to it’s hard texture so he decided to add vegetable oil to make it the texture that we know it for. Through developments throughout the years, they have created the perfect mixture of hazelnuts, cocoa, milk, sugar, palm oil, and lecithin. What could be better? Nothing. Italians understand this as they love and cherish this chocolate, hazelnut delight without taking it for granted. Some people say that Nutella is to Italians what peanut butter is to Americas. AKA Americans are basically obsessed with peanut butter just like Italians are obsessed with Nutella.

(written by LivItaly Tours interns)