Nutella is spreadable chocolate. What more could you really want? To me, it really does not have much of a hazelnut flavor, and so I can enjoy the wonder of something that is clearly superior to peanut butter in every way. It can be spread on sandwiches, drizzled on fruit, or have cookies dipped into it. My favorite ways to have Nutella are on plain bread, on a banana, or as a tasty hiking food when spread over cinnamon-raisin bagels. When I was growing up, I can’t honestly say I liked it. Perhaps it was because the jar we had was an untold number of years old, kind of stiff, and stale. Regardless, I would not have asked or really accepted Nutella from anyone. Then I went to Italy. This changed EVERYTHING. I had one taste on some bread, offered from a friend and taken to be polite. I think I was just about in the middle of saying I didn’t like Nutella very much when it hit me. I could not get enough, and in Italy, its cheap. I started eating it on bread, then with fruit, then with cookies, then with pretzels, then straight from a spoon, then without even the dignity of a spoon when your finger is perfectly convenient and you would never share with anyone anyway. This was not all in one sitting mind you, but I was very quickly to the point that I was eating a medium sized jar a week, and it took up a major portion of my diet. It also made me into a closet barbarian, apparently. It is THAT good! In Romania, it was provided free as a mix of chocolate and caramel flavors at the hostel I was staying at. The free “breakfast” was also available until noon. I only feel a little bad that I would have Nutella on bread for two meals a day (this was in the public eye, so I used utensils like a civilized person). I eventually came back to the states, and only then could I curb the habit since the first jar I tried was nut flavored. Now it is one of those things that is a very nice treat to have. Deciding to put it on waffles and ice-cream were excellent decisions. However, it is not really my go to snack anymore. I will definitely take it on hiking trips as it is a great combination of sugar, I can pretend there is protein, it is delicious and decadent enough that my food is not entirely that which you would expect on a backpacking trip. I have definitely re-gained some level of civility, utensils only; though, I may sneak a straight spoon every now and then. 😀