Nutella - need I say more? Well yes! Read on...

A friend writes about chocolate on her blog, I told her I'd like to see what she had to say about Nutella. Her response, "I'd like to see what YOU have to say." Well, okay.

I love Nutella. It's the best chocolate vector around.

I eat it on crackers, especially cracker sticks, which are perfect for dipping straight out of the jar. I eat it on bananas. With banana in one hand, and a knife in the other, I coat each bite in a layer of creaminess that blends with the flesh of the fruit as I chew (I snarf this for breakfast some mornings while I check emails and read blogs).

But, these favorite snacks are not where my journey with Nutella began.

I first experienced Nutella in a tiny brick-walled kitchen in Brazil, spreading the smooth creamy goodness over warm chunks of bread torn from a loaf recently purchased at the padaria just down the street. The flavor told me chocolate, but the small glass container listed the item as crème de avelã com chocolate – I didn't know what avelã was, but chocolate didn't need any translation.

A few years later I would enjoy Nutella and cream cheese on fresh baked bread in Germany, but I still had yet to learn of its Italian origins.

I had never seen Nutella in the States until a friend told me which supermarkets carried the item. She liked to smother it on grapes. The textures never combined well for me. But by this time I took the sweet chocolaty goop whenever, and however, I could get it.

What makes Nutella so great, aside from its flavor and texture, is its versatility. I've heard you can use Nutella as a fondue. It's also good with peanut butter on a sandwich (maybe I should try it on a peanut butter and banana sandwich).

I searched the internet to find out what other people do with Nutella, and discovered some people use it as filling between cake layers, or in donuts. Someone suggested using it in rice crispy treats. The lists abound, you can put Nutella on pretty much anything and it will be good.

The best suggestion I heard was in the line at the grocery store when I bought my last jar: spread it on graham crackers with jet puff marshmallow. Finally, a s'more with proper topping to cracker ratio and more supportive materials, preventing too much breakage of the cracker, and of course, with the amazing flavor of Nutella.

Photo credit: Ferrero