A hand spreads a layer of melted chocolate across a marble slab with a palette knife, beside a tray of filled chocolates and a bowl of cocoa beans.

Food and wine

Chocolate and Confectionery

Chocolate is not a Tuscan material of ancient tradition. Cacao arrived in Europe from the Americas in the sixteenth century, and conquered first Spain, then Italy, and in particular the Grand Duchy of Tuscany — the Medici court was among the first to import it and to practise working it. From that noble root grew a Tuscan chocolate-making tradition that today lives above all in Pistoia and Prato, and that has found new vitality over recent decades thanks to a generation of signature maître chocolatiers.

A paved lane between stone buildings with closed shutters and arched doorways, opening at the far end onto a square with a bell tower.

Where

Where it is practised in Tuscany

The geographies of Tuscan chocolate are clear-cut. Pistoia is the historic capital of Italian artisan chocolate: the city holds a very high concentration of fine chocolate workshops, some with family traditions going back decades, others born in the last twenty years out of the new generation of artisans. The Festival Cioccolosità in Pistoia is one of the most important chocolate events in Italy. Prato has developed a tradition of its own, interwoven with the textile tradition (the merchants of Prato imported cacao from the Americas through their trading contacts) and today hosts high-end workshops. Firenze has historic chocolate shops in the city centre, with a discerning tourist clientele. Workshops of excellence also exist in Lucca, Siena, Pisa, where master chocolatiers often work in small family-run workshops.

On a wooden table, a marble slab with a palette knife, polycarbonate moulds, a copper pan, a thermometer and a bowl of cocoa beans.

How

The techniques of the craft

The techniques of chocolate call for chemical knowledge and precise handling. Cacao beans arrive from tropical countries (Venezuela, Ecuador, Madagascar, Ghana, the Dominican Republic) and are roasted, conched (worked at length to develop the aromas and reduce acidity) and tempered (cooled to specific temperatures to stabilise the crystals of cocoa butter). Tempering is the decisive moment: without correct tempering the chocolate does not shine, has no snap and develops bloom (whitish marks on the surface). Praline work covers fillings of ganache (chocolate and cream), gianduia (chocolate and hazelnuts), almond paste, dried fruit and liqueurs. Sculpture in chocolate — decorated Easter eggs, sculptures for ceremonies — calls for specific artistic skills. Moulding in polycarbonate moulds gives the pralines the regular, glossy shapes of the finished product. Filled chocolates are assembled by hand, with a shell of tempered chocolate and a filling poured at controlled temperature.

In a workshop lined with shelves of jars and framed cacao prints, a man works chocolate at a marble counter; trays of filled chocolates in the foreground.

Now

The craft today

Doing it today means standing in a sector that is expanding in quality. Real artisan chocolate has a growing market: the informed consumer distinguishes between industrial chocolate (with added vegetable fats, low percentages of cacao, abundant sugar) and signature chocolate (selected single-origin cacao, high percentages, artisan working). The finest chocolatiers live on direct sales at the workshop, on e-commerce, on quality exports, on events and international fairs. The challenge is global competition (Belgium, Switzerland and France have very old chocolate traditions) and the rising price of good cacao.

The producers of this craft

No producer of this craft has yet joined the MANUARTI network. This list opens when the first one does.

See all the producers in the network