Christmas has never tasted this good - 32 pastry chefs in Italy have unveiled what they say is the biggest ever nativity scene made entirely of chocolate.
Over 4,500 hours and 3,300 kilograms of chocolate have gone into creating the creche, which is six metres wide, three metres high and totally edible.
"For us, this is an unrepeatable event, something which we will never be able to do again," pastry chef Antonio Castaldo said.
The Neapolitan team, working through the night in a spartan garage, not only included the area's finest pastry chefs but expert carpenters, sculptors and painters pooling their skills to produce the ode to the cocoa bean.
More than 100 figures of shepherds, animals and townspeople decorate the elaborate scene of hills and caves and Mediterranean-style houses.
The angelic-looking Madonna alone took two weeks to make.
Every year, the narrow cobbled street of San Gregorio Armeno in the heart of Naples comes alive as artisans peddle their often witty, hand-crafted nativity scenes.
This year's personalities include Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the two Italian women taken hostage in Iraq last September and then released.
In the past, Osama Bin Laden and US President George W Bush have featured alongside Jesus and Mary.
But without a doubt, the chocolate creche has stolen the limelight this Christmas.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1258081.htm
Over 4,500 hours and 3,300 kilograms of chocolate have gone into creating the creche, which is six metres wide, three metres high and totally edible.
"For us, this is an unrepeatable event, something which we will never be able to do again," pastry chef Antonio Castaldo said.
The Neapolitan team, working through the night in a spartan garage, not only included the area's finest pastry chefs but expert carpenters, sculptors and painters pooling their skills to produce the ode to the cocoa bean.
More than 100 figures of shepherds, animals and townspeople decorate the elaborate scene of hills and caves and Mediterranean-style houses.
The angelic-looking Madonna alone took two weeks to make.
Every year, the narrow cobbled street of San Gregorio Armeno in the heart of Naples comes alive as artisans peddle their often witty, hand-crafted nativity scenes.
This year's personalities include Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the two Italian women taken hostage in Iraq last September and then released.
In the past, Osama Bin Laden and US President George W Bush have featured alongside Jesus and Mary.
But without a doubt, the chocolate creche has stolen the limelight this Christmas.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1258081.htm
