Food History of Turin

Key eras

1563, Turin becomes the Savoy capital

Duke Emanuele Filiberto moved the House of Savoy capital from Chambery to Turin in 1563. The royal kitchens drew French and Piedmontese chefs, planting the dual tradition of court tasting menus and farmhouse osteria that still defines local cooking today.

1763, the bicerin and the historic cafes

Caffe Al Bicerin opened on Piazza della Consolata in 1763. The house bicerin (coffee, chocolate, fior di latte) became Turin's morning drink. Caffe San Carlo (1822), Mulassano (1907 here) and Baratti & Milano (1858) added the Liberty-cafe ritual that endures.

1865, gianduiotto at Caffarel

Caffarel and Michele Prochet shaped the boat-form gianduiotto in 1865 for the Turin Carnival. The gianduja paste behind it, born of mid-1800s cocoa scarcity, extended cocoa with locally abundant Tonda Gentile delle Langhe hazelnut. The Piedmontese hazelnut and gianduja chocolate were married for life.

1926, the tramezzino at Caffe Mulassano

Onorino and Angela Nebiolo returned from Detroit to take over Caffe Mulassano in 1925, and in 1926 invented the tramezzino: crustless, triangular, soft white-bread sandwich. Gabriele D'Annunzio named it. Today the house carries over 30 fillings, served standing at the counter.

1986, Carlo Petrini founds Slow Food

In nearby Bra (43 km south) in 1986, Carlo Petrini founded Slow Food in response to a McDonald's opening in Piazza di Spagna in Rome. The movement turned into the Universita di Scienze Gastronomiche in Pollenzo (2004) and the biennial Salone del Gusto in Turin.

2007, Eataly is born at Lingotto

Eataly opened its first store at Lingotto on January 27, 2007, converting the old Carpano vermouth factory into 11,000 square metres of Italian counter food and groceries. Oscar Farinetti's project went global from Turin within five years.

Immigrant influences

• French (House of Savoy court): The Savoy capital brought French techniques (braising, court patisserie) and refined Piedmontese tradition: tajarin egg pasta, vitello tonnato and the slow-roast disciplines of the royal kitchen.
• North African (Maghrebi): Porta Palazzo became Europe's largest open-air market with strong Maghrebi presence. Halal kebab, Tunisian pastries, harissa and ras-el-hanout are now part of San Salvario and Aurora daily eating.
• Chinese: Turin's Chinese community is concentrated in San Salvario and Aurora and runs ravioli, hand-pulled noodles and bubble tea counters that the city's hipster crowd treats as essential.
• Romanian and Eastern European: Eastern European immigrants run delicatessens around Porta Palazzo selling smoked sausage, cheese and pickled vegetables, particularly visible on Saturday market days.

Signature innovations

• Bicerin (1763): the layered coffee, chocolate and fior di latte drink
• Gianduiotto (1865): hazelnut-cocoa ingot from the Napoleonic cocoa shortage
• Tramezzino (1926): crustless triangular soft-bread sandwich invented at Mulassano
• Pinguino (1939): chocolate-covered gelato on a stick by Pepino, Italy's gelato-on-a-stick original
• Slow Food (1986, Bra): the world's first slow-food movement, founded near Turin
• Eataly (2007, Lingotto): the first multifunctional Italian food marketplace