For the uninitiated, Michele Ferrero was a real-life Willy Wonka and
innovator of marvellous confections and owner of the chocolate
manufacturer Ferrero SpA. He was the man behind the magical Nutella
Hazelnut spread, the mouth-freshening Tic-Tacs, the dense and rich
Ferrero Rocher chocolates and every child’s all-time favourite, the
Kinder Joy eggs. He died this week and his passing feels like an
immensely personal loss, for he touched my life and my culinary universe
in more ways than one.
At almost all given points in time, I am likely to have the trademark
little plastic tin of Tic-Tacs in my bag. I like to call these mouth
freshening pills, ‘mintlets’ with just the right amount of sweetness and
zing. Among the staples in my larder, there is always that much-loved
glass bottle of Nutella that has offered succour when days were cold and
dank, an element of joy when meals were bland and cheat moments during
diet breakfasts comprising bottomless bowls of Dickensian gruel.
Whenever I have been at a loss for presents, the Ferrero Rocher pralines
have been my go-to last-minute saviours, immediately adding a suitable
sense of gravity to any occasion.
Mr Ferrero pretty much
thought of it all, offering smart plastic cases that were pretty enough
in their own right and available in different sizes for the varying
relationships between the gifter and the giftee.
If there is one thing that Mr Ferrero made that I missed trying, that
would be the Kinderjoy egg. Always a stickler for collecting Easter
eggs, this little egg-shaped chocolate surprise entered the supermarket
and my life in a post-lib India long after I had left my childhood long
behind. Although the idea of having my own Kinder egg appealed to me,
the idea of being in queue with wee babies, cajoling their parents to
buy them yet another one, was a tad embarrassing. However, this week in
tribute to this man, I shall sacrifice my adult composure and return to
the innocent joy of discovering a toy inside a chocolate egg.
And
Nutella... Well... I could sing paeons to this creamy
chocolate-hazelnut spread that has spawned hundreds of pretenders but
never a worthy equal.
The journey from a Napoleonic war-time
substitute created from the hazelnuts of Piedmont to a gianduja (an
Italian chocolate and hazelnut sweet) inspired by World War II cocoa
shortages to the modern-day phenomenon which was launched in its current
Nutella avatar as late as 1964 and has since spread across the world,
is remarkable.
The product has spawned reams of numbers and
statistics including the near unbelievable one which states that a
bottle of Nutella is sold somewhere in the world every 2.5 seconds! A
World Nutella Day is celebrated every February 5. Nutella recipe
festivals, competitions and even a postage stamp commemorating this jar
of joy.
It is Mr Ferrero’s masterful blend of chocolate, hazelnut
and palm oil that has emerged as a winner, turning his father’s small
pastry shop into a veritable chocolate empire and one of the most
successful businesses in the world,
It also skyrocketed its owner
into the list of the world’s richest men. Despite the success, the
company has remained family-owned, Mr Ferrero remained reclusive and
closely guarded his secret recipe through his life.
One could almost expect an army of Oompa Loompas to be manning the sprawling factories in Alba.
While
Michele Ferrero might be no more, he leaves behind a marvellous legacy
and continues to spread the happiness across the world.
This was published in The New Indian Express Bangalore on 21 February, 2015
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