Thursday, January 30, 2025

Gianduja

Gianduja is one of the masks of the Italian commedia dell'arte, typically representing the town of Turin (and Piedmont in general). Gianduja also became the namesake for a Piedmontese chocolate preparation. The mask depicts an honest peasant of Piedmontese country land, with a certain inclination for wine (particularly Brachetto d'Acqui), gastronomy and beautiful girls, while strictly faithful to his lover Giacometta, who is usually represented by a cute girl. 

In the commedia dell'arte, Gianduja is a fond drinker and a very lecherous character, and Giacometta, his lover, always becomes jealous of him. Personality-wise, he always has a happy humour. He is dressed (in the usual version) with a tricorn hat and a brown jacket with red borders.

The character of Gianduja was created as a glove puppet but later became a marionette and then a live character portrayed by an actor. He is now Turin's official "king of the Carnival".

The character inspired the name of gianduja, a paste of chocolate and hazelnut typical of Turin.

 Event: Carnival

2 comments:

roentare said...

A fascinating story. The parade is representative of a great tale

Stefan Jansson said...

A nice tradition.