Discovering the hazelnut valley

Culture, taste, traditions, here are some good reasons to discover the Misto Chiavari hazelnut valley

One day a small hazelnut rolled down from a tree in Liguria, in the hinterland of Chiavari and, bouncing down, from village to village, from hill to hill, it transformed into something unique and precious that narrates the story of a territory.
In Mezzanego, in the hinterland of Chiavari, “coriliculture” has been practised for years, but what is it exactly? You may not even know it and yet still enjoy cakes, sweets and other specialties made with this ingredient, but if you want to find out, visit the Valle della Nocciola, or Hazelnut Valley, and discover what hazelnut culture is really all about.

The Hazelnut Museum

The Misto Chiavari Hazelnut Museum, at Mezzanego, located in San Siro Foce, tells the story and culture of hazelnuts in Val Fontanabuona, an ancient bond whose first traces date back 5,000 years. Inside the museum, a path illustrates cultivation techniques and typical tools with the use of multimedia tools

The Misto Chiavari hazelnut

It is a local cultivar, mainly in the north-eastern part of the Sturla Valley (Val Carnella), consisting of the hazelnuts “Del Rosso” (rounded fruit), “Dall’orto” (rounded fruit and thin shell) and “Tapparona” (elongated and flattened fruit) and of others with interesting names (such as “Savreghetta” or “Menoia”, “Codina”). They consist of what is commercially known as Misto Chiavari  consisting of 55% Dall’Orto, 17% Del Rosso, 16% Tapparona and 12% 5 other minor varieties. They are used to prepare various sweets, to make a delicious hazelnut sauce, a delicate creamy sauce, ideal to season meatless ravioli and various types of pasta.

The hazelnut culture

Over the years, a small economy has developed around the hazelnut, made up of crafts and know-how, knowledge, traditions, and recipes.  Mezzanego literally became “the hazelnut village”: the traditional “reste” used to be made here, the hazelnut necklaces that are somewhat of a symbol of the village, located on the important route between the Passo del Bocco, and the Parma valleys.
Hazelnuts are still harvested by hand today: factories capable of processing and selecting them for distribution were established in Mezzanego, which reached its peak in the 1950s, when they were mainly shipped to lower Piedmont. One of them survived thanks to a mixture of tenacity and tradition: the factory of the Cogozzo family. There, a wooden machine operated by belts and pulleys sorts the hazelnuts by size and type, sparing workers the tedious task of sorting thousands of hazelnuts one by one. Seeing it in action, today in the age of Artificial Intelligence, makes the result even more satisfying and delicious: bags brimming with hazelnuts.

The Barbieri pastry shop

If you can already smell the scent of hazelnuts from the sea, in Chiavari, it is thanks to Pasticceria Barbieri. It is a prime example of how tradition and creativity can go hand in hand: attending a praline- and chocolate-making course in Alba, Piero Barbieri thought he could use the machines used in Piedmont to produce a famous spreadable cream to also create creams based on Misto Chiavari hazelnuts. This is how Chiavarina was created at the beginning of 2018, a spreadable cream made from 50% Misto Chiavari hazelnuts, with the simple addition of granulated sugar and a small percentage (6%) of cocoa. The product was so successful that it was given its own registered trademark.
Treating yourself to one of its 200-gram jars today is the ideal souvenir of this unique region.