First created at the historic Pasticceria Arione in 1923, Cuneo chocolates are soft chocolates filled with rum cream and meringue. Made according to the original recipe from that era, they are still wrapped individually in this café, which is also recognised as a ‘Locale Storico d’Italia’.
Among Italy’s most famous chocolates are the ‘cuneesi’, so named to reflect their typical Piedmontese origin. In fact, the ‘cuneesi’ are chocolate sweets filled with rum from the province of Cuneo, which have always been off-limits to children precisely because of their high alcohol content. The recipe remains a secret to this day, despite the fact that imitations of the one and only original – created in the early 1900s by Andrea Arione’s patisserie, now recognised as a ‘Historical Place of Italy’ – have always been around. Cuneesi were first created in Arione’s workshops and are about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their invention, when, in 1923, they were packaged for the very first time right here in this café and patisserie in Cuneo. Let’s see how.
Cuneesi with rum
Cuneesi: how Cuneo’s rum chocolates are made
Cuneesi are chocolates that are still made today using fresh eggs and milk, high-quality dark chocolate and authentic rum. What sets genuine rum-flavoured cuneesi apart from the many imitations is the double meringue shell that encloses the rum cream, all coated in dark chocolate. Today, they are also available in Grand Marnier, hazelnut, cremino, chestnut cream and coffee flavours, wrapped in the same green and red paper that has been used for a full 100 years.
Cuneesi are still made by hand and are protected by a trade mark patent, which was strongly championed by Andrea Arione, despite the many imitations in circulation. To this day, production strictly adheres to the 1923 recipe: they must weigh around 20g, their shape must resemble a perfectly rounded dome with no imperfections, and they must be glossy on the outside and soft on the inside. To mark the centenary of the birth of Italy’s most famous chocolate, a number of limited editions are planned, featuring renowned artists such as Ugo Nespolo, who has created a series of screen prints in true Futurist style to commemorate the years of their creation.
Pasticceria Arione: 100 years of history and tradition in Cuneo
The business began exactly a century ago in 1923, the year in which Andrea Arione – grandfather of the current owners – decided to open his café and patisserie in Cuneo. It is still located in the very centre of Piazza Galimberti, on the corner with Corso Nizza, although the original workshop where these creations were first conceived is no longer in use. The café is listed among Historical Places of Italy, thanks to its old-world charm, which evokes the elegance of early 20th-century bars with its large interior mirrors, wooden details, marble features and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
The shop front is still the original one from that era, as is the entrance, through which many well-known figures from the worlds of politics, entertainment and literature have passed over the decades. Among them was Ernest Hemingway, who stopped by in May 1954 on the advice of the publisher Arnoldo Mondadori – an admirer of the shop’s products – to buy some rum-flavoured ‘cuneesi’ for his wife, who was on holiday in Nice. Mario Monicelli also visited here with Marcello Mastroianni and Annie Girardot to shoot some scenes for the 1963 film I Compagni, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Story and Best Screenplay. The 1950s advertising posters designed by Carlo Prandoni are still on display in the shop windows. The story of the cuneesi and the patisserie where it all began is one worth celebrating.
Pasticceria Arione
Press Review – Locali storici d’Italia : 29/09/23 TORINOTODAY