The Two Windows on Castle Square: Francesco Antonio Balocco and the Art of Leavening in Fossano, 1927

Fossano in 1927 was a vital agricultural market town where grain from the Cuneo plains met dairy herds and Piedmontese hazelnut orchards. Francesco Antonio Balocco recognized that the true secret of high confectionery lay not in hurried shortcuts, but in the patient, natural fermentation of living sourdough (*lievito madre*), nurtured daily with flour and water.

His laboratory quickly became famous throughout the province for its fragrant pastries, dry biscuits (*paste di meliga*), and soft holiday cakes. Following the Second World War, his son Aldo Balocco expanded upon this artisanal foundation: in the 1950s, he perfected the *Mandorlato Balocco*, an ingenious reinvention of the classic panettone crowned with a crisp glaze of Piedmont hazelnuts, whole almonds, and granulated sugar. The aroma wafting across Piazza Castello was soon packaged and shipped nationwide.

While Balocco eventually relocated its primary baking lines to modern facilities in Via Santa Lucia on the outskirts of Fossano, the family resolutely chose never to detach the brand from its hometown soil. The company remains 100% family-owned across four generations, maintaining a rare continuity of ownership and regional commitment.

Today, visitors strolling through Piazza Castello can pause before the historic premises where Francesco Antonio first lit his ovens in 1927. The contrast between the ancient 14th-century fortress and the aromatic baking history born at its base encapsulates the profound culinary heritage of Piedmont.