Eurochocolate Festival 2012, Perugia!!! (need I say more?)

Eurochocolate 2012

Every year since 1993, Perugia, Italy has hosted one of Europe’s largest chocolate festivals, Eurochocolate.  Over a million visitors pass through the streets of Perugia from the 19^th to the 28^th of October, sampling everything from chocolate covered almonds and chocolate cake to hot chocolate and chocolate kebabs.  But that’s just the beginning; open-air confectionaries bring in pounds and pounds of chocolate, displaying their decadent desserts all down the main piazza of Perugia.  And a personal fan of chocolate myself, perhaps just one step under a classified chocolate connoisseur, I was ecstatic at the opportunity to be one of those lucky visitors sampling every piece of chocolate I could possibly get my hands on.

So on Saturday the 20^th, I geared up with the USAC group to bus over to the ancient city.  Our first stop was The Perugina chocolate factory, hence the location of the festival.  The company was founded in 1907 and began with only 15 employees.  After the invention of the Baci, (kiss) a small chocolate covered wrapped candy complete with hazelnut filling and a roasted hazelnut on top with a poetic love poem inside, the company grew in popularity.  It wasn’t though until 1939 at the World’s Fair in New York that the chocolate became a hit with the US and from there the company began exporting its now world famous chocolate.  The Perugina factory in Perugia is the only chocolate factory in the world that makes the Baci chocolate, so if you have a chance to check the closest place to home that sells Baci (which is more popular than expected), you’ll have a little piece of Perugia, in the best form yet. 

A Giant Baci in the historical room of the Perugina factory

 It was an awesome opportunity to be able to tour the factory and actually be able to see the machines in action, the robotic infrastructures wrapping and packing each individual chocolate bar and baci candy.  The bummer side of it though was as it was a Saturday, only a small number of machines were actually on and working.  Most of them were just sitting awaiting the busy week to come.  But, nonetheless, it was cool to see the actual birthplace of the candy bars that fill the grocery store shelves, that delicate aluminum that just so happens to be filled with one of life’s greatest pleasures.  At the end of the tour, our guide took us to the small portion of the factory that was almost a mini museum, a room dedicated to the history of the company.  It was interesting to see where they started out as a company and how far they have come.  I loved seeing the chocolate wrapping and packaging from decades ago, colors like peach cream and lemon yellow mimicking those stereotypical of the 70s and 80s.

The mini metro of Perugia

From the factory we headed straight over to the festival by the way of the local… mini metro!  The mini metro was the same idea as regular one, but it was definitely mini.   It was originally built to relieve the city of car traffic so the tracks were suspended high above the ground. The metro cars are silver and run on a bright red track, each one able to fit about 25 people to the max.  It was definitely one of the highlights of my day.  I even got one of the best views at the very front of the car.  It almost seemed like a mini roller coaster the way it curved around the infrastructures of nearby buildings and went through and around bridges.  I honestly felt like a little kid, I couldn’t stop smiling when I got on that little metro… it definitely was quite the experience… I mean, not many people can say they rode a mini metro! 

After the ride and a short walk, we finally ended up right in the center of the famous Eurochocolate festival.  As if the romantic atmosphere of the medieval town wasn’t enough, every via and corner was lined booth to booth with chocolate vendors.   From Lindt and Milka to small companies from corners of the world I didn’t even know existed, I definitely had my limited time of two hours cut out for me.  I knew two hours was barely enough time, and it was a difficult reality for me to comprehend as I just wanted to mosey through each booth all the while taking in the chocolate scented air.  But one of my Italian friends was determined to get a move on and get as much samples as we could in our limited time so we right away purchased a Eurochocolate card, which gave us free samples and goodies from a select group of chocolate companies. 

Name the chocolate? They got it.

So from there we hurried through each booth, squirming through the bunching crowds reaching out their hands hoping soon they’d be filled with a decadent chocolate sample.  My American friend, Jessica and I, were a little shy pushing through the crowds and asserting ourselves amongst the Italians who definitely have a way with accomplishing such tasks, so Giorgia, our friend from Italy, took up the challenge for us.  She was like a little ninja just battling her way through the thick crowds, taking our Eurochocolate cards from us and grabbing our samples, filling our bags full with delicious treats.  It made me laugh because at some booths she would show the vendor our cards and the vendor would give us three chocolates, one for each of us.  But she would put them all in her bag and ask for more.  I laughed at her and teased her about it, but she just smiled as said, “You have to learn how the Italians do it.” Fine by me though, I wasn’t about to complain about coming home with a few extra samples.

Why not make a kebab with chocolate?

I also made the incentive to purchase a chocolate kebab, which was basically a piece of thinly sliced cake that they topped with a syrupy white cream.  They then topped it off with shavings of white and milk chocolate.  I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be that good… but I was thankfully proven wrong.  It was delicious.  The cake was the perfect texture against the sweetness of the small shavings of chocolate, which almost melted together as I held it gently in my hand. Another one of my favorites was the Ciobar hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate here in Italy is a world different from hot chocolate at home. Here, it’s basically a warm pudding substance that’s more of a syrup than a liquid.  I’ve tasted a few around Viterbo, but the Ciobar hot chocolate blew my mind with its perfect flavor and consistency. Outside of the tastings though, the atmosphere was just so positive and fun.  It was similar to that of a fair, but a little more… sophisticated I guess could be the right word.  Everything from clowns entertaining couples with interesting balloon sculptures to people dressed up acting as statues hoping for the occasional tip, there was something to be seen at every corner.

The vendors keep busy.

Though it was only two hours, I loved just snacking on the chocolate in such a lovely city in Europe, surrounded by ancient medieval buildings towering above me at every street corner, etching through they sky centuries and centuries of history I might have otherwise been unaware of.  The best thing of all though was just walking through the streets, almost blind, just taking in the sweet smell of chocolate.  Melted chocolate, chocolate in squares, chocolate in triangles, chocolate with almonds, chocolate in wrappers… chocolate,  chocolate,  and more chocolate.  I couldn’t have asked for more from those small two hours, other than a good nights rest and maybe something to snack on other than chocolate even if just for the health of it.  

(Keep posted for my next day's adventure to the small town of Assisi)