The world loves hazelnuts – in fact, there’s been a shortage of them for some time now. The majority of the world’s hazelnuts are grown in Turkey or in Oregon, USA – these are your bog standard hazelnuts, mostly used to bulk out our insatiable appetite for Nutella – but not all hazelnuts are created equal. If you’re looking for the best hazelnuts in the world, you need to head to the hinterlands of Piedmont.
The area, which lies southeast of Turin between Cuneo, Asti and Alessandria, is already a veritable paradise for foodies – Barolo and Asti are both famous for outstanding Piedmontese wines, Alba is home to some of the best truffles in the world and cheeses like Murazzano, Bra Duro and Robiola di Roccaverano are all made in these foothills. Add Piedmontese hazelnuts – known as Tonda Gentile delle Langhe or Nocciola del Piemonte IGP in Italy – to an already long list, and it’s no wonder that this area, stretching from Langhe to Montferrat, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The soil conditions that make this area perfect for growing grapes are also the reason why Piedmont is home to the world’s best hazelnuts. Piedmont’s indigenous hazelnut trees grow particularly sweet, delicate hazelnuts, but when growers attempted to plant these trees in other parts of the world – notably in the USA – they failed. Eventually American growers had success with a hardier Spanish variant, but although these trees survived the tougher conditions, they didn’t produce the same quality of hazelnut. Currently, Piedmont is the only place on Earth that these trees grow, making this a particularly special and unique part of the world.