If you are in Italy and someone asks you if you want a “Baci,” at first you might think they are being fresh! That is until you see they are starting to hand you a chocolate. For those of you who don’t know Italian, the word “baci,” means “kisses.”
If you like chocolate and you like hazelnuts, you’ll fall in love with Baci chocolates. As you see in the photo, each chocolate has a full size hazelnut inside. It’s a treat to eat one, they are delicious. Now, they are a bit expensive, so receiving one as a gift means the person wanted to surprise you with a decadent gift. Oh, and they are similar to fortune cookies, in that they ALWAYS have a love note inside written in four different languages (Italian, English, German, Spanish, French, or Chinese).
Baci’s are made by Perugina (1907), an Italian chocolate company, located in Umbria, the town of Perugia. Nestlé company purchased Perugina in 1988. This past trip I did not have a chance to visit Perugia, but that is for next time.
On the Perugina website, they offer chocolate cooking classes. The classes are 3-4 hours long, which would allow for site seeing in Perugia. I know, some of you might be thinking… I cannot make it to Italy, how will I ever take their master chocolate class. Well, if you are in or traveling to America, you have the option of going to New York or Chicago for master chocolate classes.
While I am not an expert cook or baker in any way, I do find the idea of being surrounded by Italian chocolate exciting! Something to add to the “Bucket List.”
When I was staying with the relatives in Florence, I gave them Baci’s right after dinner, because I wanted it to be a surprise. It’s amazing how one box of chocolate created such excitement! Baci’s can do that!
Brilliant Viewpoint 
When I spent my junior year of college in Italy, our class traveled from Rome to Perugia to see specific works of art and architecture. For some of us, the appeal was also in the knowledge Perugina was located there. There’s something magical about a chocolate factory (maybe Roald Dahl and Willy Wonka should take the credit?) I’m sure I have a Baci foil or two in my keepsake box from that unforgettable year. Thank you for resurrecting a sweet memory!
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Great story, Dave!
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And they are so much better than the Hersey Kisses. I am in a suburb of Chicago and there is nothing like the sweet smell of chocolate drifting across the Kennedy Expressway from the factory. I will have to check out the master class. 😋
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I’m curious about that class too. I guess it would be too much to hope that we would actually make a “Baci,” right! 🙂
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Anything is possible 😍
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Ok, I took a quick look… I saw some great looking classes on pasta, pizza, wine, some desserts, but not a chocolate class. Maybe that comes in November/December for the Holidays. The other classes look like they would be fun. One is with Chef Lidia from PBS.
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I want to take a food tour of Italy. 🙂
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Great idea! I just spoke to a woman who is going to Milan next year to take a month long Pizza course. She said she will learn how the pizza ovens work, etc. Sounds interesting!
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It’s such a delicious chocolate. I love to give Baci’s as a special gift. I will make note of that cooking class too. Yummm. Xx
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Yum! My tastebuds went wild reading this post 🙂
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That’s great!
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