Natalia Nurzia stirred her thick caffè al torrone, a shot of espresso with milk and molten nougat, as we sat in her family’s bar in L’Aquila, the capital of the Abruzzo region. “We’ve been here since 1835,” she said, gazing across the square. “Not even wars, not even earthquakes could move us.” 

For generations, Nurzia’s family has made chocolate torrone — the most popular version is softened by honey, swirled with cocoa, and mixed with hazelnut chunks to give an extra crunch — at Fratelli Nurzia.