“Give up chocolate for Lent? “Absolutely not!”

That was the reaction of Maria Teresa Lo Gioco, project manager for CioccolaTO 2008 in Turin, Italy. The annual event — Italy’s most important festival dedicated to the food of the gods — is held in Turin’s expansive Piazza Vittorio Veneto just before Easter each year.

Lo Gioco said that since chocolate vendors ramp up production to coincide with Easter and huge annual sales, setting up the festival at that time makes sense for everyone.

And having the festival in Turin does, too.

Turin, which burst onto the world stage as host of the 2006 Winter Olympics, is Italy’s fastest-growing tourist destination. It has an extraordinary array of museums, examples of magnificent architecture and facilities nearby for making world-class wines, specifically Barolo and Barbaresco.

But Turin’s longest tradition is as a producer and consumer of chocolate. In 1560, Emanuele Filiberto, ruler of the Savoy family, wanted to free himself from the power of the French king. He moved his capital from Chambéry, France, to Turin. To commemorate the event when he was done, he toasted the city with a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

In those days, chocolate was served only as a liquid, and only to the ruling class. A century later, the “Royal Lady,” Giovanna Battista Nemours, serving as Savoy regent until her son came of age, officially authorized public serving of chocolate.

Early in the 19th century, an inventor in Turin created a machine that mixed cocoa paste, vanilla, water and sugar. As a result, he was able to solidify chocolate and form it into a bar. The invention boosted the city’s cocoa industry, and chocolates created in Turin became the favorite way to consume the delicacy.

Turin was the world’s top chocolate producer for years, and to this day still makes nearly 60 percent of Italy’s annual yield.

In the mid-1800s, cocoa became scarce and expensive. As a substitute, locally grown hazel nuts were roasted and mashed into a cream, then mixed with chocolate. The result is a semi-soft candy called Gianduiotti, a cousin to the marvelous cream, Nutella. Many consider it one of Italy’s finest inventions.

This year’s CioccolaTO featured 74 of the world’s top vendors and an estimated 1 million visitors, according to Lo Gioco and co-organizer Alberto Pairetto.

“This festival is about quality, not quantity,” Pairetto said. “It is not supermarket chocolate you’ll find here.”

Vendors do not buy their way into setting up a stand. They must pass inspections and qualify to bring their goods to Turin.

Critical to these inspections is determining the quality of ingredients (the best cocoa beans grow in Ghana, Sri Lanka or Venezuela) and the production methods used. Pairetto certifies the process — from harvest (only by hand), to fermentation, drying, roasting and finally “conching,” a process in which the liquid paste is combined with other ingredients and gently mixed at a constant temperature for 72 to 120 hours to remove excess moisture and eliminate bitterness or acidity.

Guido Gobino, one of Turin’s most celebrated chocolate makers, says the exhibit’s tough standards are worth it.

“Only producers with an inflexibility toward quality can participate,” he said as he stood in the tasting room of his downtown chocolate shop. “That is the most important ingredient in fine chocolate.”

He should know. His Cremino al Sale (a marvelous praline of soft chocolate, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil) earned the 2008 Gold Medal from the London Academy of Chocolate.

Still, there is plenty of quantity at CioccolaTO, too. Last year, chocolate sellers offered up more than 55 tons of treats.

And it is fun. Groups of schoolchildren sat enthralled as workers in “The Chocolate Factory” demonstrated making a chocolate candy literally from bean to bar. Elsewhere, visitors sampled varieties of chocolate with beer, chocolate with whiskey, chocolate with wine, and (perhaps in a nod to observers of Lent) chocolate with water.

Others sat quietly in the Readers Circle, savoring their candy, hot cocoa or chocolate crepe while listening to readings about chocolate. Internationally recognized chefs participated in a chocolate cook-off. Finally, an online auction and telethon raised funds for disaster relief in Sri Lanka.

Don’t be hesistant about sampling CioccolaTO’s wares if you should visit the fest. The benefits of moderate chocolate consumption are well documented. Rich in healthful flavonoids, chocolate can aid cardiovascular fitness, reduce blood pressure and decrease levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Just don’t forget the words “moderate consumption” — as Austrian Ursel Nendzig planned to do after discovering the festival.

“I came to Torino to do some shopping,” she said, “but I don’t think I am going to do anything but eat chocolate!”

When in Turin, what could be a better idea?

Jim Sajo is a freelance writer who lives in northern Italy.

Know and go

Getting to Turin

• By car: Autostrada 4 leads directly to Turin. Traffic in the city is still a challenge, but thanks to Olympic construction projects, there are plenty of guarded and covered parking areas. They are not cheap, though. Expect to pay at least 25 euros (about $39) per day.

• By train: There are regular connections. Check www.tenitalia.com (click on the “English” link in upper right) for times. Trains leave Milan Central twice hourly; travel time is less than two hours and tickets cost about 10 euros each way.

• By air: There are direct flights to Turin from throughout Europe. Check Ryanair, Air One, Alitalia, Brussels Air, Lufthansa, easyJet or Air France.

Getting to chocolate

·For more information on chocolate events, see these Web sites: • Turin’s chocolate festival:www.cioccola-to.com. • London Academy of Chocolate:www.academyofchocolate.org.uk. • Cologne Chocolate Museum, Germany:www.schokoladenmuseum.de. • Brussels Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate, Belgium:www.mucc.be. • Barcelona Museum of Chocolate, Spain:www.pastisseria.com/en/PortadaMuseu. • Euro-Chocolate Festival: Oct. 18-26, 2008, Perugia, Italy, www.eurochocolate.com.

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