Happy Birthday, Nutella!

Nutella at its finest

Today marks the 50th birthday of Nutella, the hazlenut chocolate spread that is currently sold in over 75 countries. And the genius behind it was Pietro Ferrero. In the 1940s, Ferrero, originally from Alba, Italy (Piedmont region), owned a small coffee and pastry shop which he later transformed into a confectionery factory. This area in Italy is known for hazelnuts and during World War II, cocoa was rationed, so Ferrero used hazelnuts as a substitute to create the famous spread that was not always named Nutella® nor in spread-like form.

Originally created in solid block form that was wrapped in foil, Ferrero named his sweet concoction pasta gianduja. The idea was that parents would buy it, pair it with bread, and make a sandwich out of it. As one can imagine, children preferred just eating the pasta gianduja by itself (as I probably would have done). So, Ferrero came up with a spreadable form called supercrema gianduja and then in the 1960s, the name was officially changed to Nutella which comes from the English word ‘nut’ and the Latin suffix for sweet ‘ella’.

Nutella Crêpe

In honor of the most famous spread in the world turning half a century, I decided to pay homage to it by consuming it three ways this past week. First, and probably my most favorite way of ingesting it, in its purest form, spoonfuls, yes, spoonfuls of Nutella. Second, making crêpes filled with Nutella. Third, baking a Nutella pizza (topped with marshmallows) with good friend and fellow blogger Laetitia from French Twist DC.

Nutella Pizza

I think next on my list, in terms of Nutella creations, will be Nutella macarons, Mango and Nutella spring rolls and a Nutella Charlotte, all fun recipes from Nutella: The 30 best recipes by Larousse .

Happy Birthday! or as they would say in Italy Buon Compleanno! to the sinfully good spread that makes everyone happy!