All nuts are not created equal. I offer, as proof, the humble bowl of mixed nuts from the last party you attended. The cashews were inevitably the first to go, followed by the almonds, the walnuts and the pecans. A few odd souls might have chomped on the Brazil nuts, but not until the lowly peanuts had been picked through and people were desperate. And let's face it -- the filberts only got eaten because someone thought maybe, just maybe, they were hazelnuts.
As in the nut bowl, in Dessertland -- and that is where I live these days, just ask my thighs -- it is the hazelnut that resides at the top of the heap. Think Nutella slathered on crepes. Think chocolate hazelnut or nocciolo gelato. Think hazelnuts toasted and thrown into crumbles or on top of coffee cakes. It is, no doubt, because the hazelnut is naturally a bit sweet. It also has a pleasing round shape. (I think another reason they are popular is that much work is required to slip off the skins, making them well-suited to gourmet undertakings where a talented pastry chef, e.g. someone else, does the work for you.) But even in savory dishes, the hazelnut is queen -- toasted and tossed in salads, crushed as a crust for fish or fowl. And so it goes.
I have made no secret of my adoration of Charles Chocolates Triple Coated Chocolate Almonds. So imagine my surprise, my delight, my joy (and the giddy clapping of hands)
that followed when I learned that they are about to release Triple Coated Chocolate Hazelnuts.
I was luckly enough to get a sneak preview taste (well someone had to do it). Like the almonds, the hazelnuts are coated in a mix of bittersweet and milk chocolate and dusted with a fine coat of unsweetened cocoa powder, with the toasted nut hidden in the center. As much as I love the almonds -- they were my gift of choice to lift my mom's spirits when she found herself tending to my ailing grandfather this summer (leaving little time to tend to her sanity), and they were the first thing I made (let?) Little Sister eat when she arrived in SF for her last visit -- I love the hazelnuts more.
After a taste (or ten -- I think I et half the jar during last night's unbearably dull Emmy's) of the chocolate covered hazelnuts, I have to pronounce them ridiculously, dangerously good. Oy, poor thighs, this is trouble with a capital T.
***
Coming soon to Charles Chocolates ($12)
This post made me so happy! I grew up in Oregon, otherwise known as the hazelnut state. People in the countryside are known to hang crooked signs above their mailboxes with the magical words: "Hazelnuts for Sale" written with Magic Markers.
Since I don't have a visit up North planned in the near future, I'll have to pick up a containter of Charles' version to tide me over...
Posted by: Jennifer | August 28, 2006 at 04:18 PM
YUMMO!! Can't wait to try these!
Posted by: Mom | August 28, 2006 at 04:42 PM
Catherine - you have a knack for focusing on ingredients I love! One of the joys of travelling to Piemonte is cheap and tasty hazelnuts by the bushelful. I'm thinking that probably one of the online Italian food purveyors offers peeled, roasted hazelnuts from Piemonte. They're just as good (better) as the ones you have to labor over yourself, and keep quite well in the freezer. Alas, I'm on my last vacuum-packed bag. :-(
Posted by: Robyn | August 28, 2006 at 07:43 PM