If you drive towards Asti, the landscape changes. Suddenly the Po Valley and its extensive rice fields lie behind the traveler. The eye sees lovely hills whose slopes are covered with vines. Vines as far as the eye can see; one vineyard follows the next. The villages that sit on top of the hills are real gems and the village image is dominated by churches and other towers. The narrow streets require some skill from the driver of a car larger than a Fiat Cinquecento.

But Piedmont is not only the home of famous wines but also the home of hazelnuts. It was here in 1940 that the pastry chef Pietro Nutella invented the hazelnut paste that bears his name and can be found all over the world. But we didn’t feel like Nutella; we were more in the mood for freshly roasted hazelnuts.

The day before we had discovered a sign along the road that pointed to a company where hazelnuts are processed: Azienda Agricola Terre Bianche. The charming and competent owner led us through the production hall where the harvested hazelnuts were washed, dried and sorted. They are then peeled, processed into delicacies or packaged in larger or smaller quantities. It was logical that we preferred the larger pack and said goodbye to Signora Beviona with more hazelnut delicacies under our arms.