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Piedmont Hazelnut Importer

rraaflaub

By rraaflaub
in Pastry & Baking

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rraaflaub

rraaflaub

Posted
Posted

I am looking for high quality Italian hazelnuts from the Piedmont region, but am having trouble finding an importer to the US (wholesale, though retail would be a start). I know there is at least one, but I don't know who.

Does anyone know where I can find them?

Randall Raaflaub, chocolatier

rr chocolats

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
I am looking for high quality Italian hazelnuts from the Piedmont region, but am having trouble finding an importer to the US (wholesale, though retail would be a start). I know there is at least one, but I don't know who.

Does anyone know where I can find them?

Try contacting Hazelnut Counsil, Inc

http://www.hazelnutcouncil.org

phone 206-270-4633

They seem to talk mostly about Turkish and Oregon, but I'm sure they could tell you.

They had some excellent hazelnuts dusted with moroccan spice at the PMCA that were excellent.

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
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WhiteTruffleGirl

WhiteTruffleGirl

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If you do find anything out, would you please post and let us know? I spent some time in culinary school in the Piedmont and absolutely fell in love with the hazelnuts in this region. If it's not too cost prohibitive, I'd use them in my chocolates.

Actually, my moniker of 'WhiteTruffleGirl' speaks to my love of the fungi of this region...but, it doesn't work too badly for chocolates either... :raz:

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rraaflaub

rraaflaub

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We talking about Piemonte right no Piedmont?Just to avoid confusion.

Okay...perhaps you can help me with this one; so far as I know Piedmont is the english name for the region, and Piemonte is the Italian town smack in the middle of it. That's what I think...please correct me if they are different, I am thinking of the region, on the south end of the border with France.

Randall Raaflaub, chocolatier

rr chocolats

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Desiderio

Desiderio

Posted
Posted
We talking about Piemonte right no Piedmont?Just to avoid confusion.

Okay...perhaps you can help me with this one; so far as I know Piedmont is the english name for the region, and Piemonte is the Italian town smack in the middle of it. That's my version...please correct me if they are different; I am thinking of the region, on the south end of the border with France.

Piemonte is the name of the region ,the main town in Piemonte is Torino.

Yes close to the french border .

Vanessa

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SWISS_CHEF

SWISS_CHEF

Posted
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We talking about Piemonte right no Piedmont?Just to avoid confusion.

Okay...perhaps you can help me with this one; so far as I know Piedmont is the english name for the region, and Piemonte is the Italian town smack in the middle of it. That's my version...please correct me if they are different; I am thinking of the region, on the south end of the border with France.

Piemonte is a region. It means "foot of the mountains", Piemonte is the second largest region in Italy, but only the 6th most populated. Both spellings are correct; Piemonte is Italian and Piedmont is English.

There is no town in Piemonte region called Piemonte or Piedmont.

By the way Turin and Torino are the same town.

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rraaflaub

rraaflaub

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Thanks for the clarification Swiss Chef...if I can't find what I want (or in reasonable sample quanities to start) I might take you up on the shipping offer. It would be great to have fresh product to know how it should be.

I'll put any discoveries on here as I look.

Randall Raaflaub, chocolatier

rr chocolats

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rraaflaub

rraaflaub

Posted
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If you do find anything out, would you please post and let us know?  I spent some time in culinary school in the Piedmont and absolutely fell in love with the hazelnuts in this region.  If it's not too cost prohibitive, I'd use them in my chocolates.

Actually, my moniker of 'WhiteTruffleGirl' speaks to my love of the fungi of this region...but, it doesn't work too badly for chocolates either... :raz:

That's interesting TruffleGirl...were you there specifically to learn regional cuisine? Was that primarily pastries or savoury? For that matter, out of curiousity, do you have a shop, do pastries, ...?

Randall Raaflaub, chocolatier

rr chocolats

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WhiteTruffleGirl

WhiteTruffleGirl

Posted
Posted
If you do find anything out, would you please post and let us know?  I spent some time in culinary school in the Piedmont and absolutely fell in love with the hazelnuts in this region.  If it's not too cost prohibitive, I'd use them in my chocolates.

Actually, my moniker of 'WhiteTruffleGirl' speaks to my love of the fungi of this region...but, it doesn't work too badly for chocolates either... :raz:

That's interesting TruffleGirl...were you there specifically to learn regional cuisine? Was that primarily pastries or savoury? For that matter, out of curiousity, do you have a shop, do pastries, ...?

Yes, it was to study regional cooking. My background is savory (as was the focus of my time in the Piedmont), but I've become increasingly more attracted to pastry over the years. I think I can actually trace my love of chocolate making to a visit to Guido Gobino's manufacturing operation below his shop in Turino. The smell and taste of his hazelnut chocolate was intoxicating, and his obvious passion for his work contagious. I'm in the late stages of development of my business plan for opening a shop focusing primarily on chocolate.

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  • 2 weeks later...
rraaflaub

rraaflaub

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An update here...it seems virtually everyone imports their hazelnuts from Greece or Turkey. I've followed all the leads here, and there were quite a few by the time you include all the hazelnut importers listed by the hazelnut board (and I mean all...I called every one on the list). So far...not a one. I know this exists, and I'll keep up the search. Meanwhile, thank you for all the posts and helpful links.

Randall

Randall Raaflaub, chocolatier

rr chocolats

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rooftop1000

rooftop1000

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how about....

http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=La+G...&icp=1&.intl=us

Edited by rooftop1000 (log)

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rraaflaub

rraaflaub

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Correct, and co-incidental timing! In fact, I had found La Gentile in Italy and sent them an email a week ago, and had not heard anything back...until this morning. I received an email and a follow-up call from these guys earlier this morning. They do have them in stock regularly, not all the options, but the others they can get (they order every 6 or 8 weeks apparantly).

The cost is around $9-10/#, which isn't bad (2kg bag increments). They are shipping some out to me today by UPS, I'm not sure if I'll get them by Friday or not...but I'm rather excited to try them out.

Meanwhile, thank you rooftop...if they hadn't called me already it's good to know I could have finally found them.

Randall Raaflaub, chocolatier

rr chocolats

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WhiteTruffleGirl

WhiteTruffleGirl

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The cost is around $9-10/#, which isn't bad (2kg bag increments).  They are shipping some out to me today by UPS, I'm not sure if I'll get them by Friday or not...but I'm rather excited to try them out.

Meanwhile, thank you rooftop...if they hadn't called me already it's good to know I could have finally found them.

Yahoo! That's great Randall. Do let me know how you find them. The price is more reasonable than I would have expected. Expensive, yes, but oh those nuts are divine.

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