Foodie Find of the Week: Nocello

I can't in good faith recommend anything I have tried this week being in the throws of a raw food cleanse...aloe juice, even cranberry-pomegranate (perhaps that's where I went wrong?)is frankly quite nasty and has to be taken just like a shot of whiskey, although I am quite certain whiskey shots taste better. Nor can I recommend the detox tea that I bought solely based on its name, which tastes like all the poisons that will allegedly be whisked away from imbibing the dreadful liquid. Both were and continue to be very medicinal and not at all pleasant. One more day. I can do it.

What I have for you this week, is another "find" I've been sitting on for awhile. I know...I know...I'm selfish and I seem to be keeping the best things for myself...lol

At any rate here it is:

Nocello. I'm sure everyone has heard of Nutella, the deliciously decadent chocolate hazelnut spread sent to us by way of our Canadian neighbors. But have you had the Italian "Real-Deal-Holyfield" version? It is on another level of deliciousness. It has a creamier texture and the hazelnut flavor is more pronounced. It's also imported from Europe and has a nice label which are two irrelevant qualities I tend to like in processed foods. Think of it as Nutella's more sophisticated Italian cousin who has flown in for the holidays to brighten your spirits and spread its chocolately-hazelnut cheer all around.

It's great smeared on just about everything...strawberries, pound cake, shortbread cookies, bananas, melted over ice cream, your finger...whatever floats your gondola. I had the idea of melting it and adding it to milk to make chocolate milk, but it seemed like too much trouble at the time (spoon already perched in hand, ready to dive in and eat it directly from the jar) or possibly substituting it in place of peanut butter in some cookies, but I never followed through with that either...if you have more restraint than I, and manage to get it done, let me know how it turns out. I'm happy just eating mine in front of the fridge at the moment.

Nocello is a little harder to track down than Nutella, but it's worth the hunt and the extra dollar or two.

Enjoy,
~c