A TOUR OF CHOCOBAROCCO

This evening I am going to take you on a tour of the 2011 Modica Chocobarocco Festival, which began on Friday and finishes today.

But first here is an image of another journey, that of chocolate to Modica in the sixteenth century.  The tradition of chocolate making arrived here with the Spaniards and they, of course, had learned their techniques in Mexico.  The Aztec method of chocolate making, which uses no dairy products, is still observed in Modica.

Are you ready?  Hold on to your hat!

As you board the little train, you will see an advert for the English International School  and I unashamedly give the school a plug here.

As you tour the exhibits, you will see chocolate worked into all sorts of shapes and forms:

Fancy a new caffetiera?

The chocolate computer mice proved more popular with children than the skeletons!

Want to update your winter wardrobe?  How about a chocolate shoe?

Or maybe a rose for your love?

Modican chocolate experts were joined by colleagues from other towns with a chocolate making tradition, such as Perugia:

Anna from Modica shows us a white chocolate creation:

Antique implements for working chocolate were on display:

Moulds like these are still in use.

One of the festival's main attractions has been this water-powered clock, inspired by the clock on Modica's Norman castle and made by local craftsman Enzo Terranova. The clock, made of iron and steel,  is 1.5 metres high and 600 litres of water, in a container below it, power it by means of a hidden electric motor, which takes the water up.

There was chocolate-inspired art to enjoy:

This map is made of foil chocolate containers.

And there were chocolate pizze of all flavours:

I took home a slab of the chilli pepper chocolate above.  My, it packs a punch on a cold, rainy evening!

This article is cross-posted at the blog of the English International School, Modica.