Tuesday, November 01, 2011

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.

13 comments:

James Higham said...

English with quality, eh?

Lucia said...

Oh I will have to go to the chocolate shop here in Toronto and see if they have anything that compares to that. I would love pepper chocolate or those shoes! My favourite of course is the skeletons in the coffin!!!

Jenny Woolf said...

Good gracious, does this happen every year? how amazing!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Yes, indeed, James. Hi, Lucia. Oh, the skeletons were a bit scary for me! Hi, Jenny. Yes, it used to be "Eurochocolate" and when that stopped, the Modicani decided to make their own chocolate festival. I think they have done very well.

Patricia said...

Oh...my memories of thick hot chocolate in Modica...like nothing I had ever tasted before. I bought two bars of the chocolate. Someday maybe you can post the directions of how to make hot chocolate that is thick from them. Does a thickener have to be added?

THE GARDEN CAT COTTAGE said...

Oh that looks like heaven.... almost to pretty to eat.

LindyLouMac said...

Catching up with my blogging friends and you welcomed me home with chocolate this morning, delicious. Thanks for calling by to listen to some music while I was away.

Trubes said...

Wow! The Chocolate displays look amazing, I paticularly liked the Chocolate Shoes and the Chocolate Chilli Pizzas.
You are so lucky to live in such a lovely place, ther always seems to be something going on.
I was disappointed, though, that i didn't see any Doggies or Pussie Cats.....What does Simi think?....I'd ask Chloe's opinion but at present, she's indulging in her favourtite pastime....zzzzzng!
I've just written about my meeting with Denise, of (Mrs Nesbitt's Space)....it was such a delightful meeting, I do hope you pop over to Trubes, to read all about it..
Hope you and darling Simi are keeping well,

Di..xxx

Michelle said...

Wow - really liked the chocolate skulls and skeletons.

rochambeau said...

THank you THank you THANK YOU !! For this delicious post! Those shoes and the bouquet of roses..... Oh my!!!

xox
Constance

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Patricia. No, no thickener. I will post on it. Hi,GCC. Yes, that's the trouble! Hi, LindyLouMac. Welcome back again. Always a pleasure to listen to the music you have chosen. Hi, Di. Well, there were some dogs being walked there but it was really too crowded, I think. Simi doesn't think much of it as there was no special doggy chocolate! I'll be over to read all about your meeting with Denise tomorrow. Lots of love to you and Chloe from us. xx woof! Hi, Michelle. Those scared me! I'm so glad you liked the post, Constance. xx

Whispering Walls said...

So beautiful - love the roses and the shoes!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Yes, those were my favourites too, WW.

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