Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Asked by Sulkyrie. Answered on 29th September 2012

Full question

Hi, Where can I buy the gianduja (chocolate hazelnut paste) used in Nigella's Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake recipe in the first episode of Nigellissima. (I live in UK, is there an online shop to get it from?) Thanks.

Our answer

The gianduja, or chocolate hazelnut paste, used in Nigella's Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake is easily bought in the supermarket as Nutella. You can also buy very similar own label chocolate and hazelnut spreads in many major UK supermarkets. The BBC is not able to give brand names on TV shows.

Gianduja first appeared in the late 18th century in Turin, Italy. It was used to make fillings for truffles and the boat-shaped gianduiotti chocolates. In the 1940's Pietro Ferrero mixed hazelnut paste and cocoa together as a way to make cocoa (which was in short supply at that time due to rationing during World War II) go further and "pasta gianduja" became an affordable treat. The firm paste was sliced up and put into sadwiches. It was then made into a softer spread called "supercrema gianduja" and sold in jars. The "supercrema gianduja" was eventually re-named as Nutella, the brand that most of us know today.