A WELCOME RETURN

It was wonderful to see the return of our lovely chocolate festival, ChocoModica, from 7th - 10th December, the first time it had been held since the pandemic. I've always loved the atmosphere of this festival where there is something for everyone, with cookery demonstations, book launches, concerts and chocolate sculpting among the many events. And of course, there are chocolate stalls, local food stalls and craft stalls to browse. 

Here are some photos (some of which I have had to crop so as not to show the faces of children). I did my best!

Who can resist a chocolate-flavoured panettone? Not me!
The fine gentleman in the chef's hat was handing out free tubs of freshly made chocolate ice cream.

Chocolate sculpting

Cocoa bean pods and cocoa beans

I like the craft stalls.

Who wants a chocolate coffee-maker? (In the background on the right.)

Well done, Modica!

CHOCOMODICA 2017

Hello and yes, I know, it's been a while again. This can be put down to trying to keep up with, and fight, Brexit and the fact that, with age, I am becoming rather grumpy. Or is it Brexit that's making me grumpy?  (Whatever your opinion on the matter, the impact is serious for expats.)

However, something that makes me less grumpy is our ChocoModica festival, which always begins on the 8th December holiday and signifies, for me, the beginning of the festivities. Here are some pictures to give you a flavour:

The torta di Savoia cake being finished below left, of which samples were offered to everyone, was the best I have ever tasted. The gentleman on the right seemed justifiably proud of his sculpture:

Lots of intricate work to admire and not only on chocolate:

How to choose which chocolate to buy? In the end I bought a slab of white chocolate topped with forest fruits because it is just.... well, you'll have to taste it to find out!  No trip to Modica Bassa is complete without calling in at the Latteria and Modican chocolate ice cream goes down a treat in the middle of winter. Only next time, turn the heating on, guys - please!

More chocolate sculpture work:

Sculptures of a different kind on display, made from clay and wood. Regular readers will recognise the Duomo di San Giorgio, Castello dei Conti and Teatro Garibaldi:

And finally, some more lovely crafts, among many others at the stalls which always accompany a Sicilian festival:

Well done again, Modica!

CEDRO, CEDRO....

Cedro, cedro,

on the stall

is the biggest

of them all!

Well, this was the biggest cedro [citron] I had seen for a long time and it was on display outside a greengrocer's on this opening day of our annual ChocoModica festival.  I love cedri, both to eat, with seasalt and to cook with, so the sight of this one really cheered me up.

The chocolate festival, as you might expect, features lots of chocolate stalls, selling bars of all flavours, from banana to chilli to more traditional types and there were all kinds of chocolate products on sale, including liqueurs, cosmetics and even chocolate arancini [rice balls].  During the four days of the festival, there are also exhibitions, talks, tastings and demonstrations though I must say access is a problem to some of them and this needs attention.

You can watch chocolate sculptors and makers at work, though a finished chocolate sculpture would have been nice to see alongside those in production.  Perhaps that is to come.  I was fascinated by the fruit carving below but the highlight for me remains the cedro!

ChocoModica runs until 11th December and the full programme is here.

"A NICE LITTLE FESTIVAL"

Modica's annual chocolate festival, ChocoModica, is what I think of as a "nice little festival."  It sort of evolved from the larger Eurochocolate festivals that used to be held in the town and I think this is one case where smaller is better:  the festival as it is these days is not too crowded, the atmosphere is friendly, you do not feel overwhelmed by stall after stall of the same thing and it is ours.

I am still at a loss to explain why a town which can organise this event so well - it's the only occasion in the year when there are reliable buses - cannot get its act together regarding so many other matters but it's Christmas so let us not be Scrooge.  Instead, won't you join me on a walk around the festival?

Last year we had angels; this year we have lanterns  It's always nice to see Modica lit up:

 There were, of course chocolate stalls and plenty of music:

You could watch chocolate being made and taste it. I liked the chocolate Santa in the middle picture here:

But what I liked best were the chocolate sculptures and it was at this exhibition that I spent most of my time:

Well done, Modica - when you decide to do something well, you're fabulous!

TRIUMPH AT EXPO

Chocolate to taste and buy at Bonajuto, Modica

Congratulations to my adopted city and its chocolate, which, it has been announced, has outsold chocolate from its two other great Italian homes - Perugia and Turin - at Expo 2015 [closing at the end of this month].

At the Cocoa and Chocolate Cluster, the 22 exhibitors from Modica sold chocolate products worth €217,546,  amounting to 46% of chocolate sales there.  Chocolate from Perugia accounted for 29.10% of sales and chocolate from Turin 24.64%. 

Chocolate being made by the traditional method at Bonajuto, Modica

Mayor of Modica Ignazio Abbate said that these figures prove that the human and financial resources the city has put into Expo were a good investment for both its image and its most famous product. The city's own chocolate festival, ChocoModica 2015 [5th - 8th December 2015] will, he said, benefit from the success of Modican chocolate at Expo.

CHOCOLATE TOWN

Over the past few days, Modica has once again come into its own as the chocolate capital of Sicily with its ChocoModica festival. It's not as big or as international as the Eurochocolate or Chocobarocco festivals used to be, is well organised nonetheless and actually, I found it calmer and more enjoyable. Mind you, I left at 7:00 pm and, as the last shuttle bus to Modica Bassa is scheduled for 1:00  am., I imagine things are livening up down there about now!

There were several exhibitions about chocolate-making and its history to attend, and no end of chocolate objects to gaze at or purchase:

You could decorate your tree with chocolate objects. "What balls!" says the label and yes, the expression does have the same naughty meaning in Italian!

Or maybe you fancy a chocolate silhouette or cameo?

Take your pick from these ideas for presents:

I thought this was cute

but my favourites were the chocolate caffettiere:

There was also chocolate-flavoured pasta. [I've tried this and found it good:  the chocolate taste is not overwhelming.]

I just had to have orange and chilli-pepper chocolate ice cream! Well, wouldn't you?

And finally, nothing to do with chocolate, but I like these Xmas angels that have popped up all over Modica. I could do with an angel right now.

A pleasant festival for everybody.  Well done, Modica!