

	The cocoa plant requires temperatures of 20 to 35 degrees centigrade, along with rain that is abundant and constant so that the plantations enjoy high levels of moisture and humidity. Since the plant will not grow in Europe, cocoa must be imported from its native land. It is shipped in the form of beans (its natural state), which are then processed and converted into familiar products. The use of hot chocolate spread quickly from Spain to nearby France, where connoisseurs with refined palates began improving upon the beverage by adding spices and extracts. Chocolate was introduced into the Piedmont region of Italy by Duke Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, the great General Captain of the Spanish armies, when he returned home from his victory at San Quintino.

						The new taste was later made popular at the royal court and among the Piedmont and Savoy aristocracy by Catherine of Austria, daughter of Philip II, who married Carlo Emanuele I, the Duke of Savoy. Turin thus became the leading centre for the production and use of cocoa, and enthusiastic manufacturers in the city have always respected the tradition of making refined chocolate. And, fine chocolate has always been enjoyed by many enthusiasts in Turin.Yet by itself, cocoa is only an ingredient. In order to become the delight known as chocolate, it must be sweetened, combined with extracts, tamed, flavoured, and mixed with other basic ingredients in a perfectly balanced way.