Today Stefano and I drove to Monsummano Terme, not too far from Florence, in the heart of what has been called "Tuscan Chocolate Valley" thanks to all the award-winning maitre chocolatiers who live and work there. Ah yes, you guessed it. We were on a serious quest for chocolate. Xmas is around the corner, and we have decided to give chocolate as presents this year. We went to "Slitti," a well-known artisanal chocolate shop. Andrea Slitti, the owner, has won all sorts of prestigious Italian and European prizes for his creations. He is famous for his chocolate and coffee combinations. "Slitti" has its own website, which has been translated into English, too: www.slitti.it

The shop was packed with people buying everything in sight, so I didn’t get any good photos. Too bad. But you can get an idea of what the shop looks like on the website. Anyway, after we had chosen gifts for friends and colleagues, we sat down and drank some hot Slitti chocolate.

Sublime.

Once we got home, I took a photo of our purchases. Some of this chocolate is for us, of course. You know, for emergencies and whatnot. 😉 I found some 100% cocoa mass, by the way, which made me very happy. This photo shows my boy Piccolo peeking at me from behind a Xmas bow. You can (sort of) make out the dark and milk chocolate "cakes" containing hazelnuts and almonds, the dark chocolate hazelnut spreads, various types of dragées and chocolate bars with different cocoa content. A chocolate feast for the eyes today! 🙂