Little Green Tracs

A special edition of Cioccolatò – Torino Italy

If you missed getting some chocolate for Valentine’s Day or simply have a desire for more, then you may want to mark March 17 – April 3 and a visit to Torino Italy, on your calendar.

The festival Cioccolatò, dedicated to the food of the Gods will include a replica of the peninsula of Italy made entirely in chocolate. More than 13 meters long and weighing about 14 tons, it will be on display in Piazza Vittorio Veneto in Torino Italy, from April 3 to March 17 2011. It will also include major monuments are also made of chocolate, including: the Mole, the Duomo in Milan, the campanile of San Marco in Venice, the Lighthouse of Genoa, the Coliseum in Rome, Male Angevin Naples and many others.

Providing the backdrop for this gigantic chocolate Italy is “I Mille di Cioccolatò – L’Italia del Cioccolato” or “Thousand of Cioccolatò.” Thousands of “made in Italy" varieties of chocolate will be available from the many chocolate partisans "that will invade" the city. They will be offering products for sale, from all the Italian chocolate districts, from the Gianduja District of Piedmont and the chocolate districts of Varese and Belluno, through to the Tuscan Chocolate Valley, the chocolate-making tradition of Umbria, and the South Pole of Chocolate, represented by the chocolate of Modica Sicily.
 
This “mouth-watering” event will conclude with the show “The Italians and Chocolate” which will trace the last 150 years of history of chocolate in Italy. It will describe its evolution from a luxury food only available to the elite to a mass consumption product, with a special focus on the chocolate making tradition of Turin and Piedmont.

To learn more, please visit www.cioccola-to.it

Valentine’s Day, Chocolate and Italy

What has Valentine’s Day, Chocolate and Italy have in common?

According to Wikipedia, Valentine’s Day, is honoured after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, was established by Pope Gelasius I in year 496 AD. The name "Valentine" is derived from the Latin word valens to mean worthy, strong, and powerful.

There is confusion about who Saint Valentine really was. According to the Catholic Church, at least three Saint Valentines were martyred on February 14 - a priest in Rome, another, the Bishop of Interamna (now Terni in Italy) and the last that lived and died in Africa.

The Bishop of Terni is most widely accepted as the basis of the modern Saint Valentine. He lived in northern Italy in the 3rd century and was put to death on 14 February on 270AD on the orders of Emperor Claudius II for flouting the ban on Christianity. The body of Saint Valentine lies in the Basilica of San Valentino in Terni Italy.

Saint Valentine and the feast of lovers - Cioccolentino

To mark Saint Valentine's Day, “Cioccolentino” is held in Terni from Febraury 11-14. The four day event organized in collaboration with Eurochocolate, celebrates love, desire and passion through crafted chocolate tastings. Along with tastings, there are exhibits, chocolate-themed attractions, music and dance shows and the “Milky Way”, a competition whereby master chocolatiers create a 70-metre-long chocolate block in less than two hours. It also includes the mythical chocolate 100 kilogram “Obelisk”, a tall, narrow, four-sided, pyramid-like monument on display until the afternoon of February 14, when it will broken down and offered to the public for free tasting.

Terni Umbria - Centro Storico
Piazza della Repubblica
05100 Terni Italy

 

Slow Food's Salone del Gusto 2010 and The Presidia

Just wrapping up this past week was an important slow food festival - the eighth edition of the Salone del Gusto held this past week at the Lingotto Exhibition Centre in Torino, Italy.

Salone de Gusto is Slow Food's international food exposition that draws over 150,000 visitors every two years. The festival served as a showcase for Slow Food’s most important project in support of small-scale producers: the Presidia. Spread around the exhibition center and divided into geographic regions, were over 200 stands that displayed cheeses, cured meats, breads, sweets, vegetables, fruits, grains and honeys protected by Slow Food.

Small-scale food producers from all if Italy and throughout the world traveled to the event to share their foods, allowing visitors to discover and sample Slow Food Presidia products and cuisines from all over the world, attend some of the numerous Taste Workshops, participate in conferences and learn from chefs in the Theater of Taste program.

Highlights from the festival included the best products of each region in Italy, such as prosciutto from Umbria, beer from Piedmont, olive oil from Sicilia, and cheeses and wines from most every region. Each region hosted its own section of stands, as well as a restaurant where visitors could sit and eat a traditional meal.

The Salone del Gusto is one of the biggest food expos in Europe. 

The Slow Food Presidia is a perfect example of a model of agricultural based on quality that safeguards traditional knowledge and sustainability. Throughout the world, the Presidia bring producers together and give them the support they need to promote their product and access new markets.

The next festival will be held in 2012.