Grissini are the thin bread sticks you see on every North Italian table before dinner. These, made by a bakery in the town of Asti, are crisp and crumbly and absolutely grand when served plain. But these are far from plain.
Instead, they're covered in semi-sweet chocolate. Each bread stick is more than eight inches long and, thanks to the sweet jacket, built for coveting. Imagine a really substantial, supremely delicious version of Japanese pocky. When our first container carrying them arrived from Italy I found myself nibbling away like a chipmunk who'd hit the jackpot.